I AM NOT THE CHRIST!

Jn 1: 19-28

Today’s Gospel speaks about the witness of John the Baptist when the Jews sent “priests and Levites” to question him about who he was. They came to him and asked him: “Who are you.” This question is asked, not out of curiosity I’m sure, but full of suspicion. It is because the Baptist is the most remarkable character and has a deep sense of his mission combined with an ample measure of fierce honesty and resoluteness. He is a son of a priest, Zechariah, and many people came to him to listen to his words and teachings. You know gathering of people at that time was dangerous especially that Israel was under Roman oppression and domination and this could easily lead to rebellion.

The answers John gave made it clear that his identity lays in his mission. “I am not the messiah, nor the prophet, nor Elijah. I am the voice crying in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’” This response of the Baptist is a lesson for us that our ability to know Jesus as the Christ begins with the confession that we are not the Christ. In other words, as long we rely on our own strength and wisdom and resources, we hold Christ at a distance. It is only when we acknowledge our dependence on Christ that we receive his many blessings.

It is a lesson of genuine humility. Genuine humility is not posturing.  It requires a constant willingness to deny oneself and to be open to God’s guidance. A new year lies in front of us. It is another year to regain or intensify the knowledge of our mission from the Lord. A time to ask ourselves: What is my mission in life? What does God want me to do in the situation that I am in? Do I know who I am and what I am? May John the Baptist inspire us.