Luke 9:18-24  ¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  ¹⁹ They answered, "John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen."  ²⁰ He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Messiah of God."  ²¹ He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,  ²² saying, "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."  ²³ Then he said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  ²⁴ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

Our Gospel lesson today (and really last week as well), was about people trying to figure out who John the Baptist was.  Many thought of his as Elijah or even the prophet who had come to announce the coming of the Messiah (depends on which Gospel you read).  John was indeed the witness who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, as many of the Old Testament prophets had declared.

Later in his own ministry, the tables would be turned and Jesus would be called “John the Baptist.”  Why is it that the people of that day could not realize who Jesus was and what he was up to?  Perhaps the same question could be asked about John.  Were these people truly not ready for the Messiah, or were they just blind to how God was working around them all the time?

In today’s society, I think the same is true.  There are people that still deny Jesus as the Messiah, instead saying he was nothing more than a prophet.  There are people that are still blind to how God is working in and around then every day.  And then there are those of us that even though we go to church, also seem to have blinders on at times.  Proclaiming Christ as Messiah should be very simple for us.  But as the season of Christmas approaches we get so wrapped up with everything else that we sometimes forget what exactly we are celebrating. 

Advent lasts for another 2 weeks, which means that we have 2 weeks to still do Christmas shopping, wrap presents, and even perhaps have a party or two.  But it also means we have 2 weeks to continue to prepare our hearts for the return of Christ.  We need to be ready to recognize him when we see him, so that like all those around Jesus, we won’t be left asking “Who are you? 

In our prayers this week: Ann, Daniel, David, Brianna, and Mike C

God’s Peace