Keywords: fullness of time, water baptism, way of righteousness, song of mourning, law without grace, whistle song by grace, fulfillment of the law by grace
Abstract:
The first part of this work concerns the angelic ministry of St. John the Baptist, as Christ calls it, quoting the prophet Malachi (cf. Matthew 11: 10). This part is preceded by a preface on the theme „Israel and the Gentiles at the fullness of time”. The work continues with references to the Baptism of Jesus by St. John on the basis of his Levitical priesthood. It shows the bewilderment of St. John concerning the Messiah who was expected as King of Israel. There was, however, a difference from His anointing as Messiah at Holy Baptism. The Savior refers to the same bewilderment of St. John but in the Light of his own sacrificial faith confessed by Christ. It is St. John’s sacrifice preceding the Redeeming Sacrifice of the Savior. In the second part of the work he speaks of the glory of Christ glorified by the Father, who had appointed the Mother of God and St. John on the right hand and on the left (cf. Matthew 20: 23). It is the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of the Holy Incarnation of God Emmanuel. The Bridegroom of the Church, who had been kidnapped by the great heresies (4th-8th centuries), has in the Mother of the Holy Incarnation the guarantee of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church. Although the feast of the „Life-giving Spring” was instituted in 457, after the split of 451 it is honored as a guarantee of the Bridegroom of the Church on the Friday of the Bright Week of the Resurrection. This feast refers, more than to the healings, to the Savior’s testimony in the Gospel pericope of Pentecost: „If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7: 38). It is the coming of the Spirit which could not take place until after the glorification of Christ (cf. John 7: 39). The Mother of God has in her arms Christ the Bridegroom of the Church, who gathers her with the arm of his Holy Sacrifice at the Resurrection (cf. Isaiah 40: 11), like „gold made bright in the fire”. Thus Christ as Bridegroom of the Church is the power of her unity. St. John also shares in the consummation of the Light of the Father, associated by Christ at his Holy Baptism. The Prophet can be likened to the heavenly Star that guides the Three Magi on their return through „fasting” (cf. Matthew 9: 15), as an exit from the vanity of the world and descent to the Bethlehem of the Bridegroom Christ.
Pages: 13-44