10 The crowds were asking John, “What should we do?” 11 John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with someone who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

 

10 The crowds were asking John, “What should we do?” 11 John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with someone who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to the baptism, and they asked John, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 John replied, “Take no more than the amount established.” 14 Soldiers also asked, “What should we do?” John replied, “Do not take money by force or make false accusations; be content with your wages.” 15 The people were in expectation, and everyone wondered in their hearts if John might be the Messiah. 16 Therefore John declared to all, "I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He will come with his winnowing fork in his hand; he will clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire." 18 And in many other ways John proclaimed the Good News to the people.

— The Word of Salvation.

Reflection

1. Luke knows the need that affects the population; he knows the thirst for salvation of God's people; he is concerned about the good of all; and he sees in John the Baptist someone who was truly able to speak concretely to the desires of all. According to Luke, John the Baptist is, in fact, an authentic prophet: someone who is not afraid to confront the powerful in favor of the simple; a person who does not use ambiguous words, does not try to save his own “skin”, does not care about what people will say about him, is not interested in the spotlight, does not sell himself for any price, does not corrupt himself and has no other interest than living and proclaiming the Truth. From experience, this is a man formed in the desert, in the most essential things, totally structured by means of needs, challenges, discomforts; prepared by the aggressiveness of the sun and the cold of the night, but also by the beauty of the light and the firmament; a man who learned to live with little, in simplicity and with wisdom. Faced with a society addicted to power, to human degradation in general, to the most diverse types of vices and exploitation, injustices and other miseries, John presented himself as an arrow of supernatural importance. They were waiting for the Messiah, the Savior, the One who would bring peace, justice and liberation to all, and they saw in John this fulfillment, denied by the prophet himself who would indicate the True Messiah. 2. The text can be divided into two parts: the first refers to the groups that approach John to receive baptism and to have some doubts clarified; and the second, about the prophet himself. The first group is the people: “The crowds asked John, ‘What should we do?’” The people feel threatened by judgment and need everything and preparation. The prophet does not use sugarcoated language to talk about the arrival of the Messiah; through harsh words, he reveals the coming of a time of salvific joy. The prophet asks only one thing of these people: sharing. He does not make a theologically profound request here about how to prepare for the great day of the Lord, but simply that they be brothers and sisters in sharing, that is, that they do good, practice good, share with others what they have, and that they be good. In the expectation of intimacy with the Lord, it is necessary to prepare as servants, because the Lord will come as the Servant par excellence. The goal here is not to trap the people in sharing, but to share in order to live in intimacy with the Messiah.

3. The second group: The tax collectors who also approached and asked: “Teacher, what should we do?” John is precise in his answer: “Do not demand anything more than what has been determined for you.” The prophet’s answer offers the tax collectors the possibility of a concrete experience with the Messiah; they do not need to give up their profession, even if it is viewed negatively worldwide; they just need to not exploit anyone, to do what is right. An experience with God does not mean doing nothing, but putting into practice what is within each person’s reach in the most perfect way possible, giving others the possibility of a better life. Even with such an unpleasant profession, the professional can be good at what he does when he does it rightly. By proceeding in this way, he is certainly moving towards holiness.