2024/10/14

165. Time Difference

The liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council shifted the Mass liturgy to a style in which the priest and the congregation encircle the altar. That was a big step towards the "fresh wineskins", of which Jesus said, "But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins" (Luke 5:38). Jesus said, "For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40), and prayed, "And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (17:3). Herein lies the heart of the plan of salvation that the Father has entrusted to Jesus. So, to ensure that the step I mentioned above is taken forward, I would like to examine God's plan of salvation by following the life of John the Baptist. 

John the Baptist had been given the angel's announcement, "[H]e will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared" (Luke 1:17), his father Zachariah's prophecy "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins" (1:76-77), and the word of God "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (3:4-6). He went before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah and gave the Lord's people knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins so that all men would see the salvation of God. 

The Gospel tells us that when people heard John the Baptist's voice, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2), they came to him from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan, and were baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins, and that many Pharisees and Sadducees also came for baptism and heard his teaching (cf. 3:3-10). It further states that he also gave various exhortations to tax collectors and soldiers and preached good news to the people (cf. Luke 3:7-18). 

John also baptised Jesus and "saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him" (John 1:32). He then deliberately led his disciples towards Jesus. The Gospel says: "The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus" (1:35-37). John prophesied that Jesus was the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (1:29), who "was before me" (1:30), who "baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (1:33) and "this is the Son of God" (1:34). 

Moreover, he realised that the true purpose for which Jesus was sent was to end the old covenant and fulfil the new covenant (the bride) and said: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:29-30). As Jesus said, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Eli'jah who is to come" (Matthew 11:13-14), we see John the Baptist's resolution to bear the end of the old covenant prophecy in his words, "I must decrease". He, like Elijah, challenged the iniquity against God and was killed. 

Jesus asked his disciples, "Eli'jah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?" (Mark 9:12). This question was his own word of challenge to the suffering and death that Jesus, who alone knew its answer, would suffer to "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Jesus had been carrying a plan to rescue "his people", the future of Christians, from the crumbling Jerusalem and transfer them to the new city so that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him would have eternal life and that he would raise them on the last day. It was a challenge, like a parent saving his child in exchange for his own life. Jesus, the Son of God, as a perfect human being, stamped his name on the forehead of the Roman Empire by undergoing the Roman Empire penalty of crucifixion. 

Pilate took water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves" (Matthew 27:24). But Jesus' thoughts had already captured the Roman Empire. The apostle Paul took God's grand plan on his shoulders and set foot on Roman soil according to Jesus' exhortation, "Take courage" (Acts 23:11). 

Meanwhile, to Pilate's words, the people responded in unison: "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25). "His blood" is the blood of which Jesus said, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (26:28). God is waiting for the day when the Old Covenant people, whom he had chosen and nurtured, will co-bear responsibility for this new "blood of the covenant" together with the Christians. Therefore, in the Book of Revelation, we have the following words. 

"It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:12-14). 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.