Word to the Wise
Saturday, January 9, 2016 - Saturday after Epiphany, or Jan. 12
[1 John 5:14-21 and John 3:22-30]SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016 SATURDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY [1 John 5:14-21 and John 3:22-30] "You yourselves can testify that I said I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him......He must increase, I must decrease." [John] The relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist remained a subject of controversy to the early Christian community for a long time. The Gospel of John was put into writing sixty or more years after Jesus' death and resurrection. The Acts of the Apostles mentions St. Paul encountering disciples of John the Baptist in his missionary journeys. So the gospels do make a point of showing that John the Baptist was meant to be a "forerunner" and not the Messiah. Tomorrow, Sunday, we will celebrate the feast of "the Baptism of The Lord." We will read Luke's way of presenting John the Baptist. Today we read how the Gospel of John presents him. I once heard a wise counselor say, "There is but one Messiah, and none of us is him." I think religiously and evangelically motivated persons can occasionally forget that advice. We are called to share the faith but we are not the origin or subject of the faith. Some major preachers have come to ruin for failing to remember that. John the Baptist uses the image of a best man at a wedding. I think we might do well to remember that. It's not about us. AMEN
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