No greater man born of woman
In today's Gospel (Matthew 11:1-11), Jesus tells his listeners that up to that point in history, there had not been a greater man born of woman than John the Baptist. (I think it is fair to assume that Christ was practicing the virtue of humility by not including himself in that statement.)What was it that made John so great a prophet? What made him fit to be the one who would prepare the way of the Lord? I am of the opinion that what made John a great man and a great prophet was that John not only believed in the message he was proclaiming, he stuck to it. John could not be swayed, and as Jesus was keen to point out in the verses subsequent to this reading, John's enemies were the same enemies Jesus had. These people weren't only religious leaders, but just about anyone from soldiers to tax collectors who didn't want to hear the truth. Most importantly, none of the people who were the enemies of John the Baptist wanted to be confronted with the reality of their own need for repentance. People like the lustful and power-hungry Herod Antipas, who feared John, but hated the message that he was living in adultery by marrying the wife of another man, more specifically his brother. (As we know, Herod's brother's wife hated the message even worse. She ultimately persuaded her daughter to dance for Herod, and then convince him to bring her John's head on a platter.
John was beheaded because people didn't want to hear his message of the need for their own repentance. Many of us today also don't like to hear of that need for repentance as it applies to us. Often, when we are confronted with this need for repentance, we accuse the messenger of being unloving or un-Christian, because they have bothered to point out that we need to get our lives right with God, and put God first in our life.
This Advent, let us as a people remember that we each have a need for repentance, and if a messenger points out the things in our life that need to be made right, let's not shoot the messenger, let's amend our life!
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:20 AM
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