THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

A good Sunday to everyone. 

The first words God speaks in the Bible are: “Let there be light.” God saw that the light was good and separated it from the darkness. From then on, light has been the symbol of the positive, beautiful, and good throughout the Bible. “God is wrapped in light as in a cloak,” says Psalm 104. This symbolism continues throughout the New Testament, and it is above all John who takes it up. At the beginning of his first letter, he says: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness.” From the beginning of his Gospel, in the prologue, he presents the coming of the Son of God to the world as the emergence of light. 

Humanity was wrapped in dense darkness, the darkness of evil, sin, and injustice; in this darkness, the light of heaven descended. How was it received? He also says this in the prologue, at the beginning of his Gospel. As expected, the darkness did not resign itself to disappearing; it reacted and made war against the light. And John, in Asia Minor, in Ephesus, where he lived the last years of his life, personally experienced this dramatic opposition to the light of the Gospel. Those who accepted the Gospel in Asia Minor, in Ephesus, and refused to worship the statue of the beast, that is, to adapt to the criteria on which the pagan empire was based, were discriminated against and socially marginalized. 

But by the end of the first century, John could happily affirm, as he wrote the prologue to his Gospel: “The darkness has not conquered light.” At the beginning of his Gospel, he introduces the figure of the Baptist. 

Let’s hear how: 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 

Let us now see how John presents the figure of the Baptist. He says the Baptist was a man sent by God; he had a great mission to accomplish. Each of us has a mission to fulfill in this world … How do you know what this mission is? It is only necessary to discover our identity. When we realize who we are, we also understand what God expects of us. We are unique in creation; if one of us does not fulfill this mission, no one else does. As we can see, the Baptist has a clear sense of his identity; he knows what he is called to do in the world. 

The second detail the evangelist mentions is that his name was John; ‘Yohanan,’ in Hebrew, means ‘God is love.’ This is the Baptist’s identity and the mission he is called to carry out. He must point to the person toward whom all must look if you want to contemplate the light of God’s face. When you look where the Baptist indicates, the person of Jesus, you will discover that God is love. If, instead, you turn your gaze to idols that people have created, you will never see this light and will not experience the joy of discovering that God is love and only love. 

Third characteristic: the Baptist presented by the Synoptics is the forerunner who goes before the Messiah. In John, he is not a forerunner; he is a witness. We have heard it: “He came to bear witness to the light so that all would believe through him. He was not the light but a witness of the light.” Note the insistence on this testimony of the Baptist. The evangelist tells us that the Baptist saw the light and showed it to all of us; he testified that Jesus was the light of God. “He was not the light,” insists the evangelist; he insists because, at the end of the first century, many still professed their faith in the Baptist and considered themselves his disciples, even in opposition to Jesus. This is why the evangelist says that John was not the light. He bore witness, indicated the light, and who was this light? We know it is Jesus, who has said, as the evangelist John will refer to later: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me does not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 

What light is it? It is the light of the face of God; it is the light that shines on the authentic man, the successful man, the true Son of God. How did John see this light? John saw Jesus not only outwardly. The Baptist saw precisely what everyone saw, and, in addition, he had a look that saw beyond what appeared on the surface, beyond what was verified by all. 

Today, everyone sees Jesus, and some say: “I saw an extraordinary man who marked the history of the world with his message and his life.” But many stop there; they only see what is undeniable, something that does not need a testimony; it is enough to read in history books. We can bear witness to what the Baptist saw only if we also have the same experience; otherwise, we will tell what we have read in books, and we will not convince anyone, because to understand who Jesus is, to capture this light, you have to have a particular gaze to see beyond what everyone sees, and the Spirit gives this look. 

The Baptist saw the Spirit settle on and remain in Jesus. If we do not recognize this deep identity of Jesus of Nazareth, we cannot bear witness to the light of God in the face of Christ, as the Baptist did. And now, let’s hear the testimony the Baptist gave: 

This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask who he was. He did not fail to confess but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ They asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Finally, they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way for the Lord.’ 

The historian Josephus Flavius, who lived a few years later and spoke with those who had known the Baptist, tells us that he was a good man who exhorted the Jews to live righteous lives and to treat one another justly. He also says that the crowds listened to him with growing enthusiasm, and that he raised hopes so much that the rumor spread that he was the Messiah. This ever-increasing success immediately worried the religious authorities from Jerusalem, as always happens, because light disturbs those who prefer darkness; those who do evil hate the light. 

The corrupt religious hierarchy immediately realized they were in danger; darkness would end if the light came. The temple priests remembered well what the prophet Malachi had said. He had threatened that one day the Lord would make a clean sweep of this unworthy religious institution, corrupt and in collusion with power. Chapter 3 says, “The Lord will purify the temple for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap” (Mal 3:2). 

This is why the religious authority sends a commission of priests and Levites. Why are the Levites also there? They were the sacristans in the temple, but they also served as policemen; if someone misbehaved, they could arrest and punish him. The presence of the Levites in this commission indicates that, if they discovered something wrong with the Baptist, they could also arrest him. They find him and ask, “Who are you?” We have heard his solemn reply. The evangelist says he confessed and did not deny. He admitted, “I am not Christ.” 

In the first place, he says what he is not because there is confusion in the environment; some think of an identity different from his own, and he does not want to create a false identity. Many people like him, too, and would be willing to believe him if he claimed to be the Messiah; the Baptist could destroy the prestige he is acquiring among the people … But he does not want a false identity because it would lead him to carry out a mission that is not his. The Messiah is another. 

They asked him: Are you Elijah? I’m not, he replied. Why Elijah? Elijah had been taken up to heaven, and it was believed he was not dead and would return before the beginning of the new world. The Baptist denied that he was Elijah. They asked him if he was a prophet, and he said no. Who was this prophet? Before he died, Moses told the people: “One day, the Lord will send a prophet like me.”The people were waiting for this prophet. This is why they asked the Baptist if he was the expected prophet. He answered: No. 

Let us note the concise answers he always gives. First, he says: “I am not the Christ”; then: “I am not.” And in the end: “No.” Enough already … Our identity must be defined first by what we are not, because pride could lead us to create a false identity of our own; it would be our undoing. We are neither what people think we are nor what they want us to be. They ask him: Tell us who you are, because we have to answer those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? 

This is a question we must each address: What do you say about yourself? How aware are you of your role in God’s plan? What meaning does it have for your life? What are you doing in this world? Here is the importance of becoming aware of who we are: what do you say about yourself, not what others say about you? The Baptist answers, declaring his identity and mission: “I, a voice.” He does not say ‘I am’ – ‘I, a voice of one who shouts in the desert.’ 

He does not appear as the Word but as the voice that serves the Word. Saint Augustine clearly distinguished between voice and word. The voice is the sound; it is what I am doing now. The voice serves the word; therefore, the voice, the sound, must disappear because if the sound remains, it only creates confusion; the sound must disappear so that the word remains. The Baptist is voice, not word. He serves the word; once his mission is accomplished, he must step aside. If he had wanted to remain on the scene, he would have created misunderstandings, and a cult of personality would have arisen. That ruins so many people who follow what is said about them: the applause of flatterers or their pride. 

After clarifying who he is, the Baptist addresses these religious authorities and says, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” You must straighten it out because you are the spiritual guides, but you have done it wrong, and those who follow your path, which you have complicated, do not see the light of the Lord.”

Your provisions, laws, and traditions have complicated the path to God, and people cannot access the Lord because of them. 

Let us now listen to the meaning the Baptist gives to the baptism he administers: 

Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, ‘Why do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ ‘I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, and I am not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals.’ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

In Israel, the belief was widespread that the Messiah would administer baptism upon entering the world. This is why the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem asked the Baptist: “If you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet, why do you baptize?” What is the point of your baptism? John clarifies: My baptism is entirely different from the Messiah’s. “I baptize with water.” 

Baptism has this meaning: become aware that there is a need to change your life, that you still live in darkness, and that a light is needed … ‘Look, the Pharisees sent you… Look around … the Pharisees do not come to be baptized by me because they are convinced that they already have the full light; they don’t want to realize that they are still in the dark. Look… I brought the people out of Judea, and I have baptized them here in Bethabara. I led them back to the pagan land only to realize they needed to retrace the exodus path to reach the true promised land, and whoever introduced them to this authentic promised land would be the light that I would indicate.’ 

Then the Baptist clarifies his position regarding the one who will come from the light he will indicate, and he does so with an image his listeners know very well, since they understand the law and its legal aspects. The Baptist says, “I am not worthy to bend over to untie the straps of sandals of the one who must come.” This expression is so vital that it is repeated five times in the New Testament. It has been interpreted as a sign of humility on the part of the Baptist. NO. It is much more. 

It alludes to a practice well known in the Bible and well understood by those who have come to interview the Baptist because they know the legal aspects of life. The practice of ‘halitzáh’—footwear removal—is well known in the Bible. What did it consist of? We must refer to the famous custom of “levirate,” in which, when a childless man dies, his brother has to take the widow as his wife. But it was not always done quickly, either because the widow didn’t like her husband’s brother, or because the brother did not want to share his inheritance with the widow’s son, since this son was not his own. 

Moreover, the child bore his brother’s name. Thus, when one refused to assume one’s duty, the task passed to another, and some legislation was established to determine who should succeed the brother who refused to follow the law. And when one took the place of the other, the disobedient brother had to appear before the city gate, before witnesses, and a sandal was removed from his foot with a spat on his face (Deut 25:9): ‘You have refused to do your duty, and that’s why I take your place.’ And this gesture was called the ‘no sandals.’ The untying or removing of the sandal meant that the right to be that woman’s husband was passed to another. 

What is the Baptist trying to say? They understood it very well. It means: ‘I have no right to take off his sandals. Israel, the Lord’s wife, was infertile because she had turned away from her husband, the Lord. From the prophet Hosea onward, all the prophets used this wonderful image of the Lord as the husband and Israel as his wife. But if the wife has become estranged from her husband, she becomes infertile. The Baptist says that now the husband is coming. ‘I am the husband’s friend, and I am glad because now I hear his voice; I have no right to take off his sandals; he is the husband. I do everything possible for this wedding to be fruitful.’ 

It is a beautiful message offered to us this Sunday. First, let’s recognize that we, too, are still shrouded in darkness. Perhaps we have intuited something of the light of Christ, but perhaps he is among us and we still do not know him. We must grasp the message the Baptist gives us: Become aware of your condition; if you do not have the light of Christ, you will not reach the land of freedom. 

I wish you all a blessed Sunday and a good preparation for the coming of the Lord.