I AM NOT HE!”-Says John The Baptist

1 John 5:5-13
Mark 1:6-11

If we pause and read between the lines of the first chapter of the shortest Gospel, we discover the depth of Mark’s understanding of Jesus’, and John’s, roles in the history of God’s work in the world.

In Today’s gospel reading, Jesus is baptized by his kinsman, John the Baptist. The initiation ritual gets done, the voice of God confirms Jesus is on the right track and the Gospel moves on. The gospel reading also marks one special quality of John the Baptist. It is his humility as he prepares the way for the Lord. In so many ways, John the Baptist was the first evangelist that clearly points to Jesus as the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was a bold evangelist that spoke the truth in humility and love. He was courageous even to the point of being murdered with his head beheaded. He knew he was not the Messiah and he did not pretend to be one.

Humility is merely a common in a world of hustles and struggles. It is often misunderstood. For many, humility is the person that everyone walks over. A doormat. Often mistaken for weakness. For Christians, humility is a sign of strength. Humility acknowledges that I am not God. Only God is God and we are mere creatures called to love and share in God’s divine life. We are called to be instruments of God’s salvation, God’s forgiveness, God’s love in the world throughout creation.

Let us cast down the militaristic, capitalist society that leaves our environment in shambles and billions of our brothers and sisters in poverty. We, too, are now the outliers and evangelists pointing to a new creation in which we respect and love one another, protect our planet earth, and as good stewards of our possessions and wealth, share all we have with the neediest and vulnerable.

Fr Joseph Osho