3rd Johnstide 2021, Kindness is Eternal

 

Johnstide

John 1:19-34

This is John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 

Freely and openly, he confessed. He did not deny but confessed, "I am not the Christ [the Anointed]." 

Domenico Ghirlandaio -

Then they asked him, "Who are you then? Are you Elijah?" 

And he said, "No, I am not." 

"Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." 

Then they said, "Who are you? What answer are we to give to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 

He said in the words of the prophet Isaiah, "I am the voice of one crying in the loneliness: Prepare the way for the Lord [so that the Lord may enter into the inmost soul [or, inmost self]." 

And those sent by the Pharisees asked him, "Why do you baptize if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" 

John answered them, "I baptize with water. But someone is standing in your midst whom you do not know, who comes after me although he was before me. I am not worthy even to untie the strap of his sandals." 

This took place in Bethany near the mouth of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

Notre Dame

The next day he [John] sees Jesus
coming to him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the burden of the sin of the world. He it is of whom I said: 'After me comes one greater than I  for he existed long before me. Even I did not know him; but for this, I have come, and have baptized with water so that human souls in Israel might become able to experience the revelation of his being." 

And John testified: "I saw how the Spirit descended upon him like a dove from the heavens and remained united with him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend so that it remains united with him, he it is who baptizes with the (breath of the) Holy [or, Healing] Spirit.' And I saw this, and so I testify that this is God's Son."

3^rd Johnstide

July 11, 2021

John 1:19-34 

Each of us, at the core of our being, has an eternal self. Over time, this eternal Self clothes itself in different personalities, each with its own particular time and destiny. Our self-awareness is usually limited to our current incarnation. The eternal core self is hard to find, hard to recognize. 

When John the Baptist is asked who he is, he answers from an awareness of his temporal self. ‘I am not Elijah, not the Christ, not the prophet.’ At the same time, he is clear about his personal destiny—that he came to baptize. 

He is also clear about Jesus’ identity. He sees past Jesus’ earthly personality to His eternal core as the Lamb of God, upon whom the Spirit of God descended and remained. And John is aware that his own destiny is to serve Christ Jesus. 

Carracia

Awareness of one’s own eternal core Self is a gift of grace. Perhaps it is more important to develop an awareness of the eternal selves of others than it is to look for our own eternal core. Perhaps it is more important for us to stand as witnesses for each other—to recognize, as John did, the eternal self of the other, to witness and accompany their destiny. Perhaps this is part of the change of heart and mind that John advocates: that we turn away from self-involvement, toward a humble support of others. 

Something like this is hinted at in Psalm 15:

Those with a passion for justice,

who speak the truth from their hearts;

who have let go of selfish interests

and grown beyond their own lives;

…Their compassion lights up the whole earth,

and their kindness endures forever.* 

 

The Psalms, translations by Stephen Mitchell

 www.thechristiancommunity.org