I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” John 1:31...I wonder how often I do not see the person in front of me--the loved one, the colleague, the friend I sell short as an image bearer of God. John was so taken with what God revealed about Jesus that he realized he had never really known him. This distant cousin, present at family gatherings and near on holidays, was the Lord, the one he had been waiting for all his life. Without questioning God, without doubting Jesus, John immediately reframed his perspective and bowed before the Lamb of God. For the remainder of his days, John gave this testimony of Jesus: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me... I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God" (John 1:32-34).
How quick are we to adjust our eyes to what God would have us to see in the person beside us? If we are unwilling to let God transform the world before our eyes, there will be people we will never really know, dynamics that will go unnoticed, signs we will miss completely. In the kingdom of God, astonishment should not surprise us.
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