Jesus stronger than John the Baptist – why? - Mt 3:1-12
Today's Gospel begins a new chapter in Jesus' life by introducing the figure of John the Baptist to the stage and situating the action of events long after the descriptions of his childhood. This is indicated by the significant formula: " In those days”, used at the very beginning of the story. The pericope can be divided into two distinct literary units: the first (Mt 3:1-6) – showing the person and qualities of John the Baptist, with a justification for his vocation based on the text of the prophet Isaiah (Is 40:3); and the second (Mt 3:7-12) – indicating the nature of his mission and the transmission of his message.
The person of John the Baptist is characterized in the manner of the Old Testament prophets, in particular by resembling him to the figure of Elijah. This is indicated by elements such as the Judean desert and the Jordan River (cf. Mt 3:1, 6; 1 Kings 17:3; 19:3-4; 2 Kings 2:1-12) and his attire (cf. Mt 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8; For 13:4) (sometimes even today you can meet people dressed in such clothes like in those areas, e.g. Bedouins). The way of dressing and the style of eating indicate asceticism, but also life according to the nazarite vow (cf. Nm 6:3; Judges 13:4-5. 14). Undoubtedly, John the Baptist appears as a herald announcing the fulfillment of God's promises.
One of these promises is the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven, which is closely related to messianic/eschatological time. The concept of the kingdom of heaven – St. Matthew's favorite phrase (it is very rarely outside his work) – is an announcement of a new time and the fulfillment of the promise of a new kingdom of God, into which only those who will be worthy will enter.
The fundamental thing to participate in the coming kingdom of heaven is conversion. The concept of metanoia – "to convert" appears in this text 3 times (Mt 3:2.8.11) and is the key to understanding the activities of John the Baptist. The cry for conversion is about a complete and radical change in the way of thinking and, consequently, of life. St. John did not mean to return to the precepts of the Torah (the Pentateuch of Moses) or ritual correctness (chastity, worship, etc.), but to change the heart, and hence – behavior. That's why there is the theme about confessing sins (cf. Mt 3:6).
The visible form of adopting a new attitude was baptism. This ritual of immersion in the waters of the Jordan was penitential (confession of sins) and included symbolic conversion and preparation for the time of God's judgment.
John's baptism was also a demonstration of God's impending judgment on the chosen people, and in particular on their religious elites of that time. By calling them a brood of vipers, he wanted to show, on the one hand, that they were under the influence of the spirit of lies (figuratively: the "offspring" of the serpent, which in Sacred Scripture is the symbol of the devil – tempter and deceiver; cf. Gen 3:1-5, 14-15; Wis 2:24), and on the other hand, that they bear poisoned fruit – claiming to be the seed of Abraham (cf. Mt 3:8-9), that is, deceiving themselves that they have no sin and are righteous in the eyes of God (from the Gospel context it follows that the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John for spying and examining the situation, possibly out of curiosity, rather than out of the need for conversion).
In this context is the truth about the Messiah, whose coming is at hand (cf. Mt 3:11). John places himself in the perspective of an unworthy servant in relation to the One who is to come, because he himself states that he is not worthy to " carry his sandal " (Mt 3:11). With this formulation John expresses the majesty and greatness of the One who is to come, for the act of taking off or wearing the sandals of someone was one of the lowest state of a person (slaves). This state of affairs also shows that the One who will baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt 3:11) is entitled to judge the people, to "separate the chaff from the wheat" (cf. Mt 3:12), and is also the representative of the kingdom of heaven, even its King (cf. Mt 2:1-12).
The formulation that the Messiah will baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire" does not imply Christian thinking, as the Fathers of the Church sometimes wanted to see. Rather, it is a reference to the Old Testament prophetic images of the purification and perfection of the People of God (e.g., cf. Is 4:4-5; 32:15; 44:3; Ez 36: 25-26; Mic 3:2b-3). The symbolism of fire can also be a description of "unquenchable fire" (Mt 3:12), that is, a punishment for not converting, but also a sign of purification, of the restoration of readiness to be in the kingdom of God when it comes. On the other hand, the term "Holy Spirit" is to be treated here in the sense of the causative Power of God, his Breath, which revitalizes and sanctifies everything (according to its Hebrew meaning ruah or Greek pneuma).
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (Mt 3:1) To modern people, the desert seems to be a waterless, hot, one could say anti-human place when it comes to living and staying there permanently. However, from the perspective of the Old Testament’s theology, it was in the desert that the greatest events in the history of the Chosen People took place. Leaving Egypt and being in the desert is a time of covenant and constitution of the People of God, the "kingdom of priests" (cf. Ex 19:6). Later, in retrospect, the prophets will solemnly talk the perfect reciprocal relationship of Jehovah God's spousal love for his bride nation (e.g., Oz; Ez). It seems that the testimony of the Evangelist Matthew wishes to refer to this fact and to show anew in the approaching time – in a new messianic perspective – the birth of a new community for the Kingdom of Heaven.
St. John Paul II, commenting on this passage of Gospel in the Encyclical Dominum et vivificantem, writes that "John the Baptist foretells the Messiah-Christ not only as the one who "is coming" in the Holy Spirit but also as the one who "brings" the Holy Spirit " (No. 19). "The theophany at the Jordan clarifies only in a fleeting way the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, whose entire activity will be carried out in the active presence of the Holy Spirit. This mystery would be gradually revealed and confirmed by Jesus himself by means of everything that he "did and taught”. (Acts 1:1)" (No. 20).
Until Tomorrow
fr. george