Johnstide
Matthew 11:2-15
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| Master of Astorga, John in Prison |
Christ, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are awakened, and those who have become poor receive the message of salvation. Blessed are those who are not offended by my Being."
When they had gone, Jesus began to speak about John. "Why did you go out into the desert? Did you want to see a reed swaying in the wind? Or was it something else you wanted to see? Did you want to see a man in splendid garments? Those in splendid garments are in the palaces of kings. Did you go to see a man who is initiated into the mysteries of the Spirit, a prophet? Yes, I say to you—he is more than a prophet. He it is of whom it is written:
Behold,
I will send my angel before your face;
He
shall prepare the way of your working in human hearts
So
that your Being may be revealed.
"The truth I say to you: among all who are born of women, not one has risen up who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist, and even more, now, the kingdom of heaven is advancing and will arise within human beings through the power of the will; those who exert themselves can freely grasp it. The deeds of the prophets and the content of the Law are words of the Spirit that were valid [worked into the future] until the time of John. And if you want to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
4th Johnstide
June
17, 2022
Matthew 11: 2-15
This gospel reading teaches us about remembering and forgetting.
John the Baptist had seen the Spirit of Christ descend like a dove upon Jesus of Nazareth and remain there. He repeatedly witnessed and spoke of the importance of this new divine-human spiritual constellation in Jesus. Yet now in prison, John seems to have forgotten what he knew. Or perhaps it was a question of expectations.
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| Marie Lavie, John the Baptist |
Meanwhile, Christ has not forgotten who John is. He honors him, his forerunner, his baptizer, and his spiritual brother. Furthermore, he can speak of John's significance, the meaning of John's life and stature, seen both from earthly and heavenly perspectives.
John, imprisoned both in an outer dungeon and in a failing bodily instrument, approaches his death, his sleep, and his forgetting. Christ embraces and holds John's being in his divine-human consciousness. Christ knows who John truly is, not only in this lifetime but in the previous—"He is Elijah who is to come"*. He knows who John will be in the future. And Christ holds in safekeeping John's true, eternal identity, the identity, which survives forgetting, and death, which moves from life to life.
Christ is the keeper, the shepherd of our true selves. He carries them in his great heart, holding them in his great all-embracing consciousness. He holds them against the day when in beholding and recognizing him, in experiencing his great I AM, we will also recognize and remember ourselves.
*Matthew
11:14
