Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
2nd SUNDAY IN ADVENT (Cycle B)
Readings:
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 85:9-14
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition); NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), and LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity. Therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: All Humanity Shall
See the Salvation of God
Today's readings focus on release from captivity and
restoration. In the second week of Advent, we continue to turn our thoughts to
the "comings" of God the Son in the past and the future. We look forward to
celebrating the Messiah's First Advent when all creation rejoiced at His
Incarnation, and we also think about His promised return. In His Second Advent,
Christ will return to claim His Kingdom of the Church from its earthly exile,
fulfilling God's promise of universal salvation. He will also bring about the
Final Judgment for men and women of all nations when He separates the faithful
and obedient sheep from the sinful and unworthy goats of humanity's flock (Mt 25:31-46).
God instructed the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah to prophesy to the covenant people concerning their future exile in Babylon. Their exile judgment was divine punishment for their many sins and their apostasy from the Sinai Covenant (Is 39:5-7). In today's First Reading, after the harsh oracle of the exile, God instructed Isaiah to console the people by assuring them that while they were making atonement for their sins in exile, He would not abandon or forget them. He reminded them that God is Israel's Divine Shepherd who cares for the sheep of His flock. He would forgive their sins and bring about the release of His people from their captivity. God would prepare the way for their return to their homes in the Promised Land, gently leading them like a shepherd leads his flock. Not only would He restore them to the land, but He would restore the peace of His covenant relationship with them.
The Responsorial Psalm addresses the refugees returning from exile, promising them the peace of the Messianic Age foretold by the prophets (i.e., Is 43:3-7; 49:14-26; 58:8-12; Zec 2:9, 14-17; 8:12-13; 9:9-10). The psalmist assures the people that there is salvation for those who fear the LORD [Yahweh], referring to those who fear offending God and live in reverent obedience to His commands. The psalmist proclaims that salvation comes from God's steadfast love. He continually demonstrates His love by His willingness to forgive our sins and restore the peace that comes from our covenant relationship with Him.
In our Second Reading from St. Peter's second letter to the Universal Church, he warns us that the promised sudden return of Jesus Christ can happen at any moment. The Second Advent of Christ only seems delayed because God, in His mercy, allows time for the entire earth to hear the Gospel message of salvation. Using the imagery of a roaring fire and a cosmic meltdown, the inspired writer describes the Second Coming of Christ when He will return as humanity's divine Judge and inaugurate a new creation. The old world will pass away, and God will create a new Heaven and earth where every living thing will flourish in righteousness in the Presence of the Almighty. The knowledge that Christ could come in judgment at any moment should instill in each of us a desire to repent our sins and to persevere in holiness so that He will find us in a state of grace at the moment of His inevitable coming.
In today's Gospel Reading, St. Mark tells us that Israel's historic deliverance from the Babylonian exile prefigures an even greater act of God. It is the promise of redemption made possible for humanity by the Redeemer Messiah, announced by the prophetic voice of the last Old Testament prophet, St. John the Baptist. Quoting from the Isaiah passage in our First Reading, St. Mark assures us that God the Son came to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus came to set Israel and the men and women of all nations free from bondage to sin and death. In the Age of Jesus's Kingdom of the Church, His mission continues to save the faithful living in this earthly exile. The Church gathers them into a complete restoration of fellowship with God and the hope of a future life in the Promised Land of Heaven. It is a restoration that Christ will complete in His Second Advent, and we need to continually keep our souls in a state of grace in preparation for the glorious event of His return.
The First Reading Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 ~ God is Coming to
Free His People
1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. 2 Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt
is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all
her sins. 3 A voice cried out: In the desert, prepare the way of the LORD! Make
straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! 4 Every valley shall be filled
in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a
plain, the rough country, a broad valley. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be
revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has
spoken. [...] 9 Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out
at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your GOD!* 10 Here comes with power the
Lord GOD*, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense
before him. 11 Like a shepherd, he feeds his flock; in his arms, he gathers the
lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
* GOD in capital letters represents the Divine Name, Yahweh,
as does LORD.
This passage begins what most Biblical scholars see as the second part of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 40-55), traditionally called the Book of Consolation. The Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled the ten northern tribes in 722 BC. When the Southern Kingdom failed to repent, God allowed the Babylonians to take Judah's covenant people into exile in 587/6 BC after burning Jerusalem and Yahweh's holy Temple to the ground. God used the Assyrians and Babylonians as His instruments of judgment in response to the peoples' many sins, including idol worship and their apostasy from the Sinai Covenant. Before the terrible event of the exile, God, speaking through Isaiah, warned the people of the coming divine judgment if they failed to repent their sins. In this poem, God reassures His covenant people that He will not forget them in their time of trial. God tells His prophet to comfort His people with the promise that the day will come when they will have atoned for their sins "twice over" (verse 2). Their exile in Babylon will end, a way will be made for their return, and He will restore them to their land and the fellowship of their covenant relationship with Him.
3 A voice cried out: In the desert, prepare the way of
the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! 4 Every valley
shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land
shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. 5 Then the glory of
the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth
of the LORD has spoken.
The prophetic voice in verses 3-5 is deliberately left
unidentified by the prophet. But the writers of the Gospels, who quote from
this passage, identify the prophetic voice as St. John the Baptist (Mt 3:3;
Mk 1:3; Lk 1:76; 3:4-6; Jn 1:23).
9 Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad
tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear
not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your GOD! 10 Here comes
with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with
him, his recompense before him. 11 Like a shepherd, he feeds his flock; in his
arms, he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes
with care.
"Zion" refers to the covenant people (see the document "Zion
and the Presence of God").
The "high mountain" refers to Mt. Moriah, the site of the Jerusalem Temple the
Babylonians would destroy. It was also the future site of the restored Temple
after the people's return from exile and a symbol of a renewed Israel. When
they return to their land, the people must shout the "good news" from the top
of Mt. Moriah that God is faithful to His people and rewarded them for their
unfailing faith in Him by leading them "home" with loving care like a shepherd
leads his sheep.
In the New Testament, Jesus used the same imagery of a dedicated shepherd to the sheep of his flock in describing His relationship with His disciples (Jn chapter 10). The Church continues using the same imagery: "The Church is a sheepfold whose one and indispensable door is Christ (Jn 10:1-10). It is a flock of which God himself foretold he would be the shepherd (Is 40:11; Ez 34:11-31), and whose sheep, although ruled by human shepherds, are nevertheless continuously led and nourished by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and the Prince of the shepherds (cf. Jn 10:11; 1 Pet 5:4), who gave his life for the sheep" (cf. Jn 10:11-15)" (Vatican II document, Lumen gentium, 6).
Responsorial Psalm 85:9-14 ~ God's Salvation
The response is: "Lord, let us see your kindness and grant
us your salvation."
9 I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD, for he
proclaims peace to his people. Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear
him, glory dwelling in our land.
Response:
10 Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall
kiss. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice [mercy] shall look
down from heaven.
Response:
12 The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land
shall yield its increase. 13 Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way
of his steps.
Response:
The psalm promises the refugees returning from the Babylonian exile the peace of the Messianic Age foretold by the prophets (Is 43:3-7; 49:14-26; 58:8-12; Zec 2:9, 14-17; 8:12-13; 9:9-10). The salvation promised to those who "fear" God refers to those who fear offending God and live in reverent obedience to His commands. The psalmist uses the imagery of the fruit produced by rainfall and the earth's fertility, comparing it to the blessings of God's justice and truth (verses 11-12). The psalmist proclaims that salvation comes through God's steadfast love, demonstrated by His willingness to forgive our sins and to restore the peace of our covenant relationship with Him.
Many Fathers of the Church saw verses 10-11 as a promise of the Incarnation of the divine Word and the union of the Godhead with human nature in Jesus Christ. Quoting from verse 10 of this psalm, St. Athanasius wrote: "Truth and mercy embrace in the truth which came into the world through the ever-virgin Mother of God" (Expositiones in Psalmos, 84). Jesus is God's divine justice, and He came to grant the gift of salvation to all who walk in "the way of His steps" (verse 12).
The Second Reading 2 Peter 3:8-14 ~ The Lord's Coming
8 Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord
one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord
does not delay his promise, as some regard "delay," but he is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But
the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away
with a mighty roar, and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth
and everything done on it will be found out. 11 Since everything is to be
dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you be, conducting yourselves
in holiness and devotion, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of
God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements
melted by fire. 13 But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you await
these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at
peace.
In this letter to the Universal Church, St. Peter reminded the faithful that God does not reckon time as we do; time is an invention for the earth-bound (verse 8). Christ's promised return only seems delayed because God, in His mercy, allows humanity the time necessary for the entire earth to hear the Gospel message of salvation (verse 9). The knowledge that Christ could come in judgment at any moment should instill in each of us a desire to repent our sins and persevere in holiness so that we will be found in a state of grace when He returns.
Then, in verses 10-12, using imagery of a roaring fire and a cosmic meltdown, the inspired writer describes the Second Coming of Christ when He will return as humanity's divine Judge (see Dan 7:13-14; Rev 20:11-15). In that event, the old world will pass away, and God will create a new heaven and earth where everything living will flourish in righteousness in the Presence of the Almighty (verses 13-14). Our cry should be, "Oh Lord, grant that we may be counted among the righteous at the moment of Your return!"
The Gospel of Mark 1:1-8 ~ Repent and Prepare for the
Coming of the Lord!
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son
of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my
messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. 3 A voice of one crying out
in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." 4 John
the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. 5 People of the whole Judean countryside and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him
in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. 6 John was clothed in
camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locust and wild
honey. 7 And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after
me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. 8 I have
baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son
of God.
The Gospel of St. Mark, like the Gospel of John, echoes the
opening words of Genesis, In the beginning (Gen 1:1). The words reflect
God's original creative design. The Advent of the Messiah is a new beginning destined
to become a new creation event.
Mark's statements concerning Jesus's identity in the first three verses of Mark's Gospel are unique compared to the other Synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Luke. St. Mark does not leave the reader to wonder about the truth of Jesus's identity. In the first line, he tells the reader that Jesus is the Messiah promised by the prophets and the Son of God!
The three key components that Mark uses in verse one are the words "Gospel," "Christ," and "Son of God." The Greek word euangelion is the root of the English word "evangelize," which means "good news." Old English renders it as "god-spel" or "gospel." In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is basar, translated as euangelion in the LXX (Greek translation of the Old Testament). English versions of the Old Testament often translate the word as "glad tidings" or "good news." The Greek word euangelion was a common term in the ancient Greco-Roman world and usually referred to a military victory, public festivals associated with a royal birth, or a king's coronation. The Hebrew Scriptures use the word to proclaim the "good news" of God the Divine King's rule, salvation, or vindication (see Is 40:9 LXX; 41:27; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1). However, St. Mark uniquely uses the noun to describe the mission of Jesus Christ, the promised Davidic Messiah. The "good news" is that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God!
Jesus is the Messiah and "Son of God," whose mission is to proclaim the "good news." The "good news" He came to announce is the coming of the Kingdom of God (see Mk 1:14-15 and Mt 4:17). There is no contradiction because Jesus is the Kingdom Incarnate, as He declared to the Pharisees when they questioned Him about when the Kingdom of God would come. He told them: "The Kingdom of God is among you" (Lk 17:21).
The Gospel of Mark repeats 14 times that Jesus came to proclaim the Kingdom of God (1:14, 15; 4:11, 26, 30; 9:1, 47; 10:14, 15; 10:23, 24, 25; 12:34; 14:25), the "good news" prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in our First Reading:
Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 from the LXX (Greek translation) in the homily He gave to the Synagogue congregation in Nazareth when He announced: "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4:18-19). GOD and LORD in capital letters is the Divine Name Yahweh in the Hebrew Old Testament.
The second keyword St. Mark uses in verse 1 is the Greek word Christos, which means "anointed," and is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah = mashiah, "anointed one." Prophets, priests, and kings were the three holy offices where God's divinely appointed agents were ritually anointed with holy oil (see Ex 29:7; 1 Sam 10:1; 2 Sam 24:7; 1 Kng 19:16; Ps 2:2). Jesus came to fulfill all three holy offices (CCC 436, 783). Notice that St. Mark uses "Jesus Christ" as a proper name, as does St. Paul in his letters.
St. Mark also identified Jesus as the "Son of God." Mark's declaration that the Messiah is the "Son of God" could be understood in two ways by his audience. Jewish Christians knew that Sacred Scripture used the title for one who enjoyed a special relationship with the Almighty:
St. Mark announced that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, defining Jesus as the promised Davidic heir (promised by the prophets in Is 11:10-12; Jer 23:5-6; Ezek 34:23-26; 37:25-28). According to the prophets, the Messiah was to come from the lineage of the great King David in fulfillment of the eternal covenant God made with David and his heirs. Every Davidic heir was to be considered a "son" of God. The covenant was unconditional and promised that David's throne would endure forever (i.e., 2 Sam 7:11b-16; 23:5; 1 Kng 2:4; 11:9-20; 1 Chr 22:10; 2 Chr 13:5; Sir 45:25; 47:2, 11/13)
The Roman Gentiles, unfamiliar with Christian doctrine, might connect the title "son of God" with Emperor Tiberius. They called Him the "son of God" because he was the heir of his deified adopted father, the former emperor, Augustus Caesar. In Jesus's day, the Roman denarius coin bore the image of Emperor Tiberius (ruled 14-37 AD), and a Latin inscription translated in English as: "Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest" (Harrington, Gospel of Matthew, page 310). The title "son of God" for Romans reading Mark 1:1 suggested that Jesus was also the son of a God-King.
In the New Testament, the title "Son of God" takes on a meaning not previously conveyed in the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus is the ideal king of Israel (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7; 89:26-29), the chosen people of God (Ex 4:22; Is 63:16; Hos 11:1). In the New Testament, the title expresses Jesus's unique relationship with God as the Father's "only begotten Son" (Jn 1:18). It won't be until 1:11 that St. Mark reveals that Jesus is a divine Son who is entirely man and God. For this reason, Jesus deserves the title "Son" of God in His divinity as God's "only begotten Son" and in His humanity as the Davidic heir and rightful King of Israel. Significantly, St. Mark will place these two titles, Christ/Messiah and Son of God, on the lips of first a Jew and then a Gentile at two points of climax in his narrative: St. Peter in Mark 8:29 and a Roman soldier in Mark 15:39. The title "Son of God" will become increasingly significant as St. Mark's narrative unfolds (Mk 1:1, 11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 14:61; 15:39). We know that Jesus is the Messiah, who is the Son of God because Mark told us in 1:1. However, as the narrative continues, Mark will allow the reader to see how other people exposed to Jesus's ministry would make the discovery and either accept Jesus as Lord or reject His messiahship.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "Behold, I
am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. 3 A voice of
one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his
paths.'"
Quoting the prophets Malachi and Isaiah (from our First
Reading), Mark reveals to his readers that a God-appointed messenger/forerunner
promised by the prophets is coming. God sent the messenger, and his voice
repeats God's message. In the prophecy, God speaks as "I" to "you," saying: "I
send my messenger before your face" (literal translation). The one addressed is
to journey on "the way" to prepare it for "the Lord." The "you" addressed by
God in verse 2 is "the Lord" in verse 3.
Mark attributes the prophecy to Isaiah in verse 2, but the text he quotes combines prophecies from the 6th-century BC prophet Malachi and the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah. Mark combines the prophecies from Malachi and Isaiah to provide the words of God that begin the narrative and witness to the coming of the "One" who is "Lord" (Kyrios in Greek). Kyrios is a word in the LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation) used consistently to translate the Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh), spelled LORD in English translations. The theme of "the way" (verse 3) will have a significant place as the narrative progresses. "The Way" will become the first name for the community of Jesus Christ's disciples (Acts 9:2; 18:25-16; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22) before the faith community at Antioch adopted the title "Christian" (Acts 11:26).
Malachi is the last of the prophets in the Old Testament books and the last to announce the Messiah's coming. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that St. John the Baptist is the prophetic voice crying out the prophetic words of God in the Judean wilderness (Mt 3:1-3; Mk 1:2-4; Lk 3:2-6). Please note that the inspired writers expect the reader to be familiar with the entire passage when they quote parts and fragments of Scripture verses. St. Mark quotes from the first part of Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3:
God sent Malachi to the covenant people after returning from the Babylonian Exile in the late 6th century BC. He prophesied that God would send a messenger who would come to the people in the spirit of the prophet Elijah to announce the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:1, 23-24). Isaiah was the prophet of the 8th century BC who foretold God's judgment against the sinful and rebellious people that would result in exile. But Isaiah also prophesied an eventual restoration. In Isaiah 40:3, from our First Reading, the prophet refers to "the way of the Lord" as the end of the Babylonian exile, the restoration of the covenant people, and the coming of the Messiah.
St. Mark identified the unnamed prophetic voice in Isaiah's prophecy. He declared it was the prophetic voice of John the Baptist, who announced the Messiah's message of salvation. St. John was more than a prophet. In him, the Holy Spirit concluded His speaking through the prophets (CCC 719). Jesus honored St. John, saying, among those born from a woman, "none is greater than John," but adding that "the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than him" (Mt 11:11; cf. Lk 7:24-30)
Jesus of Nazareth fulfills all the prophecies as the promised Messiah and Davidic king. It is a fulfillment statement Jesus will make to the Apostles and disciples after His Resurrection: Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures (Lk 24:27), and He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44).
4 John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 People of the whole
Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their
sins. 6 John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey.
In Luke 4:1, St. Luke establishes the beginning of St.
John's ministry as AD 28 in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
In verses 4-6, Mark recounts the beginning of the fulfillment of God's promise
in the one chosen to prepare the way for the Messiah. In omitting the nativity,
infancy, and youth of Jesus, St. Mark has his Gospel begin directly with the
preaching of St. John the Baptist, who, on the east side of the Jordan River (Jn 1:28), was offering a ritual immersion (the meaning of the word "baptism") for
repentance and forgiveness of sins (Mt 3:6; Lk 3:3). The ritual of water
immersion was a religious practice for purification from that which made one
ritually unclean and unfit for worship (Num chapter 19). It was also a bath of
purification for Jewish brides on their wedding day and for Gentiles who
converted to become members of the covenant people (Ex 19:9-11).
The angel Gabriel defined St. John the Baptist's mission to John's father, Zechariah, in Luke 1:5-17, 36. John was the son of a priestly family, a descendant of Aaron, the first high priest of the covenant people, and, therefore, he was also a priest. The Holy Spirit consecrated St. John in his mother's womb and gave him the power of the spirit of the prophet Elijah to announce the coming of the Son of God. His mother was a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary; therefore, John was also a relative of Jesus. The Baptist was the last old covenant prophet God sent to prepare the way for the Davidic Messiah and Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. However, John was greater than the prophets who came before him; he was the prophetic voice announced by Isaiah in the First Reading. In John, the Holy Spirit completed the cycle of prophets that began with Elijah. John's mission was to proclaim the imminence of the consolation of Israel as the "voice" announcing the Consoler who is coming: "As the Spirit of truth will also do, John came to bear witness to the light" (CCC 719). Through John's baptism of repentance, the Holy Spirit began to complete the longing of the prophets.
St. Luke's Gospel records that John was six months older than Jesus (Lk 1:36), which means he is five months older than Jesus as we count. The ancients counted the first month of pregnancy as month #1; therefore, a woman was said to be pregnant for ten months (see Wis 7:1-2). The difference in how the ancients counted (without the concept of a zero place-value) is why Scripture records that Jesus was in the tomb for three days from Friday to Sunday instead of two days as we would count the days (Mt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; Lk 9:22; 13:32; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46; Jn 2:19; Acts 10:10; 1 Cor 15:4).
Significantly, St. Mark described St. John's manner of dress and meager diet in verse 6. The people coming to John for his ritual cleansing by water saw him dressed like the great 9th-century BC prophet Elijah (2 Kng 1:8, CCC 718). When the angel Gabriel announced John's birth, he told John's father that the prophet Elijah's spirit and power would reside in his son. According to Malachi's prophecy, the people knew the return of the prophet Elijah would signal the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, they would have seen the connection between Elijah and how John dressed. What he ate was also significant. John lived a life of deprivation in the desert. Still, he was religiously observant of the Law of Moses's dietary laws and consumed ritually clean food according to the Law (see 2 Kng 1:8; Lev 11:22; Lk 1:17).
It is also significant that St. John called the covenant people to a baptism of repentance from their sins on the east side of the Jordan River (Jn 1:28). It is where the hero Joshua (Yahshua in Hebrew or Yehoshua in Aramaic, also Jesus's name) led the children of Israel across the Jordan River from the east to the west into the Promised Land. And it is where the prophet Elijah, whose spirit rests upon John the Baptist, was taken up into heaven (see Josh chapter 3; 2 Kng 2:5-12).
7 And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I
is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his
sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water, he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit."
In verses 7-8, the one described in verses 2-3 speaks,
announcing the coming of the One before whom he is unworthy and who "will
baptize with the power of the Holy Spirit." The Baptist called the people to
repent their sins in preparation for the ministry of Jesus, the Messiah and Son
of God, and the coming of His Kingdom. John testified that Jesus is greater because
He is the Son of God (cf. Mt 3:11-12; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:34). Notice that Mark
presented the Baptist according to his mission: he points the way to God the
Son, and then he fades away to give prominence to Jesus.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his
sandals.
To untie a master's sandals was considered such a
demeaning task that it was not a requirement for a Jewish slave (Jewish Talmud:
Mek. 21:1; b Ketub. 96a). "To be unworthy" of such a task would be to lower oneself
below the status of an enslaved person (Maloney, Gospel of St. Mark,
note 39, page 66).
8 I have baptized you with water, he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit.
Notice that "he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" is
in the future tense. The baptism of the one coming is not the same as John's
baptism of repentance. The 6th-century BC prophet Ezekiel promised baptism
by the Holy Spirit in the name of God as a future gift in the Messianic Age
(Ezek 36:25-27). So, while the promise of the gift is not new, the announcement of the
one who will provide it is new. This announcement excited the people who came
to accept St. John's ritual cleaning, and they would have connected the promise
of this future divine gift with the coming of the promised Davidic Messiah.
The message for the Church today is that we must respond to God like the covenant people in exile in the First Reading and the people of Jesus's generation who submitted to St. John's call for repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah in the Gospel Reading. We must continually turn back to God through the repentance of our sins. We must call upon God to show us His mercy, forgive our sins, and restore us to fellowship with Him. If we submit to God in this way, when Christ returns as King and Judge, He will find us, as St. Peter advised, "conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion" (2 Pt 3:11). In that case, we will be ready for the Good Shepherd to collect His Church and take us to the New Jerusalem of His heavenly Kingdom.
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Isaiah 40:1-3 (CCC 719*);
40:11 (CCC 754*)
2 Peter 3:9 (CCC 1037, 2822); 3:11-12 (CCC 671*); 3:12-13 (CCC 677*); 3:13 (CCC 1043, 1405*)
The prophets and the expectation of the Messiah (CCC 522*, 711*, 712*, 713*, 714*, 715*, 716*, 722*)
The mission of John the Baptist (CCC 523*, 717*, 718*, 719*, 720*)
A new Heaven and a new Earth (CCC 1042*, 1043*, 1044*, 1045*, 1046*, 1047-1050)
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