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Advent series: Gentler harbinger of dawn

by
09 December 2022

Adrian Leak continues our Advent series on art with a painting of St John the Baptist

Artefact/Alamy

John the Baptist preaching (Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1490)

John the Baptist preaching (Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1490)

PICTURES of John the Baptist often depict him at the moment of martyrdom: a grisly scene, with Herodias and Salome gloating in the background. Or we are shown him baptising Jesus in the River Jordan, in which case the part he plays is secondary. By contrast, Domenico Ghirlandaio’s fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, depicts a dominant John preaching to the crowd.

It is a peaceful scene, so different from the occasion when he harangued his listeners with blistering anger: “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3.7). By contrast, this is a quieter, more gracious John. He is the harbinger of solace and compassion. His father Zechariah’s prophetic utterance proclaims that, through him, “The dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The mood is no longer that of a highly charged revivalist meeting. Ghirlandaio’s picture calls to mind, rather, an audience wishing to give the visiting speaker a courteous hearing. Look at the two seated gentlemen on the right: the younger one in the russet cloak leans forward to touch the hand of the older man, who seems to be unimpressed by the speaker, and has folded his arms (a sure sign of a closed mind). We can hear the young man assuring his older companion: “Well, you know, the fellow might have a point.”

As for the women, not all are paying attention — perhaps they were the ones described by Jesus, who had come out into the wilderness to see “a reed shaken in the wind”, and were now disappointed.

In the centre of this painting stands John, a gentler figure than we are accustomed to, even though the symbolism is harsh. For all his eloquence, his hand points to the cross. Behind him, and unseen, is the mysterious figure of Christ, waiting in the wings.

There is a tenderness in Ghirlandaio’s painting which echoes the compassion of the collect for the Third Sunday of Advent. In this prayer we ask that “the ministers and stewards of Christ’s mysteries” might turn our hearts from disobedience to the wisdom of the just. In the same way might a loving father be asked to guide his wayward children.

The collect for Advent 3 in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was composed by John Cosin. It replaced a brief and inadequate one which Cranmer had set for this day. Cosin followed the tradition of using biblical texts as building blocks for his collect. The opening sentence — “O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee” — derives from Luke 7.27 and, ultimately, Malachi 3.1; and the central petition — that our Lord might turn “the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just” — can be traced to Luke 1.17, and, ultimately, Malachi 4.6.

 

COSIN, who had been a supporter of Charles I, had escaped to France after the King’s execution in 1649. At the Restoration, Charles II appointed him Bishop of Durham. He was a leading figure at the Savoy Conference, convened in 1661 to review and, if necessary, revise the Book of Common Prayer before its reintroduction following the Commonwealth. When it became clear that there were irreconcilable differences between the delegates, the Presbyterian ministers withdrew, to the loss of the Established Church.

As often in theological debate, feelings ran high, despite the deeply felt divisions at the conference, however, there were flashes of good will. Richard Baxter, the leading Presbyterian, described Cosin as a man “of rustic wit and carriage, who would endure more freedom of our discourse with him, and was more affable and familiar than the rest”. Those words say much about both men and their ability to rise above the polemics of religion.

The reference in the collect to “ministers” was particularly relevant at a time when many of the parishes lacked episcopally ordained priests. There was an urgent need to re-establish the custom of holding ordinations at regular intervals in the liturgical year — a need that Cosin would have had in mind as he composed this prayer.

 

NOTICEABLE in the readings and prayers associated with the Third Sunday of Advent is the sense of joyful expectation. The epistle set for the day is from Philippians, and calls us to rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near . . . and the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

A Latin antiphon sung as an introit, and familiar to our forebears, began with the same call, “Gaudete in Domino semper” (“Rejoice in the Lord alway”). For that reason, this day is known as Gaudete Sunday, and, in some churches, the altars are dressed in rose instead of violet (likewise, the third candle on the Advent wreath may be pink).

Absent is the Calvinist self-abasement sometimes associated with the Protestant element of our Church’s heritage. Here, instead, is the gentler tone of our Lord’s “first messenger”, John the Baptist:

 

O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

The Revd Adrian Leak is a retired Anglican priest, whose recent publications include a collection of essays, The Golden Calves of Jeroboam (Books, 11 December 2020); and his memoirs, After the Order of Melchizedek (Books, 8 July).

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