It Dawns On You

I was thinking about the phrase we use and hear sometimes, “Then, it dawned on me…” It is very common because sometimes a realization will just come to you, as though someone turned up the dimmer and the reality of things came into view with the dawning light. I like the story of the man who was set up on a blind date. He decided in a spirit of graciousness he could handle it. He imagined the person he was meeting had to be one in such great need of an introduction to others she depended on these kind friends to help make it happen. Bracing for the worst, he showed up for the date, and to his surprise, all through the evening, he could not believe what a wonderful person his date was. In every way, she charmed. Returning home, he got ready for bed. While brushing his teeth he looked in the mirror and it dawned on him: “Oh my goodness, it is me: I am the desperation case!”. He was the one for whom the favor was done. His friends were lending help for his sake.

Sometimes the things that dawn upon us have to do with our own need: the need for help, for change, for restoration. In Advent, we again meet with John the Baptist, who is the one who sheds light on our own need. In the story, he shines light upon the Judean population’s need for a turn, the beginning of change, and preparation for true redemption.

John, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, is a prophetic and priestly figure. His mother, the cousin to Jesus’s mother, Mary, was descended from Aaron, the priest during the Exodus. John’s father, Zechariah was of the priestly order of Abijah. He was in the rotation of priests serving the altar of incense in the Jerusalem Temple, attending the brazier in front of the Most Holy Place. He was a priest who dealt with the sacred fire, but John would be a priest who dealt in water. John’s priestly context is due to his lineage, and his prophetic identity is due to his role and activity. In a prophetic way, he emerges in the desert, with references right out of Isaiah… “a voice crying out in the wilderness.”

John is the ultimate fulfillment of the message of a powerful Hebrew prophet: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.”  —Malachi 3:1. Also, note, “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes…so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.” —Malachi 4:5, 6.  John is that “Elijah”. The great Scottish New Testament theologian, William Barkley reminds us “the messenger was to cleanse and purify the worship of the Temple before the Anointed One of God emerged upon the earth.” What the world needed was that purification.

The piece on John the Baptist in the Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible just comes out and says he is a prophet of priestly lineage. At the opening of the Gospel according to Mark, our reading coming up, 2 Advent, John is clarifying to Judean people someone is coming and they need to be ready. He has a message about preparing for the apocalyptic day of the Lord. It is much more serious than the amusing bumper sticker that reads, “Jesus is coming, look busy!” (Isn’t that a stitch?) John is clear about his own important function. Some may have just thought him a kook, with his vesture and his diet, but many, huge crowds, were coming out to hear him. He is not a prophet or priest the Temple elite would like to have recognized, but folks were seeking him out and undergoing his baptism of repentance. Baptism was familiar to Jewish tradition, but it was something required of Gentile converts along with circumcision and purification sacrifice. John was convincing the Jewish population they needed this baptism, enacting their own spiritual “one-eighty”. This was a major movement: it was a spiritual movement with a leader of very great note, but the talk of the whole region, John the baptizer, was pointing to another. He was pointing to the coming Messiah. Read the whole of Sunday’s gospel passage:

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”—Mark 1:1-8

When people saw preachers arise on the scene demanding personal spiritual action, they presumed, it was all for others, people who really need it. With John, they were convicted…it dawned on them, “Oh, it’s me! I am the one needing that, I am the one who needs to repent”. Then there was a second and deeper step. John’s ministry of baptism is the phenomenal movement at the time, but he directed all from his baptism with water to the Anointed One, whose baptism was of a different nature — of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, now in this most holy month, Conversion is for all of us; repentance is for all of us. Repentance is not just remorse. It is a change. It is turning away from sin and toward God. It is the Greek word, metanoia, turning around to head in a new direction. The direction we are to walk, the one toward which John pointed, is straight to Jesus the Son of God. The great figure of Advent, the harbinger of the Savior is calling out from the wilderness. And yes, let it dawn on you; he is calling for you.