John the Baptist, Prophet, Preacher, or Precursor? St. Luke’s Portrait of John
Baptist, Prophet, Preacher, or Precursor? No matter which “job description” we ascribe to John, he is still a curious figure who invites us to ponder what his life and messages tell us about our own spiritual lives. The current liturgical year emphasizes the Gospel according to Saint Luke, so it seems fitting to reflect on how Luke presents John to us. Thus, this article will focus on only one portrait of John, as opposed to the composite picture we get when viewing stories from all four Gospels. Even as I begin to write this article, I expect some surprises. Hopefully, you will find some as well. Scripture is like that. God offers us fresh insights and blessings with each reading, even when it is a passage we have read many times before.
Yes, John is a curious figure, very much in the tradition of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. However, John is more like Elijah or Nathan, prophets who spoke God’s message but left no body of literature as a heritage. We often imagine John [and so he is frequently portrayed in Christian art] as the rough desert dweller, who wears camel hair, eats locust and wild honey, and looks at least somewhat wild and slightly disheveled. This is an image of someone who you would not like your daughter to bring home to meet the family. However, the gospels, particularly Luke, give us other clues about John’s personality and mission as well as providing other images of this man who was the herald of Christ.
John the Joyful. At the very beginning of his version of the Good News, Luke intermingles the stories of John and Jesus. Luke uses several parallel stories: (1) the angel’s annunciations of their conceptions [1:5-25 // 1:26-38]; (2) the responses of their parents [including the Magnificat and Benedictus]; and (3) their births and dedications to God [1:57-66 // 2:1-38]. Luke continues these parallels when he comments on (4) their growing physical and spiritual maturity [1:80 // 2:51-52] as well as (5) how events were heart-treasured by those around them [1:66 // 2:52]. He goes to great lengths to show how John’s life was intertwined with that of Jesus. They are not merely cousins, but each of their lives reveals the meaning in the other’s life. We come to know more about Jesus because of what John does and says and Jesus reveals more to us about John.
Let’s look at some of the details that Luke provides. John’s story begins with his parents’ story. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah are said to be “worthy” in God’s sight. Nevertheless, in spite of their faithfulness both to God and to divine Law, God had not blessed them with a child. While Zechariah is “before God” [1:8] in the Temple, an angel announces that their prayers have been hear after all and that the coming child “will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice” [1:14]. Later the pregnant Elizabeth, as she meets Mary [pregnant with Jesus], explains that her child, John, has “leapt for joy” [1:44]. Thus, one of the first characteristics Luke gives us of John is that he is both full of delight and brings happiness to others. What kind of joy will John offer? The angel tells Zechariah that John will bring joy because he will be great in the sight of God preparing a people to be fit for the Lord. John will bring the joy that is the result of responding to the life and grace that God offers us, and the consequence of preparing for God’s advent into our lives. John doesn’t just bring this joy to others. He experiences it himself when he leaps for joy, because he is aware of being in the presence of Christ. John rejoices as one of the first to recognize the Emmanuel. Later, even the neighbors rejoice at John’s birth [1:58]. So John isn’t just a happy personality, but one who finds joy because of his deep and lasting connections with God.
This first characteristic is important since it colors the other things we come to know about John. Additionally, as the initial story in his gospel, it tells us something about what Luke considers to be important. Luke is showing his readers that joy is the fundamental effect of God’s presence in our midst and that when we proclaim the love of that God to others we find joy and peace. As we know in John’s case, joy doesn’t preclude making difficult choices and doesn’t eliminate suffering and pain. However, it is a sign of that connection with God that is of lasting worth.
John the Desert-Dweller. Luke writes that though Zachariah ministered in the Temple in Jerusalem, the family home was in the “hill country of Judah” [1:39], frequently identified as Ain Karim about 5 miles west of Jerusalem. It was here that John was most likely born and raised. We have no proof of how old John was when he left home, but Luke tells us that “he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel” [1:80]. Again, Luke produces parallel intertwining stories of wilderness life and public ministry: first John’s and then Jesus’ experiences [chapters 3 and 4].
The wilderness [or desert] has a long and rich tradition in the history of Israel, a tradition and imagery that Luke uses in his gospel. It is the place where Israel came to know her God, and where the covenant that created her as a people was made. It is also the location where her theology of redemption arose, coming from her experience of Passover and Exodus. However, the wilderness also carries the reminder of Israel’s infidelity, of her worship of the golden calf, of her complaints against God, and her turning away from the God who had rescued her. Therefore, the desert also calls to mind the need for conversion and the necessity of turning once more towards God. The prophet Hosea had seen the desert as the geographical and/or spiritual environment where faithless Israel could once more become faithful. The wilderness is known as the place where God is discovered but also where temptation and infidelity occur.
Similar to the prophetic tradition, “The word of God came to John” [3:2] in the wilderness and he goes about preaching “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” [3:4]. It is in the wilderness that John’s joyful connection with his God enables him to offer that same joy to those who hear God’s call to repentance, conversion, and a life of righteousness.
We, too, have wilderness experiences. There are times when we move away from God into the isolation of sin, when we lack spiritual food and water as we lose our way, and when we make choices that mean we replace God with modern versions of the golden calf. However, we can also experience another kind of wilderness that provides us with the quiet, solitude, and prayer that bring us closer to God, more aware of God’s presence and God’s claim upon us as his people. Like John the Desert-Dweller, we need to choose the desert of repentance and re-connectedness with God as we hear God speak the Word into our hearts. That listening and response brings with it that abiding joy of God’s presence.
John the Baptist. In chapter three, we come to the section of Luke’s gospel that reminds us that John is best know as the “Baptist,” though Luke does not dwell long on this ministry. John seems to have been wildly popular, and there are “crowds” who come out to the wilderness to be baptized [3:7]. However, John isn’t looking for great numbers, and isn’t seeking just to look successful or important. Insteade, he questions the crowd’s motivation for requesting baptism. John tells them that baptism isn’t enough. They need to truly repent and produce the “good fruit” of faith and virtue. The crowds ask “What must we do, then?” and they receive answers that most of them did not expect or want. They must change their ways; they must share their clothing and food with the poor; they mustn’t try to cheat others; and they shouldn’t intimidate or extort [3:10-14]. One wonders how John remained popular. Yet, not only does he continue to have a following but the people even begin to think he might be the Messiah. John rejects such a notion and speaks of the greater One who will come to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire [3:16].
John connects baptism and ethical living, a relation that is clearly made throughout scripture. From the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God asks humanity to make the right choices. It is never enough to claim to be “descendants of Abraham” or members of the Church. We must behave in ways that indicate that our relationship with God has changed our very being. Therefore, whatever we do or say is done in light of that union. Our baptism has consequences and demands choices, commitment and joy, ethical behavior and a community of others who believe and act in similar ways.
John the Prisoner. While continuing to preach repentance and baptizing as a sign of that conversion to God’s ways, John publically denounces the sins of Herod the tetrarch. Thus, John ends up in prison, paying the price for being the person who saw too much, understood too much and called the wrong person to conversion. Herod was the wrong person in terms of John’s own safety, but the very person who needed conversion.
Each of us will pay some price if we make ethical hard decisions that come from our commitment as Christians. We must speak and act when silence and inaction contributes to the injustices around us. Each of us has had experiences of being locked out, cut off from friends, and made the prisoner of others’ reactions to our speaking the truth. Sometimes this is just inconvenient and sometimes it is very painful. However, like John, we must risk doing what is right, reaching out, or calling to conversion. Of course, it is first our connection with Jesus, our own time in the wilderness with God, and our listening to our own call to conversion, that allow our prophetic actions and words to be messages from God and not products of our own egos and pride.
John the Prophet. While in prison, John sends two of his disciples to bluntly ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah or should we continue to watch for him?” [7:18-19]. Jesus does not answer directly, but tells them to notice the signs around them, to observe what he, Jesus, has been doing and then to report to John. Jesus points to those indications of God’s reign suggested by the prophet Isaiah [Is 26:19; 35:5-6; 61:1]: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor. Once the messengers leave, Jesus speaks to the crowds about John, reminding them that they had gone into the wilderness to see John because he was a prophet, speaking God’s word to them. Jesus says that John is even more than a prophet. In fact, he is the one whom God sent to prepare the way for Jesus [7:26-27].
John, the prophet, used his voice and life to proclaim God’s message. The disciples of John and Jesus in turn opened their ears and hearts and so received what God offered. In turn they also became proclaimers of the Word. This is Luke’s lesson for each of us. We too must be prophetic. We are invited to keep our hearts and ears open, and share the grace that has been given to us.
This is the final story of Jesus and John’s intertwined lives. Luke uses it to move the focus finally and completely from John to Jesus. John, the messenger has completed his work and has prepared the way [7:27], and now Luke concentrates on Jesus as the Message and the Way to God.
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After chapter 7, Luke makes only short references to John. Unlike, Matthew and Mark, Luke does not give us an extensive story of John’s beheading, but only briefly mentions his death. In a short paragraph about Herod, we learn that some people thought John had risen from the dead, but Herod dismisses this saying, “I beheaded John” [9:7-9]. Other references to John occur when Peter tells Jesus that some people think that he is John the Baptist or Elijah [9:19], and one of Jesus’ disciples asks him to teach them to pray the way John had taught his disciples [11:4]. Fittingly, the last mention of John is on Jesus’ lips when he asks the chief priests, scribes, and elders if John’s baptism came from heaven or human beings.
Luke has given us various images of John, images that show different facets of his personality, and different aspects of his ministry. The complete picture demonstrates that John was, first and foremost, a person totally dedicated to God. His whole life was spent preparing others for Christ. John is a model for each of us. We, too, are called by our baptism to prepare the way for God and others to deepen their friendship. May we walk along side others, pointing toward the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May we also live lives that are completely dedicated to God. Sr. Jeanette von Herrmann
Unless otherwise noted, all references are to the Gospel according to Luke.
BE AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD'S PRESENCE... What a challenge from this morning's homily! How can each of us act today [or any day] so that what we do or say, brings God to those around us? I suspect that often that divine presence is experienced in silence rather than many words, but then the right word at the right time can be a comfort, a challenge, a bit of wisdom... Perhaps it comes in the respectful bow or the nod of your head.... perhaps it comes with a smile, or even a tear when another is sad. 
