Foot Notes

In the silence “Behold God beholding you...and smiling.”Anthony de Mello

We answer: Maybe you are John the Baptist returned
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven....
20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
John was the first hint that something different might be happening. He called on the people to repent. Acting strangely, a stranger indeed in the wilderness, John asked us to see ourselves as unworthy of God’s continued concern. We have sought our own glory, believed we could bring about our salvation, trusted in the power of human effort. Repent he said. See your power, your position, your wealth as it truly is—an impediment to reconciliation with your Creator. If Israel was to be restored to its God decreed place a reversal of ways was required. For some however we might imagine that his words held hope. Change in the social order for them might mean a better life. Renewal might imply a more just society. The Messiah will come but are we prepared? Powerful people didn’t like hearing that they were sinners. Like many spokesmen for a new order John was arrested and killed. So much for reform, for justice, for righteousness. But what now?

Jesus indeed does remind those with much that God’s world is created for all. Jesus like John asks us to see beyond our own particular needs and desires. Jesus also brought hope to the outcast, the impoverished, those the world deemed unworthy. Does he not call us his disciples to do likewise? No, he was not John raised from the dead but his message was still “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” How do we hear his call this Lent?