What exactly is John doing by the River Jordan? Why are Jewish people seeking baptism? The word baptism comes from the Greek word baptizo, meaning to dip under, to immerse, to wash.
Among Jews the ritual of dipping or immersing in water signifies spiritual cleansing. The water must be living water — fresh, running water as in the River Jordan. This cleansing is called mikveh (mick-vah). The term mikveh in Hebrew refers to any gathering of waters. Jewish law uses the term specifically for the waters or bath for ritual immersion and purification.
In Hebrew the word mikveh comes from the same three consonant roots as the word for hope. The root kvh means to wait for, to endure. The prophet Jeremiah speaks of God as the mikvah of Israel, the hope of Israel, or the awaited of Israel.To take the cleansing bath John preaches is to turn toward God and the hope Jews await. It is an act of conversion that commits one to new ways of acting.
In Sunday’s gospel John the Baptist insists his hearers must focus and change their daily lives before they receive the baptism. When the crowd asks John what they are to do, John tells them to share their belongings and food with those who are without clothes and food. He tells the tax collectors to collect only the money taxes require. He tells the soldiers not to bully people or accuse them falsely. John calls them to do justice in their everyday life and work.
Only when the crowd has chosen to take care of others can they immerse themselves in the water and receive the baptism of repentance. John teaches that uncleanliness is a spiritual rather than a physical condition.
When people wash in the Jordan, they express a commitment to just living. They have enacted their turning toward sharing what they have, honest exchange in taxes and business, respecting each other, and building peace. As they emerge from the water, they stand before God not only as children of Abraham by blood but people of the covenant by commitment.
To mark significant events in one’s life is another reason for immersion in water in Jewish tradition. After the birth of a child, a woman goes to the mikveh to signify the life change.
A friend of mine went to the mikveh after he was cured from cancer. His life was different from that day onward.
After his immersion in the Jordan, Jesus arises from the water to teach in a public way. He changes direction from a private life to a public life. With the others refocusing their lives on God, he marks his change of direction with a reviving cleansing.
- What is your experience of water cleansing and reviving you?
- What is a way you have marked a turning toward God in your life?
The Talmud records the discussions by rabbis on Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. Like the Torah (Hebrew Bible) the Talmud is a central text in Judaism. It holds inspiring stories about famous rabbis.
One of my favorites involves Rabbi Hillel, who was born to a wealthy family in Babylonia. He traveled to Jerusalem without the financial support of his family and, like Jesus, supported himself as a woodcutter. He gained admission to study Torah at a yeshiva where he became a brilliant scholar known for his kindness, his gentleness, and his concern for humanity.
Once a Gentile approached Rabbi Hillel, saying that he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel converted the Gentile with these immortal words, “‘That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.’ That is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn.’”
Jesus could have studied Rabbi Hillel’s words. He died in Jerusalem when Jesus was about 10 years old. Jesus puts the same concept in a positive spin as he counsels us, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
- Who are the kind and gentle teachers in your life?
The people who question John the Baptist in Sunday’s gospel help us examine our consciences this Advent. Christians no longer share the ritual of mikveh with our Jewish brothers and sisters, but we share the responsibility to care for those who are without the basics of life.
Just as John the Baptist helped people in his time examine their consciences, Pope Francis is calling us to ecological conversion. He wants us to redefine progress, so it can include all people and sustain all. “A technological and economic development which does not leave in its wake a better world and an integrally better quality of life cannot be considered progress,” he writes in his encyclical Laudato Si ´(#194).
Earth is a common good, a homeland for all. Our lifestyle in the U.S. would require at least four planets for all to consume at our level.
What are we to do? Francis urges all of us to pause and recover depth, to see beauty, share joy, and keep up our human capacity to encounter and care for one another (#113). To preserve our common home, “It is we humans above all who need to change,” he insists (#202). “We know how unsustainable is the behavior of those who constantly consume and destroy, while others are not yet able to live in a way worthy of their human dignity” (#193).
Families matter in practicing new daily actions, such as “avoiding the use of plastic and papers, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or carpooling, turning off unnecessary lights, planting trees” (#211).
John the Baptist announces someone greater than he is coming, someone who carries a winnowing fan. Winnowing separates wheat from chaff. People who repent are wheat who can become bread for those in need. People who don’t repent are empty husks.
- Talk as a family about the places in creation that have given you joy.
- What inspires you about the pope’s encyclical? What threatens you?
- In what ways can you participate in the culture of care Pope Francis wants us to build? What practical steps?
- Invite the young people in your family to suggest daily actions that will help keep Earth sustainable.