Who Are You?

I find it hard to believe John the Baptist was confused about Jesus.

Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities. When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." - Matt. 11:1-6

Didn't John baptize Jesus and witness God's affirmation of who Jesus was?

Could John have missed that and it was only Jesus who saw and heard?

Or maybe this is all about John wanting his disciples to leave him now that he was in prison, and go follow Jesus.

That makes sense to me.  

It is not that John didn't know who Jesus was.  It was his disciples who needed to know for certain that the Messiah had come.

When they ask Jesus about the things he is doing, suddenly, they understand.  He tells them to go and tell John what they see and hear.

Jesus knows we need to see for ourselves.  We need first hand confirmation of our belief in order to accept what we suspect is true.

Matthew is telling us in this Gospel story, that we need to listen and see.  We shouldn't depend solely on what we are told, but we should look for first hand confirmation.

And we all have it.

We just don't realize it.

Jesus is active in our lives.  He is working all around us, in ways we can easily ignore if we fail to pay attention.  

He is present in the hands that serve, in the eyes of the caregivers, in the words of the consoler.

When these people come to help us, we may ask, "Who are you?"

But we know deep down, if we give it a little thought.  It is He.

More to come...