Well, we’re seeing two sides of John the Baptist, but what the Gospel is really seeking to show us does not concern him but Jesus. In Advent, we looked at John the Baptist the prophet, the one who made straight the way of the Lord in advance of the Messiah’s coming. Now, he is the one pointing out the Lord – the one upon whom the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, the one about whom the voice of the Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The coming of Jesus has changed John; he had foretold the Messiah but now he has seen him with his own eyes and he points him out to all of his followers so that they may become his followers: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” John’s whole identity has been changed by his encounter with Christ.
It might not seem evident at first, but something similar is happening in the second reading for today. St. Paul is writing the introduction to his first letter to the Corinthians, which in the opinion of most scholars just so happens to be the first of any of his letters. What’s the very first thing he does? He introduces himself: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”. This was a very standard way of beginning a letter in the first century, and so one might assume that Paul is just following convention. Except remember who he is! His given name is not “Paul” but “Saul” and he was one of the fiercest persecutors of Christianity – until he too encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and like John the Baptist had a complete change of his identity, from Jew to Christian apostle, from one advocating violence to one sent by God to preach the Gospel.
There are times in life when an encounter with someone changes who we are: a young man who meets the woman of his dreams, a mother who sees the child she has been carrying for nine months, a teacher or coach who inspires and transforms, a friend or mentor who lifts us up when we are at our lowest point. We don’t think of these formative relationships as ones that change our identity but they do – we’re different from before, if not in name than at least in perspective, in sentiment, in purpose.
Take those experiences – and multiply them by a million – and that’s what happened to John the Baptist and to Paul when they encountered Jesus. Their identities were completely reshaped by encountering the God-who-became-Man. They became saints, men whose lives found their very purpose and meaning in Jesus and what he called them to. The Good News, brothers and sisters, for this week is that that very same encounter is available to us, indeed it has already occurred – we need only unlock its graces. By virtue of our baptism, we have all encountered Jesus in a radically new way and have become a part of the supernatural reality that bridges heaven and earth, the Church. When we go through each day, we are not at our deepest level only son or daughter, husband or wife, student or employee, man or woman – each of us is one who knows Jesus, who has met him, who loves him and *especially* one who is loved by him.
Lorenzo Lippi, The Baptism of Saint Paul (c. 1655)
Does this mean we live our lives differently? It should. It should mean that we regard ourselves as changed as John the Baptist and Paul did. It should mean that we look at ourselves not merely as concerned with our own schedules and plans and priorities – but as those “sent” by the Lord to do his will, as much as the apostles were. We must be followers of Jesus not in name only but in reality, not just for the hour on Sunday we’re in Mass but at every moment of every day.
You know, each of us wants to be the best version of ourselves – it’s the reason why so many make resolutions in the New Year to improve in some area or another. As we start a new academic semester at the university, those of us who are students, or faculty, or staff also wish to grow upon the successes we’ve made and reform the errors we’ve committed. But as Christians, we also profess that the best version of ourselves is the version that has encountered Jesus – and that keeps encountering him anew, with Jesus always as our aim and as our purpose. The successes we have are his graces; the errors we make are his opportunities, and the lives we live should be defined not by whatever limited identity we would wish to create for ourselves but by the new and triumphant identity we have in him.
Friends, as we move away from the Christmas season into Ordinary Time, let’s not hit the rewind button in who we are. Just like John the Baptist and Paul, we too have encountered and continue to encounter Jesus – in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist; in our prayer and in the graces that God gives us to be faithful to him each day; and in the encounters we have with one another, bearing Christ within us. And this encounter will change us, it will redefine our identity in the best way possible – if only we keep our eyes on Jesus. In the words of St. Paul, may God’s “grace and peace” be with us so that we can help others encounter Jesus in us and so become the very best version of ourselves.
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