Ninth Day of Christmas: John the Baptist

 See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.

Malachi 4:5-6

All four gospels, before they tell us the story of Jesus’ life, describe the ministry of John the Baptist.  He often gets skipped in the preparation of Advent and Christmas, but to the gospel writers, he was an essential part of the story.

John the Baptist lived an ascetic life in the wilderness, preaching “the repentance of sins” and baptizing people. Baptism is from a Greek word that means “dunk.”  John’s baptism was drawn from the Jewish mikveh, the purifying bath used after ceremonial uncleannes and, more importantly, as an element in conversions to Judaism.

Christians see John the Baptist as the prophet who came in the spirit of Elijah, as predicted by Malachi. His purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah.  Malachi’s description is of someone whom God uses to soften the hardened heart, turning resentment into compassion.

When we look at the preaching and baptizing of John, hie message and his symbolism is this: sin is in every heart, and every person must repent.  His essential message is that, to meet God, every person must become a convert.  However we were raised, however certain we are about what we have done or think we know, we come to God humbly, or we don’t come at all.

God is not interested in our credentials.

The Son of God who was born in a stable wants to be born in our hearts, too.  Glitz does not impress him.  He wants us, but as we really are, flaws and all, at that holy nexus of humility over our failures and joy at his forgiveness.

The Messiah who came to bring peace between the soul and God could only come to those whose souls were not at peace.