https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=4NB5eG2DHaw
Alright, so Norm Grandin on the Samarkand community asks, any thoughts on John the Baptist’s role as symbol and symbol as a bridge figure between the Old Testament and the New Testament? And so, yeah, well, John the Baptist is the, he’s like the end of the Old Testament. And so in some ways he is, obviously he’s the culmination of the prophetic tradition, but his role is also something like a sword, right? It’s something like clearing the space. And so that’s why he says that, you know, make way for the Lord, you know, clear out what’s there before. It’s something like, what John the Baptist is, is captured in when Jesus goes into the temple and turns over the table and clears the temple out. Basically, Christ did it once and, you know, he had to encapsulate all of it, but John the Baptist, that’s what he is. He’s basically, you know, repent, you know, clear out, you know, make way, get rid of the old world. That’s, you know, prepare the way for the new. You know, it’s like, what else you could say? It’s something like plow the field, right? You know, get the dirt ready and then the seed is coming in order to be planted in it. And so that’s what, that’s why when you’re baptized, for example, right, so Christ kind of completes baptism, you could say, in the story of Christ’s baptism. So the others before, they would get baptized. It’s like clear out the way, repent from your sins, wash the things away, you know, get rid of the bad structures, you know, destroy the Tower of Babel, get rid of all the idols, make things clear. But then there’s something missing, right? You need the thing from above to come down and plant the seed now into the new earth, you know? That’s why also John is like, you know, the branch, the branch is ready to get cut. I’m going to cut down that tree. That’s my, all the things that don’t bear fruit are going to get cut down. But you’re missing the last part, which is you need the seed from above to come down and land in that cleared space. So when Christ comes out of the water, you know, the Spirit of God descends and then lands on him. And that’s the next step after baptism. And that’s the, you know, that’s the combination of what the process is. And so that’s why in terms of a ritual, that’s why we have baptism and chrismation. That’s why we have baptism and confirmation. We have the two parts, like you have in the Orthodox Church, you get baptized, right? You go down into the water, you clear everything out, then you come out, and then you receive the holy oil, right? You’re anointed from above, you could say, and that’s the next step. And so you can see in all these different things that John the Baptist does. And also one of the things, like John the Baptist criticizes. Criticizes the social order. He criticizes the political order. He criticizes the king and everything. Yeah, anyway, so hopefully that helps you understand a little more.