“THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN”
Saint John 1. 19-28
Rorate Coeli-the Fourth Sunday of Advent: 20 December Anno Domini 2009
Fr Watson S.S.P.
John the Evangelist begins his Gospel almost at the point of the Baptizer's life and ministry. John, one of the Twelve, writes about the Baptizing One because everything that John, son of Zacharias, did and said was about the Christ of God.
He correctly writes "this is the testimony of John."
The Son of Zebedee's testimony is the same, the identical testimony as Johns, and as mine. The good news is Jesus.
The bad news is you.
Before sin, before the fall, Adam and Eve knew God. They knew the Holy Trinity perfectly and were known by the Godhead perfectly. They knew each other and there was no sin. After the fall, not only did they hide, not only did they know they, of themselves, were utterly naked of any good, merit, or righteousness, they also lost the ability to know God as He IS. The eyes of man are now "held," "shut," and "clouded" as surely as the eyes of the men on the road to Emmaus were incapable of seeing God; as impossible as it was for the blinded Saul of Tarsus to see God on the Damascus Way. Man's vaunted capacity to recognize, discern, evaluate, predict and analyze is fatally flawed and decidedly damned. Those who wish to live by their wisdom will burn eternally with their imbecility. Those who demand to live by sight will spend all of ages to come eyeless in Gaza.
Sin gives birth to adversaries. Men are not born blank slates and neutral agents who can decide to be evil or good, black or white. Men are born genetic pagans serving the prince of this world. Men are by nature enemies of God, or as you confessed, sinful and unclean.
Sinners (as sinners, the old Adams) no longer know God. The old nature of man can't recognize the Lord by vision. It seeks signs, but is given only the Sign of Jonah. The man without the Spirit called Counselor, seeks glory and triumph but will be given only a blood soaked Crucifix and a Suffering Servant. Ecce Homo: Behold the Man!
"Who are you?" is the question non-believers asked of Jesus. He knew this, and thus He put His own 12 to the test of testifying to Him: "Who do people say that I am? But what about you, Who do you say the Son of Man is?"
It works by way of descending Grace…in a way. Grace descends, ascends, surrounds, penetrates, enlivens, fortifies, cleanses, refreshes…
The Father is the First Person of the Godhead. Not the best, not the most "god," not the boss, but the Father.
The Father sends His Son. That Son is the Only-Begotten One from eternity; but is also Jesus, born of the Virgin.
The Son was testified to before His fleshly Incarnation, and before His visible, incarnational Work; before His suffering and death, by ALL the Prophets. The greatest Old Testament Prophet, the one who raised a dead child back to life, was Elijah. The greatest New Testament prophet, the greatest in the entire kingdom of men, is John Baptizer-he who is the great "Elijah to come."
The Son of God, Christ Jesus, sends his 12 into the entire world as His Own voice, works, forgiveness, and authority.
The Son of God sends, not only the 12, but their successors of all places, peoples, and times to likewise, preach Him, wash and clean with Him, serve and administer Him, forgive & remit with Him.
Anything which takes away the Cross of Christ is of the devil, is anti-Christ, and must be rejected and put away. Any charismatic leader who preaches and teaches things other than Bethlehem, the ministry and works of the Four Evangels, the New Testament of His Body and Blood on Calvary (i.e. The Cross of the Crucified One as Saint Paul exhorts) is anathema and needs be marked and avoided.
You don't need a leader to tell you to re-take your synod, your district or your peculiar circuit. You don't need a foundation, society, brotherhood, institute, or famous family to buoy you up with promises of plans, petitions, blue-prints, or time-tables. You don't need a man-made organization of sufficient numbers, critical mass, or equipping facilities to be "about the Father's business." You need a prophet. You need John Baptizer. You need John's bare, stark message of Law. You need a scripture writer like the Son of Thunder to record it and save it for you. You need a mouthpiece called by the Lord to slap you hard across your countenance. REPENT. FEEL THE RED-FACED STING AND SHAME of all the foul things you've done this past week; this past year of 2009, this past life of license. BOW your head, STRIKE your breast, REPENT.
And look up. Look to the Tree of Life.
You need a prophet like John, like John: like Polycarp, Irenaeus, Ignatius, Ambrose, Augustine, Hus, Luther, Chemnitz, Gerhardt, Walther, Loehe, and pastor, to testify TO CHRIST. TO TESTIFY to His BLOOD AND BODY-shed and given for your forgiveness.
Jesus said of the Evangelist, and Peter, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas' successor Matthias: "he who hears you, hears ME, and the One Who sent Me," and "if you forgive any their sins, they are forgiven."
Saint Philip Melanchthon in writing our Symbol known as the Defense of the Augustan, or as we could rightly call it: the Testimony of the Christ's Assurance of Forgiveness, said of the Holy Office of the Ministry, "he who hears you (the pastor) hears Christ." May it be unto you as you believe.
Make straight the way of the Lord. REPENT. Rend your hearts and not your garments. Kyrie Elieson.
I baptize with water. Jesus stands in this Jordan and washes you clean; not just at the point, the date, of your re-birth, but daily, hourly, minutely, as your new hearts beat in Him.
I tell you good news. Jesus stands at this pulpit at says: I love you and forgive you everything. You are not just my friends, you are my family.
I feed you God. The Christ Himself gives you His Body to eat and His Blood to drink.
THIS IS THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN
In the Name of + The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost