The Messiah, the Promised One, the One about whom Moses wrote, fills the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures. The promised redeemer filled the imaginations of the people of Israel for thousands of years. We can easily understand why they would expect that the Messiah would be a great figure; perhaps he would appear as a great military leader such as Judas Maccabeus or a new high priest who would lead the people back to the observance the commandments. Others thought of him as a King since he would be the servant of God Almighty. Surely God would choose someone of great importance to fulfill the role of the Messiah.
Because of their expectations, Jesus was never fully recognized as the Messiah among his own people. It is supreme irony that until Jesus appears to Thomas and the apostles in the upper room, none of them ever called him “God.” Peter would call him the Messiah and the Son of God, but such appellations had been used for every King and every high priest in the history of Israel. Before the resurrection, the only ones to recognize Jesus for who he was were the demons he cast out and the Roman centurion who watched him die.
Today’s Gospel reminds us of the fact that even John had some difficulty accepting Jesus as the one whom he had announced as the Lamb of God. He had told the people that the one to follow him would winnow the chaff from the grain and throw the chaff into the fire. When he heard that Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners, he sent his disciples to inquire whether they should be looking for someone else. Jesus gently reminds them of the prophecies of Isaiah who had described the work of the Promised One. He asks them to accept him because of his deeds.
Jesus has promised to return again. Inasmuch as he was not recognized the first time he came, the question remains, will we recognize him when he comes again? The Gospels have taught us to look for Jesus among the poor and the voiceless in our society. That is where the shepherds and magi and the disciples of John found him.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator