With Opened Bible
Third Sunday of Advent - John the Baptist
“Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 12:11)
Several figures of men and women marked the coming of the Lord, who remain prominent in the Advent liturgy. Among these figures is John the Baptist, whom Jesus called "the greatest among those born of women." Why did Jesus speak this way about John? John, or Jonathan (in Hebrew, meaning "Gift of God"), is the miraculous son of Zechariah, a priest of the tribe of Levi, and his wife Elizabeth, an apprentice to the Virgin Mary. (See Luke 1:5-7) John became the greatest for several reasons.
1. He is the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first of the New. Thus, he became the bridge between the two.
2. John was an apprentice to Christ; he was his second cousin.
3. John was the only prophet who announced the coming of the Lord and who saw him with his own eyes. (See John 1:29, 34)
4. John had the privilege of baptizing the Lord, who is the very Author of baptism. (See Mark 1:9)
5. John was the first to offer his life as a sacrifice (martyrdom) to testify that Jesus is the truth. (See Matthew 12:2; 14:1-12) All the reasons above make John the greatest of the children born of woman.
But it is because of his first encounter with the unborn Christ that we rejoice today on this Sunday of Joy. "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, 'Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Luke1,41-42) With the desert, the parched land, and the steppe, let us exult and rejoice. (Isaiah 35.1-2) For, our salvation is at hand. “(James 5, 8)
