As I was praying Zechariah’s Canticle this morning the Holy Spirit was
showing me the care, love and continuity of Our Heavenly Father. Zechariah a Levite priest of the Temple in Jerusalem
is speaking after many months of muteness due to his lack of faith. On the occasion of the birth of his son, John
the Baptist, and his consent to the name John, his mouth is reopened and he
prophesizes.
Here is the area that caught my interest this morning:
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you
will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of
salvation by the forgiveness of their
sins.
I’m sure many theologians over the millennia have seen the
prefigurement that I am exploring here, but it struck me with such force this
morning that I wanted to write down my thoughts.
First, as Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist is also a priest. In fact, he’s the last priest of the old
covenant. Zechariah is acknowledging what
John’s role will be; to prepare God’s people for the new covenant sacrament of
reconciliation.
But I see that John the Baptist’s priesthood as two dimensions: baptism
and forgiveness of sins.
How great is our God to foreshadow the new in the old.
Priesthood
Baptism
Confession
Through John the Baptist, God was preparing His people for the coming
of His Son Jesus to accept the gift of mercy.
The good people being baptized in the Jordan were publically confessing
their sins and seeking a washing away of their disfigurement. Although God, being a loving Father was
pleased by this show of contrition, it wasn’t enough to open the heavens. But, it did prepare His people for the new
covenant truths yet to come.
Catholicism has amazing consistency to our Jewish roots. The priesthood is a gift of the Father to His
people. Then of course we have symbolic
washing away of sins in the Jordan pointing to baptism which is the true washing
away of original sin. Finally, the most
startling gift of all, the confessing of sins to a priest that
now truly has the power to restore us to communion
with the Lord and eachother.
I am filled with so much LOVE for a Father who has ‘saved us from our
enemies, from the hands of all who hate us’….satan and his demons.
Simple thoughts, but sometimes He works the most profound things in my soul through such things.
