Luke 7:24-30

Today’s reading follows on directly from the one we heard yesterday. St John the Baptist’s disciples received the answer to their question and went back to their master. Jesus in today’s reading starts talking to His audience about John and who he was. He warns them not to discount the Baptist as ‘just part of the scenery’ and simply foretelling Jesus’ mission. No. Jesus is praising St John so much that He gives him a firm place as the last of the prophets and a close, crucial ally of His own mission.

Jesus starts his sermon with the words ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see?’ Jesus thus begins by helping his audience remember what they had thought about John. Why did they go into the wilderness to see John? They went there to hear him preaching and to get baptised. Jesus reminds them of that and asks them whether they did it out of true conviction or were they simply going through the motions? In a way the same thing can be asked to us now: when we go to mass, do we simply go through the motions, or do we actively participate each time? Do we really treasure the sacrament we are receiving, or do we simply ‘spend time’ in church when we celebrate the eucharist?

Today’s painting by Giovanni di Paolo depicts St John leaving the city wall and heading into the wilderness, where he led a humble life as a prophet, preparing the way for Jesus. He is represented twice in our painting. The city looks lavish with fertile and manicured gardens outside.  This is stark contrast with the rough mountains St John is heading to with the minimum of possessions in a cloth bundle on a stick thrown over his shoulder. St John chose to go to the desert. We make a choice to follow Jesus and to go to mass. It is always a choice. But how present are we truly when we are there?