17 Dec SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2023
The Book of John was written for the purpose of proving that Jesus is the Messiah, the Word and Son of God in the flesh. The text makes many declarative statements. Does anyone remember from grammar school what declarative statements are? They are sentences that make a statement, provide a fact, offer an explanation, or convey information. Listen to the following declarative statements from the gospel reading we just heard.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. Immediately, the reader is given vital information that lends credibility to an otherwise complete stranger. Think of it this way. If a fella rang your doorbell, immediately you’d want to see some ID and a company name on his badge.
Clipped to John’s camel hair coat was a badge that read “Sent by God.” Below that it read, John: Witness to the Light. We don’t have to wonder for one minute why John has come. The nature of his business is clearly described in the verse that states, “He came as a witness to testify to the light. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify so that all might believe through him.”
During CPE, we have to write several learning goals and each one must state not only what we hope to accomplish, but why. The connecting phrase, “so that” leads to the ultimate goal. In John’s case,“so that all might believe through him,” is the reason John was sent by God. Without knowing why he was sent, the reason would remain not only unclear, but unfulfilled.
The author of John’s gospel, St. John himself, claims to be a witness who receives John’s testimony after Jews send priests and Levites from Jerusalem. In CPE, we have to write six verbatims, papers analyzing exactly what they sound like: conversations recounted word for word, exactly as they occur during patient encounters.
The verbatim begins with John being asked directly, “Who are you?”
He replies, “I am not the Messiah.” They ask, “What then?” When asked, “Who are you,” why didn’t John answer by saying, “I’m John.” You see the priests and Levites weren’t really asking “Who are you” in the sense of, “What’s your name?”
They were really asking, “What is your title? What gives you the right to do what you’re doing?” So John gave a more honest answer than the question being asked, which caused the priests and Levites to take a more direct approach. “Are you Elijah?”John says, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet,” they say. John answers, “No.” Then the priests and Levites say, “Well, who are you then? Let’s have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
Now the stage is set. John’s got everyone’s attention. People have been watching dialogue flow back and forth, and seen frustration mounting on the part of those who have been sent to retrieve answers. John says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ” as the prophet Isaiah said.
John is not sent by God as a prophet, but to fulfill prophecy, the foretelling of what was to come. He’s a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight a highway for our God.” John’s role was akin to that of Maid of Honor. His job was to prepare the way, to clear the aisle, straighten out the bride’s train, hold the bouquet, do whatever’s necessary to make sure Jesus is the focus of the big event.
John is in a supporting role. He stands beside and with Jesus, serving as the initial point of contact. He’s been chosen by God at the start of Jesus’ ministry to mediate conflict. Before the plan gets under way, John is to prepare the way.
So now the priests and Levites ask what the Pharisees really want to know. “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John the son of Zebedee who was an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ who’s thought to have written the gospel of John aims to make it clear to Jews, Greeks, and any reading audience member that Jesus is the fulfillment of Jewish OT prophecy.
Here’s one more illustration that describes John the Baptist’s role, that of circus clown. Every year, my family attended the show at Steel Pier in A.C., N.J. I distinctly remember my father once saying, “Clowns are the most talented of performers. They must be REALLY skilled in order to develop their craft: playing around as if having fun while making danger seem not so scary.” 
This was said right before the man dressed as a clown pretended to lose his footing and fall. He then sat upon the tightrope bouncing up and down stories high above the crowd. This clown was not the star attraction: a beautiful woman on a horse about to dive 40 ft from a slanted stall into a round above-ground pool below, but nonetheless, the clown demanded the crowd’s attention and deserved audience acclaim. This is the role of John the Baptist.
Immediately after introducing myself to a patient’s daughter another staff member entered, introducing herself. I stood in the doorway for 20 minutes while conversation between the three of them unfolded.
I waited patiently for the opportunity to do my job. But, in the meantime, I could observe content, each person’s delivery style and relational dynamics. John’s job until Jesus took center stage was to call people into repentance and baptize them upon their confession.
John was in solidarity with Jesus. He experienced union and fellowship with him that arose from responsibilities and interests they held in common. Their families had experienced “similar difficulties and opportunities” regarding religious service and dedication to faith in God.
John was an expert in his field though he was humbly willing to submit to being supplanted by Jesus, a fellow member of God’s care team. He did not mind being excluded from the front and center view of being named a famous prophet or Messiah. He “demonstrated wisdom by avoiding putting himself in the limelight through cleverness,” so that Jesus alone would shine brightest.
Like a chaplain, John was not the star attraction. Patients and their families don’t come to the hospital to see me. Priests and Levites from Jerusalem questioned John’s authority and role as Jewish residents flocked to him and he received attention and acclaim. He knew that tensions that existed would not be overcome by “excessive use of authority, excessive doing or by demonstrating a level of skill or knowledge directly.”
Instead, like a circus clown, John the Baptist and a hospital chaplain wow the audience by doing what they do best: being present when adrenaline and stakes are high, “helping to diffuse anxiety by showing that it’s possible to put scary things in perspective”, to turn our attention to one who makes all displays of knowledge and power laughable: God Almighty who repeatedly proves able to connect individuals without elevating or diminishing the value that any one of them holds toward each other or the ultimate outcome. 
In effect, John the Baptist and a hospital chaplain become ones who patiently and wisely deliver what’s needed: a dose of authentic comfort based in realism that does not insist upon becoming the object of focus. Along with other spectators, we are invited to watch all that is being juggled by God with awe. We are left to wonder, about God who is like a clown himself, who operates with such skill everyone listening and watching is put at ease, one who brings confidence that displaces fear and doubt.
We come to realize that John, like hospital chaplains belong on their own wavelength, that they exist in isolation yet remain part of an entire spectrum made visible so that all (including the clowns themselves) may see God more clearly and completely at both work and play.
John and hospital chaplains are different and have little contact with others working under the same tent, so to speak. Sometimes, John and hospital chaplains are seen as clowns: odd, pathetic, laughable, powerless or weak. Yet, their course of study and training are rewarded with opportunities to show originality and creativity, as they “take care to note the reactions of the audience,” by showing genuine interest in regular folk, in priests and Levites, in the religious establishment, other institutions and ourselves so that relationships formed are recognized as the greatest measures of [God’s] success.
John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” Any attempt by John to be seen front and center was a temporary diversion, like clowns who aim to divert the crowd’s attention while trapeze artists climb heights over which they will soon soar. Jesus was about to climb the rungs of a ladder behind the pole, about to fly with no safety net to save him from the fate of death. All this took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing. Let us pray.
Lord, help us become skilled enough as Christians to do our part in setting the stage for you so that in every scene and endeavor, every relationship and encounter, we point to you as being paramount, more important than anything on our agenda, more important than anything we do or know, claim or possess so that you are deemed worthy of everyone’s allegiance, awe, and attention. In your holy name we pray, Amen.