When God speaks, we need a mediator to translate his word. For John, the desert is the place of vocation and the Jordan is the site of his sermon.
On the dawning of a new era, his is “the voice shouting in the wilderness.” He calls out for conversion, for a return to God. He announces a possible future and God’s intervention in the history of mankind. God’s desire is for the re-establishment of justice; justice is God’s will, and he listens to the poor among us.
God associated humanity with the creation of a new city, the city of Jerusalem. Humankind’s vocation is to eradicate inequality; God promises salvation for all, Jews and pagans alike. Justice means respect for individuals, respect for the dignity of one and all. John addresses the crowd, all of whom came to be baptized. The crowd was made up of men and women who were, first and foremost, in a state of waiting for a future.
It is hard not to read this passage of the Gospel without thinking about the extreme violence taking place across France and other places. It is hard not to think about the pleas and demands for basic social justice and fairer division of society’s resources. The tax collectors asked John: “And what should we do?” This is now the question we too must answer.
John’s answer marks a new tone heralding a new stage in relation to Jesus. John does not tell the people to fast or pray, nor to give sacrifices. What he asks of them is justice. He or she who does not work to establish justice is no less a sinner than the thief.
Food and clothing are the very basic needs in our lives. To fulfil the commandment of love, we must make sure that nobody suffers from lack of these basic things. Note that in John’s answer he does not idealize poverty and he makes no moral judgement. There is, however, an ethical imperative for justice. For him, this consists of sharing without depriving oneself and not asking for more than necessary, or reasonable, as we would say today. We need ask simply for what is “just” in order to respect each person in flesh and blood. To define what is “just” depends on the political process engaging elected delegates and citizens in meaningful dialogue.
Already, John brings the announcement of the Good News, the impossibility that was to become possible: “one who is more powerful that I will come.” The God of the Bible is he who becomes man, thereby opening up a radical new future for all men and women to seize. John calls out to the Spirit, the symbol of which is fire.
Again, in his words, we find no moral judgement, but rather a straightforward statement of fact, based very much in the real world. John says “he who will come” will separate people according to their deeds, not according to their words and promises but their participation and actions towards justice between people. This is where the image of the winnowing fork appears, separating the wheat from the chaff. For us, harvest time is nigh.
It is up to individuals to hear, through the words of Christ, God’s call to become part of society in a real way, to engage in life in a way that means we can fully realize our truths. We have to understand our place as individuals and as part of the collective through our relationship with the other and, therefore, with God. It is up to every one of us to hear the call of the beatitudes. It is part of our identities, not in any imaginary way, but in a way that is entirely concrete.
Becoming part of humankind and embracing one’s responsibilities as a citizen is to become a participant in life with our fellow citizens, participating in real life which engages with others and, in doing so, becoming children of God, the Father of all humankind. More than ever, in this world we are constructing, no one can be left behind; all of us must have a place at the center of tomorrow’s society.
