When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John."
But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Source: https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/
Analysis
Today's passage is quite an interesting one, as this has almost nothing to do with Jesus, instead it tells us of a certain John the Baptist. While in our narrative, it seems that this passage is utterly meaningless and has no worth to be analyzed or even reflected. That is not entirely true however, as nevertheless John is still an important figure. The passage describes the birth of John and also his naming. At first, he is to be named Zechariah like his father, Elizabeth intervenes and insists that he is to be named John, at the instruction of God, and Zechariah himself also said so using a written message, since he became mute for doubting God. And then his mouth opens after agreeing to name his son John, and he praised God soon after. Everyone was amazed at this event, and the child grew and as his becomes an adult moves away to the desert, until it is time.
The role of John is very simple, that is to announce the coming of Christ, and to prepare people, or the few people that wishes to hear him for Jesus Himself. John is a blessed man, though he is not as blessed as Jesus. It may seem unfair that John only gets small and seemingly useless roles, while Jesus gets all the big hits and the glory. There is one important message for ourselves from John actually. That is to let go of our ego, and of our desires. If we wish to follow God, and serve the truth, then while we wish to get fame and glory, that will never happen. As we would be given a role that we deserve, that we actually need, a role that is suiting with our talents and potential. In such cases, we might be given a role that seems meaningless and worthless, however we must remember that what is important is not us being the best of all, but being the best for ourselves. With that small role, perhaps we can actually perform our best, and actually be the best version of ourselves. I believe that is all I have to say, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment