From John the Baptist to Mary: The Poor of YHWH

The Preaching of the Baptist

John the Baptist, in his ministry, gathers up the threads of these proclamations and carries them forward: his message is that of the Gospel: the metanoia or conversion. His action is identified with the image we have of him: one can say that, like Jeremiah, he too is a type of Christ. The idea that, for him, underlies the immediate preparation for the coming of the Messiah and the proclamation of the kingdom is the synthesis of the whole prophetic movement and of all prophetic preaching: 

• a reversal of mentality.
• a straight path toward the day of the Lord.
• vigilance in expectation
• hope

All these dimensions must be at the same time the spiritual situation and the conduct of the people who welcome his preaching:

“prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mk 1:1-3).

John presents himself as the herald of the good news, preaching the word of God with irresistible power. A central figure of the Advent liturgy, he is the forerunner of the Messiah, so much so that this season takes its definition from his charismatic person, from his prophetic figure, and from his action, indwelt and moved by the Spirit. His life in the desert recalls and summons Israel to its origins, to which it must return each time it reflects on its identity and mission, in order to begin anew after the repeated violations of the covenant (cf. 1 Kgs 19:1-18).

His person and his life made such a strong impression on the people that he was considered even Elijah risen again, come to admonish the people as the end of time draws near (Jn 1:21; Mt 17:10-13). Jesus, for His part, will bear witness to him as the greatest born of woman and as His greatest witness (Mt 11:11). John’s supreme demonstration will not be that of the word, but martyrdom (Mt 14:1-12).

The evangelists take care to highlight the traits that the forerunner has in parallel with Christ. Symptomatic and surprising is the fact that, as happened with Jesus, John was heard by the tax collectors (Lk 3:12-13), while the Jews, the Pharisees, and the leaders of the people opposed him with obstinate refusal (cf. Jn 1:19ff.).

His word, so impetuous, will later become the proclamation of Christ’s presence:

“There is one among you whom you do not know” (Jn 1:26).

“He was not the light, but was to bear witness to the light” (Jn 1:8).

Of Jesus of Nazareth, John will be the baptizer, but also the witness in the theophany:

of the messianic investiture

of the presentation of the divine credentials to the world.

In Summary

The preaching of John the Baptist leans toward the vision of the eschatological Messiah. We are now in a position to distinguish chronologically between the two manifestations of Christ yet to come, the one in the flesh and the parousia. It must be acknowledged that the Baptist clearly discerned the destiny of Israel. From the historical and political point of view as well, he announced to his people the fateful hour of God’s visitation and, like Christ, pointed out the signs of the times. But the eyes and hearts of many of his contemporaries remained obtusely and stubbornly insensitive and closed.

The Exhortations of the Apostolic Writings 

To these themes are added, completing them, the New Testament rereadings that we find in the Letters of the Apostles read in the Sunday liturgies. They actualize and summarize, in the light of the fullness of Revelation, the whole preparation of the Old Testament, showing its completion and illustrating the age of the fullness of time. These catecheses are accompanied by exhortations to expectation, to vigilance, and to purification of heart. These admonitions are rooted in a penetrating sense of history, in which eschatological sensitivity makes itself very vividly felt.

The situation of permanent Advent in which the Church lives does not tolerate disciples given over to vice. Christians must have an acute sensitivity to the times in which they live and to the transformation of society. It is an inadmissible failing for disciples to be unaware of the saving events of which they are witnesses: the final phase of salvation and judgment is already imminent.

Emblematic of all is Paul’s exhortation (Rom 3:11-14) to walk in the light in order to meet Christ; read on the First Sunday of Advent, it takes on a programmatic significance:

“There is not one who understands, not one who seeks God. All have gone astray, and all have become perverse. There is no one who does good, not even one (Ps 13:1ff.). Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips (Ps 5:10; 139:4). Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness (Ps 9:28)”.

The Poor of YHWH

John is not an isolated figure in the midst of a deaf crowd, with blinded minds and hearts turned toward other thoughts. The infancy Gospels present to us a group of figures who make up the ‘remnant/remainder of Israel’, the true Israel, which remained faithful to the covenant and awaits the fulfillment of its promises. Just and devout men, with the heart of the poor, authentic heirs of the divine blessings given to the Patriarchs, amid so many deviations and infidelities of the people, recognized and experienced, with patience, the faithfulness and mercy of God.

Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the elderly Simeon and Anna, the disciples of the Baptist, those who are baptized by him, the shepherds of Bethlehem, and also the Magi from the pagan East are prepared for the greatest events of redemption. These are the models that Advent offers us.

Among them all, the Virgin of Nazareth stands out. It is she who, as the vanguard not only of her people but of all humanity, experienced more and better than anyone the fulfillment of the promises and the coming of the Redeemer. Indeed, Mary “stands out among the humble and poor of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from Him. With her, the exalted Daughter of Zion, after the long expectation of the promise, the times are fulfilled and a new economy is established, when the Son of God took human nature from her, in order to free man from sin through the mysteries of His flesh” (Lumen Gentium 55). In her, who sums up the spiritual preparation of Israel, all the authentic aspirations of her people converge; all humanity is involved in her experience; the Church finds herself wholly in her.

A 1954 prayer by Adrienne von Speyr

Mary awaits the child who is already there.
She lives the promise of Christmas, but she knows that, since she said her yes, everything has already been fulfilled.
Her expectation is not an emptiness that will be filled only later: it is already part of the fullness of Christ, which will be revealed with His birth.
And she will be the first to be able to contemplate Him.
In every human expectation there is a certain apprehension: most of the time man does not know whether, at the decisive moment, he will be able to hold firm, to respond; he does not know whether he has prepared everything properly so that the approaching event may take on the right and fitting form.
Mary, on the other hand, is certain that the child she awaits is God in person.
The Father sent her the angel to announce Him.
And with her consent she participates from the very beginning in what is to come. There is no need to worry or to give way to any agitation. 
He who comes is. 
And He who comes is God.
He brings the fulfillment that He Himself is, and with it He also offers those who are with Him the possibility to endure and to respond.
The imminent arrival becomes ever more perceptible to the Mother as time goes by.
And at the same time she sees men ever more clearly in the light of the redemption that is to come.
For her, what the Son will one day accomplish is now as if it were present in her. And so she participates in all that is to happen in the most intimate way.
It is not toward this that her thoughts are directed, but only toward what the Son will accomplish.
She is only a point of departure, in a concentration turned toward the gift of self and in expectation of God’s fulfillment.

To explore more deeply the figure of Mary among the poor of YHWH and her biblical faith, consult John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, on the pilgrimage of Mary’s faith in the Scriptures.

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.