Second Sunday of ordinary time. Today’s readings: Isaiah 49,3.5-6; 1 Corinthians 1,1-3; John 1,29-34
The past centuries have given us a fair share of thinkers whose writings not only grapple with the question of God, but outrightly reject his existence. Ludwig Feuerbach’s belief that God is merely a positive projection of human thought that corresponds to some intrinsic human need, or Karl Marx’s assertion that religion is the opium of the people, or Friedrich Nietzsche’s claim that belief in the Christian God was unbelievable, are but a few examples of an inability to welcome the awesome mystery of God.
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist’s confession is startling: “I myself did not know him.” The babe in Elizabeth’s womb that leaped for joy when the Christ approached him in Mary’s womb knew Jesus only in the order of the flesh, namely in terms of their consanguinity, because they were relatives. However, it seems that John himself, the greatest of all prophets, needed some form of enlightenment in order for him to understand the true identity of Jesus.
John himself, the greatest of all prophets, needed some form of enlightenment in order for him to understand the true identity of Jesus
Hans Urs von Balthasar’s book Does Jesus know us? Do we know him?In his book Does Jesus know us? Do we know him?, Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar skilfully takes to task those who refuse to believe the Scriptures. Writing in response to, if you please, biblical scholars who watered down the greatness of Jesus by making him out to be less than what the Scriptures say about him, he makes the following claim:
“Anyone who wants to ‘know’ how ‘it really was’ (in the belief that it must have been otherwise than as recorded) will wander aimlessly in a trackless land. Whereas whoever gazes at the face presented by the witnesses will come to ‘know’ it. ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me?’ (Jn 14:9)” The latter is a statement of Jesus himself, who expressed amazement at how thick his contemporaries were. But was it only his contemporaries?
When John the Baptist finally realised who Jesus truly was, he made a compelling appeal and testified to the concreteness of his experience of Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God… This is the one… I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him… I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God” (Jn 1,29-30.32.34).
These were not theories or hypotheses, nor were they fancy ideas or wishy-washy musings. So, what did John see? None other than the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus in a form that is perceptible to human beings. A visible and tangible sign was given to someone who consequently became an outstanding witness. A myriad of others after him would have such a real and concrete experience of Jesus that they were willing to give up their lives for him.
Truth be told, no matter how touching Jesus’s life and mission were, they would have hardly left any impact on humanity had it not been for the intervention of God’s divine spirit. Without the latter, Jesus could have possibly been lost to history, leaving hardly any trace behind him. The Gospels themselves would not have been written, nor St Paul’s letters and the other New Testament writings.
It is only the Spirit of God who shows us Jesus, reveals his amazing beauty to us, and brings us in touch with him. About this, von Balthasar states: “Without him, the picture our spirit makes of Jesus is pale and flat, unable to embrace the tensions in which Jesus reveals the unity of God’s innermost mind.” Most important of all, he draws us to Jesus, stirring our hearts with a longing for him while inspiring and enabling us to love him. The truth is staring you in the face. As a recent saint put it: “The gaze of Christ is upon you; do not refuse him yours.”