December 14, 2022 at 5:24 p.m.
Clear vision
Clear vision
Who exactly Jesus may be is no insignificant question. While we do not doubt that John the Baptist himself knew his cousin and his origins quite well, those who had been following him and his preaching and actions of baptizing in the wilderness were no doubt wondering whether they should be heeding reports about Jesus, some of which may have required them to change some of their thoughts and expectations.
Change is not easy and Jesus, like John, was doing and saying things that challenged people to make fundamental changes in their lives. If, in fact, Jesus is “the one who is to come,” then John would only be a temporary figure — as he himself clearly testified to! — and indeed even the understanding of their faith would have to undergo reflection and perhaps reform. This question is no less significant for us today. If Jesus is the Incarnate Word, the Son of God, a divine Person with a divine and human nature, then he is owed not only respect and a serious hearing, but worship — the honor of being the very center of our life.
The response of Jesus is not complicated. He refers John’s disciples to what he is actually doing, citing a passage from the prophet Isaiah, which speaks of the blind recovering their sight, and of ears being opened and prisoners being freed from various forms of incarceration. We know the many ways in which we can become enslaved in habits and addictions, some of them as terrifying as the thought of being physically in a prison cell. The separation from loved ones, the violence that results from the desperation of not knowing where the next fix will come from and the delusions that arise from sight and perspective being clouded by emotional and chemical dependencies that paint one’s life in seriously distorted colors.
Jesus brings sight and vision to all who are trapped in the vicious cycles of slavery to tyrannical forces, be they of human or demonic origin. We know he cast out evil spirits and healed people of afflictions and diseases, not all of which are, even today, clinically identifiable as purely biological or psychological. In effect, Jesus came to heal the whole person, body, mind and soul.
Clear vision means more than being relieved of cataracts, though I can attest from personal experience of this wonder of modern medicine that we are blessed today to enjoy. A good friend of mine of the Jewish faith often observes that the times we are living in are somewhat, at least analogically, “messianic” in that we are seeing and experiencing wonderful healings that bring so much hope and relief to the suffering, which were unthinkable only a few decades ago. How many examples we could list that all of us have some knowledge and experience of.
What remains lacking, however, despite our significant scientific and technological advances, is a clear sense of our identity as human beings, what makes us unique and what brings us peace and harmony in our personal lives, our relationships and in our domestic and national society. If there is one constant in the vision that Jesus offers us it is that clarity with which he peels away the blinders by which human beings subjugate others so persistently to their own judgment, even the way we judge ourselves.
If we familiarize ourselves with the actions and attitudes of Jesus, we see that he does not seem to be particularly impressed with those things by which some people attempt to elevate themselves over others. It is not that he hates or despises those of great wealth, learning, rank or other stature. He was known to dine with all classes of people, including those deemed morally inferior. It is not the healthy who need the physician, sick people do, he once said.
The vision that Jesus offers is free of human judgments and prejudices and accepts everyone as a child beloved of God. The genius by which a personal God becomes incarnate in the tiny child of Bethlehem, as narrated in the Gospels, born in a cave full of animals, not a palace, recognized first by the lowest ranks of society, the shepherds in the fields, is hardly the stuff of tales about princes and prosperity. Yet it is humble enough to be accessible to everyone — including scientists and wise men from afar who seek the truth, as symbolized by the legendary star. These narratives are all about vision, about finding, discovering the truth of who we really are and are invited to become.
Every year as we journey together through the Advent season, we re-encounter the beautiful scriptural themes that invite us to look and listen, to take a break from the speed and cacophony of worldly traffic in order to hear a message that wishes us only blessing and peace. It is what the mission of John the Baptist was focused on: repent and believe the good news. No accident that he was drawing people from all walks of life into deserted places to hear a simple message of purification, letting go of the false trappings of control and security that so delude us and block our vision of our true dignity in God’s eyes.
John was certainly a “character” as the world often judges people who do not quite conform to conventional expectations. Jesus himself became the subject of criticism and abuse because of his shockingly welcome approach toward the lowly and marginalized, that he ate and drank with sinners, even went out of his way to approach them and to speak to them kindly.
What was he seeing so clearly that the world so often misses? What does he have to offer us who are looking for the truth about who we are and what we are called to be?
If our lives are overwhelmed with the expectations and demands that others, even ourselves, have heaped upon us, which are often only exacerbated by the patterns and rituals associated with “the holidays,” we have the option of hearing the “voice crying in the wilderness” that leads us to the real Prince of Peace who can be found and seen even by shepherds and their animals. Humanity, with all its trappings and pretensions, has never outgrown its need for this Savior, who opens eyes, minds and hearts to the clear vision of a world where all are embraced by God and loved as God’s children. It is the world God alone can create. And it’s a gift.
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