JOHN KNEW THAT JESUS WAS HIS COUSIN, BUT HE KNEW HIM NOT

In reading or studying tomorrow’s Gospel, according to St.John, we have one single word, about which volumes can be written. Yes, volumes. That word is “BEHOLD”. Of Saxon origin ‘behold’ means ‘to fix the eyes upon’, or, according to its Saxon roots, ‘to hold, to keep your eyes fixed upon ..’

Imagine I am in the Courtroom, standing on the witness-stand, and as the accused comes in, I shout, I declare: “Hold your gaze (all you present), keep your eyes fixed ..” on that person, whilst pointing with my finger. And that is just what the Baptist has done. On seeing Jesus, he exclaimed: “Behold”.

Now, why on earth has John the Baptist uttered that word? First of all we have to keep in mind that the Baptist’s father was a priest whose duty, amongst others, was to sacrifice the lambs; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Now, imagine the Baptist seeing a flock of lambs being led by their shepherd, to the Temple, to be prepared for the sacrifice.

The Baptist acted in a most natural way. He knew that the people were conscious of the fact that those lambs were being led to the Temple, to be sacrificed in atonement for their sins. So, was it not natural for him to point at Jesus and declare: “Behold, (this is) the Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world.” And something which the Gospel does not record, is the rest of the statement: “ ... and not those lambs which are being led to the Temple.”

What made the Baptist make such a declaration? The only answer is, Divine Inspiration. There is a reason for saying this. First of all, Jesus and John, were cousins (first, second or relatives is immaterial), so, they must have met some time or other during the 20 years of their manhood. John knew that Jesus was the son of his aunt Elizabeth. So, he must have known Jesus.

What John did not know was the ‘mission’ of Jesus. John was preaching in the desert and calling one and all for repentance (Advent Readings), and baptism, all this for the arrival of the Messiah. May I remind you of the Text wherein John sent his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one to come?” But he did not know so far who that Messiah was, except at the moment of Baptism in the Jordan.

John must have seen the heavens open and a sort of a dove shape was on Jesus head. Now, the dove was considered as a sacred bird in Israel. So much so, it was never captured, or kept in cages... except to be sold for sacrifice ... it was not even killed for consumption. In fact the doves, or pigeans were found in great numbers, and, as Josephus Flavius recalls, they were very tame.

As yet there was no knowledge about the Holy Spirit, so what the Baptist declared must have been Divine Inspiration. There and then, John knew what the ‘mission’ of  Jesus was.  

Let each and every one of us make the Baptist’s same declaration of “Behold” with our works and deeds, the way we speak, the way we behave and live.