Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist
While we don't hear about John the Baptist very often, we actually know quite a bit about him, more than we know about many other principal people in the gospels (for example, most of the disciples): son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, slightly older cousin of Jesus, dresses and eats like the prophet Ezekiel (hair cloth and locusts), preaches to the people that they should repent and be baptized, baptizes in the Jordan River, tells a woman not to commit adultery (as in today's Gospel reading, Mark 6:17-29), admired and feared by King Herod but eventually beheaded by him. Further, one thing we don't read in scripture: John the Baptist has two feast days in the church. We celebrate both his birth and his death; the only others for whom that is the case are Mary and Jesus.
There's a special something about John. Today's gospel reading tells the story of his passion, which we remember today. In some ways, the story seems to parallel Jesus' passion: the political leader (Herod and Pilate) reluctantly execute a righteous man (John and Jesus) and their respective disciples lay them in tombs following the executions. The foreshadowing is intentional because John is meant to be a prophet who fortells of the light Jesus will bring to the people.
One of the sung versions of the Benedictus (the prayer that Zechariah prays when he learns that his son John has been born) that is prayed every morning in the Liturgy of the Hours describes Jesus and John the Baptist in this way:
"Blest be the God of Israel, who comes to set us free,
Who visits and redeems us and grants us liberty!
The prophets spoke of mercy, of freedom and release.
God shall fulfill his promise and bring God's people peace.
He from the house of David a child of grace has given.
A savior comes among us to raise us up to heaven.
Before him goes the Herald, forerunner of the way,
The prophet of salvation, the harbinger of day!"
John is named a prophet of salvation, the harbinger (announcer) of Jesus' light. The second reading (1 Corinthians 1:17-25) reminds us once again that this salvation John prophesies doesn't look quite the way we often think salvation ought to look. The wise might very well look foolish; the one who is crucified and dies a horrible death is, in fact, the Light we seek. Likewise, John the Baptist's loud and cajoling manner and his odd clothing and food might have seemed foolish or strange to the people who heard and saw him.
Yet, as the Church has celebrated for 2000 years, this harbinger of day really does point the way to Jesus. Today let us reflect on and give thanks for the unlikely ways that God's Light has been prophesied in our own lives - perhaps in sometimes foolish ways.
- Jana M. Bennett