Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

Peter H. Davids

Ordinary Time • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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While the Isaiah prophecy is seems true of both Jesus and John, we realize it shows John as the first rays of dawn pointing to the rising sun. And John had the humility to accept this, to prepare rather than fit the mold of the priest-king or even of a priest. He, like God's plan for us, was unique. So our lives too have a plan that is in relationship to Jesus. We may seem to be failures, but in the end God will fit us into our place in which we rejoice in the risen sun, Jesus.

Notes

Transcript

Title

The First Rays of Dawn

Outline

Dawn is a complex phenomenon

One has the brightening of the sky in the east

One has the first rays of sunlight shooting from the edge of the rising sun

One then has the sun ball itself rising into full visibility, often changing from red to burning yellow-white

And that is why it is so difficult to categorize the various personages in Advent for all are involved in the dawn of a new age

Isaiah speaks of one called and named before birth

This fits, of course, both John the Baptist and Jesus

“Before birth the LORD called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name”

This one has a purpose for their life

And although it is Jesus who is “Israel in one person,” both address Israel

Both could say that they had apparently toiled in vain, but both were God’s servant from the womb and knew that their recompense was from the Lord.

However, while the text mostly fits both, in the end the servant is a light to the nations, so it is as if the first rays of dawn have now shifted to the full sun, as if John has faded into the brightness of Jesus.

Thus we get Acts’ summary

The focus is on the son of David, but John “heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.”

And that meant the humility of knowing who he was in relationship to Jesus (a younger relative who likely originally looked like one of his followers) and what his job was, to prepare for Jesus rather than to bring full salvation. And that was not easy in a nation that had most recently been ruled by priest-kings, the Hasmoneans.

The parents had to affirm this at his birth

They were both in the Aaronic line and the conception had been preceded by divine revelation - how much of this was communicated to Elizabeth before the conception we do not know, for Zechariah was mute, but she knows enough by the birth.

Those around them rejoice at the birth, for it was what we would call not just an unexpected but a high risk pregnancy (due to Elizabeth’s age) and both mother and child were healthy afterwards - it was a grace of God.

The circumcision including the naming would place the baby in a family line. Zechariah, says the family, the priestly line. No, says Elizabeth, John, the prophetically given name. We do not know if John ever functioned as a priest, although he may have been with the Qumran group, but Jesus later says he is a prophet, and more than a prophet, a unique prophet in a category all his own.

This disruption in the naming that Elizabeth triggered made them call Zechariah. A tablet was brought, “John” was scratched into the wax surface, and Zechariah becomes vocal, praising God. A prophetic sign has taken place.

No wonder those friends and relatives said, ‘“What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.’ Perhaps they were not surprised when he later went into the desert like Moses, although he would point to or prepare for and not lead his people to salvation.

Well, Sisters, there we see something for us

We are, or at least I am, a bit player in the drama of God, but still God called us, knew us, had a plan for us before birth, although our parents may have been totally oblivious and we might ourselves not see the picture fully until we look back on our lives.

We do know that the plan is about our relationship to Jesus - he is the core, the center, the risen sun - and that God will work it out, whatever it looks like.

It likely is not dramatic, we may never be known as saints, but God’s design is to make us saints, even if we do not “fit the mold” of what others expect his design to look like.

With this in mind, we can rest in God whose “hand is on us” even if we are in a desert at times, for while our role is not that of John, the first rays of dawn, it does include his virtues and obedience to God (and perhaps seeming failure) so that in the end we will see ourselves eclipsed in the risen sun, Jesus, before whom we rejoice, happy to have played our part as he became all in all.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 6-24-2023: Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

FIRST READING

Isaiah 49:1–6

CHAPTER 49

1 Hear me, coastlands,

listen, distant peoples.

Before birth the LORD called me,

from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.

2 He made my mouth like a sharp-edged sword,

concealed me, shielded by his hand.

He made me a sharpened arrow,

in his quiver he hid me.

3 He said to me, You are my servant,

in you, Israel, I show my glory.

4 Though I thought I had toiled in vain,

for nothing and for naught spent my strength,

Yet my right is with the LORD,

my recompense is with my God.

5 For now the LORD has spoken

who formed me as his servant from the womb,

That Jacob may be brought back to him

and Israel gathered to him;

I am honored in the sight of the LORD,

and my God is now my strength!

6 It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the survivors of Israel;

I will make you a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Catholic Daily Readings 6-24-2023: Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

RESPONSE

Psalm 139:14

14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;

wonderful are your works!

My very self you know.

PSALM

Psalm 139:1b–3, 13–15

1 For the leader. A psalm of David.

LORD, you have probed me, you know me:

2 you know when I sit and stand;

you understand my thoughts from afar.

3 You sift through my travels and my rest;

with all my ways you are familiar.

13 You formed my inmost being;

you knit me in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;

wonderful are your works!

My very self you know.

15 My bones are not hidden from you,

When I was being made in secret,

fashioned in the depths of the earth.

Catholic Daily Readings 6-24-2023: Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

SECOND READING

Acts 13:22–26

22 Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.’ 23 From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. 24 John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; 25 and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’

26 “My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.

Catholic Daily Readings 6-24-2023: Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Luke 1:76

76 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

GOSPEL

Luke 1:57–66, 80

57 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” 61 But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 62 So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 63 He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. 65 Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 6-24-2023: Birth of John the Baptist, During the Day

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2023 | SOLEMNITY

BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

DURING THE DAY

YEARS ABC | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Isaiah 49:1–6

Response Psalm 139:14

Psalm Psalm 139:1b–3, 13–15

Second Reading Acts 13:22–26

Gospel Acclamation Luke 1:76

Gospel Luke 1:57–66, 80

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