Doing The Hard Moves

Gospel	John 3:22-30

'He must grow greater and I must grow smaller: my joy is complete'

Jesus went with his disciples into the Judaean countryside and stayed with them there and baptized. At the same time, John was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people were going there to be baptized. This was before John had been put in prison.

  Now some of John’s disciples had opened a discussion with a Jew about purification, so they went to John and said, ‘Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is baptizing now; and everyone is going to him.’

  John replied:

‘A man can lay claim

only to what is given him from heaven.

‘You yourselves can bear me out: I said: I myself am not the Christ; I am the one who has been sent in front of him.

‘The bride is only for the bridegroom;

and yet the bridegroom’s friend,

who stands there and listens,

is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.

This same joy I feel, and now it is complete.

He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’

It must have been hard for John to realize that his mission was at the end.  Yet, he was resigned to resigning and resigned to whatever fate God had in store for him.  After all, he worked his whole life as a servant of God, it would only be fitting that he ends up retiring when he knew the time was right.  He knew when he pointed to Jesus that the men who had worked with him for so long and who were so loyal would drop him in a Jerusalem minute.  Who needs a Baptist when you had a Messiah to follow?

John may have retired from the baptizing business but he still was a messenger of God, a prophet and he had to point out where others went wrong, quietly, serenely, without bringing too much attention to himself.  That is why he went to the home of Herod and quietly yelled at the top of his voice that Herod was a sinner and he and his wife were in an adulterous relationship as he was married to his brother's wife.  Both the king and his bride took the news very well.  The king for his part, to secure peace in his household and joy in his bedroom had John arrested and thrown into prison thinking that this would quiet the voice of the prophet and soothe the sensibilities of his blushing bride and he could get on with the job of being a despot king and she could quit whining about the Baptist.  The king had respect for the Baptist, not because he cared anything about God but because of the crowds that the old boy drew.  He did not want any sort of riot because of this man who ate locusts (a type of bean from the locust tree with a taste like  coco) and wild honey.  He wanted John to calm down and so he put him in what we would call a "time out."  Unfortunately, John's voice was not silenced by the accommodations afforded him in the palace dungeon.  John yelled day and night and kept suggesting that Herod's wife was nothing more than a lady of the evening in fine attire. This, of course, caused her to repent, well not really as we shall soon see. 

The king threw a banquet.  This is not a strange occurrence.  The wine, which was the best, even better than what we call Mad Dog 2020, was flowing like a biblical flood  and soon the king was feeling no pain and was in a very generous mood.  His wife sent her daughter, a girl of great beauty and low morals that Herod wanted to get to know, in the Biblical sense but even he had his limits and knew that would cause trouble between his wife and himself for some reason.  She was to dance for the king and to do so in such a manner as to raise his libido to staggering heights.  This she did.  In his stupor, the king delivered John the Baptist into his wife's hands.  He was so taken by the dance that raised his libido to such an extent that he drunkenly promised a reward to her, up to half of his kingdom. Salome went to her mother to see what she should ask for.  After all, the king had enough gold to choke the royal team of horses and several palaces filled with wonderful things and she could be rich beyond her wildest dreams. As they were talking, the wind carried the words of John from deep in the dungeon and Herodias heard the words "harlot" and "whore" and she looked at Salome and told her to ask for the head of the Baptist on a silver platter, she would brook no more insults from that dirty vagabond! 

Salome went back to the king and with a sweet voice she titillated and tempted him and then shockingly asked for the head of the Baptist on a silver platter.  He tried to talk her out of this insane request but she insisted and pointed out that Herod was a man of his word and should now fulfill his commitment to her.  She pointed out that the royal court had heard the promise and if he didn't fulfill it the word would get out that he was afraid of a desert preacher and he would be the laughing stock of the kingdom, turning himself into Jester Herod instead of King Herod.  Then she giggled and once again approached him and tried to use her body to convince him. He glared at her, which sent shivers up her spine and she retreated a few steps and asked him what he was going to do.  There was a frown on his face and with a heavy heart, he sent a guard to do what Salome wanted.  In due course, the head was presented on a silver platter.  The party atmosphere was gone and the king retired into seclusion for the day.  John's disciples came and claimed the body and buried John. 

This event seemed to stir Jesus into action.  He began, at least in a small way, to preach repentance and that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand which echoed the preaching of His late cousin.  

In our lives, we are sometimes called upon to do a work of mercy for the Lord.  When we do the work we must not fall into the trap that it was our power or genius that solved the issue, instead, we must credit all of the good we do to Jesus. Sometimes the way will be hard.  For example, Mother Teresa for the last FIFTY YEARS of her life could not feel the presence of God in her life, fifty years!  I have always felt that the Lord was near, even during those times that I embraced the darkness over the light and it was His presence, His friendship that called me back.  Mother did not have this assurance so what did she do?  She quit, right? Not at all, she continued her labors and cared for the poor, the suffering, the friendless.  Today, her friendship with God is great in heaven because even though she felt Him not, she knew that He was there and she carried on the work she had been given.  So must we.

Please remember the poor souls in Purgatory today,