A VOICE CRIES IN THE WILDERNESS

II SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Mark 1:1-8

The Gospel of Mark opens with a gigantic figure - that of John the Baptist, who initiated a movement of repentance and conversion in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. However, in the gospel, John represents but a passing figure that gives place to the One who had been promised and announced. Mark gives the following title to his book: The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Indeed, the gospel is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

John the Baptist is presented with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah. He is the messenger sent before the Messiah to prepare people for his coming. He is a voice in the wilderness:

A voice cries in the wilderness:

Prepare a way for the Lord, 

make his paths straight.

John never pretended to be more than that: a voice. And he put his voice at the service of the Lord. John remained faithful to his call up to the end. He turned his back on the city life and the worship in the temple, preferring to lead a frugal life in the wilderness. “John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey.” Maybe, he was the product of a wider movement of renewal - like the Essenes - that looked with disdain on the priestly class, considered corrupt. However, John would not pass unnoticed and people from Jerusalem and all Judaea “made their way to him”. It was as if in him they could find an answer from God to their plight. Finally, God had listened to their cry for deliverance and was going to send the long-awaited - the Messiah. As a sign of repentance,  “they were baptised by him in the river Jordan” as “they confessed their sins”.The confession of sins is an essential part of our purification and renewal as we prepare ourselves to welcome Christ. We must recognise our sinfulness and entrust ourselves to God’s mercy. As they came to John in the desert, many thought that he was the Messiah. However, being honest and sincere, John would not allow himself to be carried away by popular feelings and he was straightforward in his response to that expectancy: “Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals.” John was well aware that he came to be at the service of the Messiah. Between Jesus and John, there is a huge difference. While John baptised with water as a sign of repentance and conversion, Jesus baptises us with the Holy Spirit. He is the giver of the Holy Spirit who makes out of us children of God. The role of John is to take us to Christ, who is the Saviour.

During this advent season, let us join John, thus preparing ourselves to welcome Jesus into our lives.