The truth is attractive. John the Baptist speaks the truth, and they come flocking to him. He doesn’t seek glory for himself—in fact, he accepts that he must become less so that Jesus can become more. And he preaches not for his own gain, but to proclaim a future wonder just being born as Jesus begins his ministry. So his vehemence and the force of his message—come forth and confess your sins, because the kingdom is at hand—come through clearly and effectively. Good news about the future and forgiveness while you’re at it… not a bad deal.
We see that so often today, both in popular media and on the local level: the slick and clever message that doesn’t stick, doesn’t last; the preachers whom the writer Katelyn Beaty calls “celebrities for Jesus,” who are looking to make a buck and end up hurting Christians—and losing their way completely.
But then we look at the events we commemorate in the season in which we are now fully engaged: the Christ Child about to be born to the least likely of people in the most humble of circumstances. There’s no reason to be drawn to that person either, on the surface of it—and yet he attracts shepherds, kings, wise men, angels. And John the Baptist himself, eventually, someone who knew that God speaks most clearly through the gritty and the humble. That’s hot.
--James T. Keane
Image source: Mattia Preti (Il Cavaliere Calabrese), John the Baptist Preaching (1665), https://www.famsf.org/artworks/saint-john-the-baptist-preaching
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