John 1,19-28. Advent IV

John 1,19-28 0425

Memento nostri. Advent IV 04 

Ischyrion, Martyr in Egypt 250. (Emperor Decius’ persecution 249-51)

22. Dezember 2024

1. ℣ Remember us, O Yahweh, in the good pleasure of Your people:  

℟ Visit us in Your salvation. (Psalm 104,4a VUL LXX).

memento nostri, Domine, in beneplacito populi tui: visita nos in salutari tuo. LXX 

O Lord Jesus Christ, all Your holy Christendom rejoices this day to celebrate Your holy advent. We, poor, erring lambs, leap for joy that You, O Shepherd and Bishop of our lives, cause Your gracious presence to be realized among us in the blessed virgin Mary. O Lord do not depart from us with Your grace, but let us gratefully realize this gracious day of Your visitation, so that Your advent may always be salutary and full of grace unto us. With all Your pure Word, Your holy Sacraments, Your wisdom, support, favor, blessing and grace, visit us in our churches and our homes. We rejoice that You do not arrive as a Just Judge before whom we tremble, but rather You arrive as the Kind Redeemer with whom we will be co-heirs of the reign of heaven.  Amen. (Loehe 444-46) 

2. »And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: „Who are you?“ ²⁰He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed: „I am not the Christ.“ ²¹And they asked him: „What then? Are you Elijah?“ He said: „I am not.“ „Are you the Prophet?"“ And he answered: „No.“ ²²So they said to him: „Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?“ ²³He said: „I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, [Isaiah 40,3] as the Prophet Isaiah said.“ ²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him: „Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah nor the Prophet“? ²⁶John answered them: „I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷even He who arrives after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.“ ²⁸These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.« 

3. The 4^th Sunday in Advent draws highlights for us that Jesus is so significant that even John the Baptizer, the last, and perhaps greatest, of the Prophets, is unworthy to perform even the lowliest of service for the Christ. 

4. John the Baptizer certainly looks and sounds like a Jewish prophet from of old. But who is he? They probably knew his pedigree as a priest and the son of Zechariah. Is the Baptizer the Christ, Elijah or the Prophet Moses had told their ancestors to expect? John said he is none of these, but simply the one preparing the way for the Christ, the Father’s anointed one. 

5. Jesus has not manifested Himself yet publicly, so the religious authorities have no inkling of Him and what is about to be in store for Judah. While they know the Scriptures, they cannot fathom whom John is nor Jesus who succeeds him. On the cusp of the Messiah’s arrival into the midst of His people, even the religious authorities have no clear understanding of the texts. 

6. People often approach Jesus with preconceived notions of Him and the Scriptural texts. They read into them their won biases, cultural assumptions, philosophy and theology. Many Pharisees in Jesus’ day expected the Messiah to be a political figure, akin to conquering King David, who would restore the Davidic kingdom, liberate the land from Roman rule and set up the Davidic monarch. This Messiah would also judge the Gentiles, establish righteousness and usher in an era of peace and prosperity for Judah. The average Jewish man and woman basically held these presuppositions for the Messiah; even the apostles exhibited such biases at times in how they perceived Jesus’ ministry.  

7. The Baptizer preached a different Messianic expectation. His ministry was one of preparing for the advent of the Messiah. As the son of a priest, his emphasis was on repentance. Those baptized by him confess that they prepare themselves for the Messiah by repenting of their sins. This was the prophetic ministry of all the Prophets who preceded Joh. One an hear the opening words of the Prophet Isaiah in John’s preaching: »Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause« (Isaiah 1,4.16). 

8. We are to heed the Baptizer’s preaching. We prepare ourselves with the confession of our sins and acknowledging that we are poor, miserable sinners. This is the humble path of repentance. »Make me to know Your ways, O Yahweh; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long. Remember Your mercy, O Yahweh, and Your merciful steadfast love, for they have been from of old« (Psalm 25,4-6). »καὶ δεῦτε καὶ διελεγχθῶμεν λέγει κύριος καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ὡς φοινικοῦν ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ ἐὰν δὲ ὦσιν ὡς κόκκινον ὡς ἔριον λευκανῶ καὶ ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε. Let us reason together, says the Yahweh: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; and though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool: and if you are willing, and hearken unto Me, then you shall eat the good of the land« (Isaiah 1,18-19). 

9. Absolution is given to the repentant. Yahweh is merciful and generous with His forgiveness. Thus the Apostle John wrote: ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1,17). The Messianic age was not about overthrowing the Roman authority and reestablishing the Davidic kingdom; the Messianic age is about bringing to Jews and Gentiles the merciful steadfast love of God the Father embodied by his son, Jesus Christ. The baptizer saw that messianic age and prepared people for its arrival. 

10. „And if He is the Son of God, then is He also God, of one form with the Father, and co-eternal; in Him the Father possesses all manifestation (φανερόςιν : make visible, shine, manifest); He is His Image in the person, and through His reflection the (Father’s) Glory shines forth. And as from the ever-flowing fountain the streams proceed, so also from this ever-flowing and ever-living fountain does the light of the world proceed, the perennial and the true, namely Christ our God. For it is of this that the Prophets have preached: »Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei. The rushing of the river makes glad the city of God« (Psalm 45,5 vul lxx; Psalm 46,4a). And not one city only, but all cities; for even as it makes glad one city, so does it also the whole world“ (Gregory Thaumaturgus 1^st Homily On the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary). 

11. „In [Christ] we have forgiveness of sins. In Him we have the righteousness in which we are clothed as we stand before God. In Christ we have God as our gracious Father. He also gives us the Holy Spirit through whom we have the inspired Scriptures that speak the life-giving Gospel into our hearts. We have the Spirit as our Guide and Comforter. He empowers the Word of truth in us so it transforms us and our lives“ (Nagel 24). 

12. On a donkey He approaches us,  

Riding small and serene,  

He stands in the midst among us,  

As our sacrifice supreme.  

He brings no worldly treasure,  

His aim is to obtain  

Through death and His own measure,  

Eternal life to gain.

 (Nun jauchzet, all ihr Frommen selk 310,2 2021 Michael Schirmer 1640) 

This is most certainly true. 

13. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7).  Amen. 

14. Let us pray. O Lord, give us grace to walk before Thee all the days of this our pilgrimage with a good conscience and pure mind, that when Thou shalt appear to reward every man according to his deeds, we may rejoice and not be ashamed before Thee at Thy advent. Grant this for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen. (Advent iv, 2^nd Vespers Collect. The Daily Office). 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Nagel, Norman. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. Frederick W. Baue, Ed. Copyright © 2004 Concordia Publishing House. 

The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.