Remembering that John the Baptist and Jesus are relatives (Jesus’ mother was cousin of John’s mother), we might assume they knew one another. So why would John send his disciples to question Jesus about who Jesus was? Didn’t John know? Some scripture scholars suggest that John was expecting a different kind of messiah than Jesus was turning out to be. Perhaps John expected a more fierce, harsh person like he described earlier, a messiah who “with winnowing fan in his hand … will clear the threshing floor …” (Mt.3:12). Jesus tells John’s disciples, “Blessed is he who takes no offense at me” as you see me healing people and preaching to the poor instead! What kind of leader do I expect Jesus to be? And in earthly leaders, do I see compassionate, caring, generous leaders as weak? This is a good week to pray for leaders and sort out what kind of leader I need to be in order to lead like Jesus did!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia