THE WORD
1 Jn 2,22-28 / Jn 1,19-28
And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, "Who are you?" he did not deny it, but admitted, "1 am not the Messiah: So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "1 am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?" He said: "I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said." Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
IN OTHER WORDS
It happened to me many times. A call or a text message from an unknown number asking me: Hu u? I normally do not waste my time to send a reply. Basic courtesy demands that the caller should identify him/herself first and introduce who he/she is. I simply ignore unidentified, anonymous and mysterious calls or text messages from people I do not know.
John the Baptist had a similar experience. The priests and the Levites who interviewed him were distrustful of John's real identity. So they asked John who he was. John's reply was that he was nothing but the voice inspiring people to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. He was not the Christ. He was nobody. There was Someone coming who was definitely more important than John. John was only the Voice. Jesus was the Word. The Voice must decrease. The Word must increase.
John practically said, "Do not wait for me. I am not the one. I do not deserve the attention and honor from anybody. There is Someone much more important than I am. He is the One everyone should listen to." John added, "The difficulty is this One is among you - but you don't recognize him! —he is already in your midst. I am not even worthy to untie the straps of his sandals." John is a model of humility because he was ready and willing to disappear from the scene anytime in order that Jesus would shine. John was only, as he saw it, like a finger pointing to Christ. God sends us the grace to forget ourselves and remember only Christ.
- Fr. Louie Punzalan, SVD (USC, Cebu city)
The Word in other words 2017
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
