Mtr Mary Trainor

What then did you go out to see?

Dear friend,

John the Baptist is in jail and will leave there only for his execution. Between his jailing and his death, word comes to him of the work Jesus is doing. He sends a message inquiring of Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus tells John’s people: Tell him what we are doing so he can gauge for himself.

As John’s men leave, Matthew’s Gospel notes that Jesus then speaks to the gathered crowd about John.

What then did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

Prior to his arrest John was baptizing those from far and near who came to the River Jordan for forgiveness of their sins. At least some of these witnessed the baptism of Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the audible Father praise the holy Son.

What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes?

John the Baptist is not a soft-robe sort of guy. He lives in the wilderness, eats what the land produces, dresses in roughly put-together clothing. Hairstyle? No. Bathing? Rare. But here he is, answering the call God placed on his life from the beginning. He is not the star, Jesus is. John himself says, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

What then did you go out to see? A prophet?

A prophet shares God’s intentions or desires for our lives. I have had a couple of prophets granted to me. What a blessing. How about you? Anyone pointing you in a direction, lighting a lamp along the way? If there is, you are truly blessed. While the prophets do not always share what we want to hear, they do tell us what we need to hear.

Maybe your calling is to be someone’s prophet. It doesn’t necessarily make you popular, in fact, likely it doesn’t. But it is one way the will and wishes of God can be told.

What then do we go out to see?

Mtr Mary