You will receive power to be my witnesses (Acts 1, 8)<\/i><\/p>\n
John the Baptist knows who the reason for his mission is.\u00a0 We surely know the Christian\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/i>. But do we really testify to the Lord\u2019s servant?\u00a0 Are we credible due to our humble and obedient service, because we are committed to spreading God\u2019s grace and peace, to raising the marginalized, and not to protecting our interests?<\/p>\n
John comes baptizing to give witness to Jesus.\u00a0 He acknowledges his subordinate role.\u00a0 He insists on the one witnessed to increasing and the witness decreasing.\u00a0 He gives his disciples reason to exchange him for Jesus.<\/p>\n
The baptizer is unlike us.\u00a0 We love dropping names\u2014of prominent relatives, friends or acquaintances\u2014not so much to honor them as to put on airs.\u00a0 John even admits not knowing Jesus before (the fourth gospel says nothing about the two being relatives).\u00a0 Thus, the precursor does not point to himself, but rather to the one who comes after him.<\/p>\n
And the one pointed out is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world:\u00a0 Jesus is like the paschal lamb, whose blood served as the Israelites\u2019 sign, so that they might not be touched by the destructive plague; he is the Lord\u2019s suffering servant, submissive like a lamb led to the slaughter; he is the slain lamb of Revelation, victorious in the end.<\/p>\n
The Lamb atones for sins, yes, and saves us.\u00a0\u00a0 But his death is not in order to appease a God so irate with us sinners that he demands our blood or the blood of our substitute.\u00a0 Should we think so, we would be upholding the heresy that Jesus saves us from God the Father (Madeleine L\u2019Engle).<\/p>\n
The Crucified saves us from sin.\u00a0 His death is saving because it reverses the prideful disobedience in Eden.\u00a0 The only way to salvation is the way of humility and obedience taken by Jesus in our behalf and by John.\u00a0 The Word made flesh makes it known that to be human is not at all an evil to be ashamed of.\u00a0 Genesis makes clear that evil and shame derive from our proud and disobedient craving to be at God\u2019s level and deny our creatureliness.<\/p>\n
The new Adam took the form of a slave and was known to be of human estate, humble and obedient unto death.\u00a0 \u201cBecause of this, God greatly exalted him.\u201d \u00a0The way of service and humility is the sure and infallible way (Pope Francis, January 7, St. Martha\u2019s).<\/p>\n
Jesus deifies his witnesses whose love for life does not deter them from death and who fulfill the Vincentian advice, \u201cAbove all, have no craving to play the superior or the master\u201d (Coste XI, 346).\u00a0 The weakness of such authentic partakers of Jesus\u2019 sacrifice is strength.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"