INAUGURATING A NEW HUMANITY
John proclaimed that the reign of God was ‘at hand’ as he immersed and plunged followers into the waters of the Jordan River. (His nickname was John the Immerser, or ‘baptiser’ in the Greek.) He used flowing water to symbolise the washing away of the past for those who repented so that they could be totally focused on the ‘at hand’ person who would inaugurate God’s kingdom.
In this passage, John does not identify the ‘Someone’! But he realised that this ‘Someone’ would have divine power to affect the future by immersing, baptising, his followers with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
At this stage of Advent, we should be like John’s disciples, filled with a sense of anticipation, looking forward to the coming towards us (‘Advent’ in Latin) of the One who can flood our minds and bodies with the Holy Spirit and can immerse our hearts in Divine Fire.
We could pause for a moment to thank God that, even though we are unworthy to carry His sandals, there is One who is coming towards us wanting to transform us with Divine Power.
© Fr Michael Tate; mtate@bigpond.com, https://www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Dec07/0/RefMiTa