 |
| John the Baptist |
Matthew 11: 2-15
When John heard in prison about the deeds of
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 he 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
it well: I will send my angel before your face;
He
shall prepare the way of your working in the hearts of men
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 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. He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.”
4th St.
Johnstide
 |
| John in Prison |
July 21, 2013
Matthew 11: 2 – 15
John is imprisoned;
imprisoned in a jail; imprisoned perhaps
in the popular expectations of what the Messiah would be; imprisoned in his
temporal, mortal body.
Yet Christ is not offended
by John’s questioning. Rather than answer directly, he points to the healing
fruits of what he is doing. And he continues to speak lovingly and affirmingly
of John.
Christ is the
ever-faithful friend of our soul. He gazes ever upon our eternal self.
It is in the nature of our
spiritual experiences that they come and go. They are born, they die away; they
are buried in the everyday. And when they disappear, doubt arises. But for Christ, this does not matter. He is
not offended, for he operates in a realm outside of time’s annihilation.
And he holds fast to what
is eternal in us, to the eternal facts of our experiences. What dies away for
us is resurrected in Him. Although John, and we, forget what we saw, what we
knew, he holds them for us. Christ is the loving and objective witness of our
soul.
