Recognizing Jesus

Gospel	John 1:29-34

'Look: there is the Lamb of God'

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

Our play continues. Remember how the people of the area secretly thought that maybe, just maybe, this John who spoke of repentance was in fact, the Messiah.  They were slightly disappointed when he said no, that he was not the Messiah and while he baptized with water the Savior would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. But they kept coming to him and hoping against hope that he was the one that was come. John saw Jesus approaching and he proclaimed as only John could the Savior was approaching and he told on how he had seen the Spirit come down and rest upon Jesus.  The crowd looked and saw the man known as Jesus.  They saw nothing special but the words of John still rang in their ears.  They began to turn away from John because who needed a Baptist when the Savior was at hand.  The act comes to a close and the curtain falls as we await the next scene. 

You cannot blame the people for not exiting en masse from the side of the Baptist.  They had been taken for a ride before, following this one claiming to be the Messiah,  and for a brief moment or two the man seemingly did good things but then went one step too far and when he could not produce, he was bound hand and foot and thrown out of the city or even stoned for his blasphemy.  No, they had seen it before and they would be very cautious in choosing their next Messiah.  Until then, John would do because he himself made no claims to be the One.  Therefore, the thought was that he might be the one. 

Each of us too, here in the twenty-first century are presented with many messiahs during our lives. Some of us will follow a false Messiah who promises much, silver, gold, fame, fortune and some of us will receive all that was promised and we will congratulate ourselves on how well we have done and we will eat, drink and be merry in a never-ending debauch until we die and it all stays behind. Others of us will claim the inheritance of the Lord.  We will recognize Him and accept Him into our lives.  Our lives may be missing some of the gold and silver, but what He gives us we enjoy to the full on earth and when called away by death, we take it all with us for we carry His love, His way, His teachings in our heart.  It is okay to be rich as long as you know who really owns what you have, the Lord.  It is okay to be poor because the Lord loves you for who you are and He himself knows your struggles.  In the end, it matters not if you are rich or poor in this life.  It is how you live with what you have and how you share with others as Jesus told us to that will make a difference.  From today on, make this your watchword, "Because I live here  the world will be a better place."  This does not depend on you being rich or poor, it is just being you and doing what you know to be the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Remember the poor souls in Purgatory and pray for them today.