John the Baptist: The Man Who Would Not Keep His Mouth Shut
Reflection for the 2nd Sunday of Advent Year A
I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight! – Isaiah 40:3
A boy (let’s call him John) gets hauled to the discipline master’s office.
His school uniform is untucked, he snacks openly in class, and when the teacher is teaching, he constantly interrupts with “irrelevant” remarks.
He is finally reported to the discipline master for “insulting the class prefect.”
And the discipline master begins his interrogation. “John, why do you always have to attract attention? Is it because you cannot keep your mouth shut?”
And John replies “I am sorry sir, you are mistaken. It’s because I WOULD NOT keep my mouth shut.”
When presented with this bare outline of the facts, you probably would shake your head and lament, “kids these days, when in the wrong they still talk back.”
“Sigh. So defiant.”
And you would probably be right.
But for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, the Gospel reading says, “Hold on, not so fast, that kid might be John the Baptist.”
Of course, John the Baptist is not a naughty schoolboy — but the principle stands.
If you read on, I will explain.
Everything John the Baptist does attracts attention.
His dressing “he wore a garment made of camel hair”. (Matthew 3:4)
His diet “his food was locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4)
His dramatic gestures, “as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan, they confessed their sins”. (Matthew 3:6)
And finally, his message
“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2)
And the Gospel is explicit that he is doing this deliberately so that his original audience will associate him with whom the Prophet Isaiah spoke of
“A voice cries in the wilderness,
Prepare a way for the Lord
Make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:3)
And he has succeeded in getting the attention of “Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole Jordan district.” (Matthew 3:5)
Everybody is showing up to see him.
Including the “discipline masters” of his day; the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The scene could not be more dramatic.
The crowd saw the religious authorities of the day.
And they may well be thinking, ‘Oh, showdown time. Let’s grab the popcorn.”
And the religious authorities decide to “give face” to John the Baptist.
They seem to agree with him.
And even wanted to be baptised by him. (Matthew 3:7)
They seem to be offering him a gesture of friendship and cooperation.
And how does he respond?
In the “worst” possible way.
By calling them a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7)
If John had a PR consultant at that time, he would probably be tearing his hair out.
“John, you have already succeeded. The religious authorities have offered such a generous concession! Why are you doing this?!”
But John is not interested in Public Relations.
But in proclamation.
He sees them coming.
And felt that the most charitable thing for him to do was to call them out.
Attentive readers of the Gospels will know that John the Baptist is not the only person who likes to attract attention.
The Pharisees do that all the time.
Wearing tassels and long phylacteries. (Matthew 23:5)
Praying loudly in the marketplace. (Matthew 6:5)
Fasting regularly and letting everyone know that they are doing so. (Matthew 6:16)
Not content to keep their piety personal, they are likewise zealous in getting their fellow Jews to do the same.
But John sees through their empty show.
It is a religious performance.
And he will have none of this.
His prophetic utterance, “who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming?” (Matthew 3:7) was designed to be disruptive.
I am attracting attention to prepare the hearts of the people for the kingdom.
They are attracting attention to build their own kingdoms.
The Gospel passage paints two portraits of “attention-seeking behavior.”
One is driven by performance.
The other by prophecy.
And challenges us to follow the example of John the Baptist.
Will we be willing to “attract” attention by the way we dress and carry ourselves, so that others will be attentive to the demands of the kingdom?
Or is our attempt to “attract” attention simply a “wayang*? All performance but no substance?” “Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?
(*Singaporean slang for putting on a show & acting in front of others, derived from the Malay word for 'shadow puppet show')
To discern the difference, we turn to the first and second readings.
In the first reading, we read that when the Messiah comes, he does “not judge by appearances, gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.” (Isaiah 11:3-4)
Do we aspire to do the same?
Or in a perverse reversal, judge instead by appearances, and give verdicts based on hearsay?
If we do the first, we will, by our words and actions, be doing what the second reading says. Teaching others “something about hope” (Romans 15:4) because we become “examples scripture gives of how people who did not give up were helped by God?” (Romans 15:4)
John the Baptist could have kept his mouth shut.
But he would not.
Because he loved God and loved people enough to want to speak the truth.
This Advent, we are invited to let his life shape our own.
May we speak truth in love, act with integrity, and prepare the way for the Lord — until the day when, as the psalm says, “Justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.” (Psalm 72:7)
