Cousins

Do you ever wonder if John and Jesus were close when they were growing up?

They were cousins, born six months apart, and their mothers were close, so perhaps they spent time together.

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, 'No; he is to be called John.' They said to her, 'None of your relatives has this name.' Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. - Luke 1:57-64

When I think of Jesus and his cousin, John the Baptist, I think of my own family and the cousin I was closest to while growing up.  He is a year younger than I, and when we were young, we saw each other quite often.

But once he moved away and married, we saw each other much less frequently.  We became distant cousins.

I think the same may have happened with Jesus and John.  It was John, the younger of the two who went off and started a ministry, calling people to repent and change their ways, preparing for something different.

In their thirties, they reconnected and Jesus became a follower of John, choosing his own followers from John's flock.  And despite the fact that Jesus and John knew each other, John still questioned if Jesus was the one he was prophesying about.

It really is an amazing story because it is a stark reminder that we have no way of knowing how God works through us.  Friends of Jesus and his family refused to believe this man they knew as a child could be who they said he was.

Even his own cousin, who spoke of his coming, had trouble putting the pieces together.

So, how well do we know each other? 

It is clear from recent events that the impressions we get from people through their public images can be misleading and false.  They could be totally different from what we see and want to believe.

So it is with Jesus.  To all he met, he was a man like any other, and yet God had other plans for him. 

Now you could say that was Jesus.  He is divine, but what about his cousin, John?

Whether we believe that God dwells within us, guiding and strengthening us so we can face the challenges before us, like Jesus, or we believe He is outside of us, calling us to come to Him, like John, the outcome for us may be the same.

We delight in doing His will, whatever that means for us and for those we are called to serve, to help, to support, to comfort, to feed, to love.

As we make our way through this Advent Journey, we can think of the cousins, John and Jesus, and see in them examples of God working through us in this world.

When confronted with a challenge, we can ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?", or we can remember that even Jesus was not alone in his mission.  He may have even asked John for help now and then.

So, how can we help Jesus this season?

More to come...