John 1:24-28: a reflection

24The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don’t know. 27He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” 28These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

When the authorities press John the Baptist about who he is and why he baptizes, he deflects attention away from himself and points to another: I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. In the middle of the crowd, John says, stands someone far greater, already present, and you do not recognize him.

Notice that striking phrase: among you stands one you do not know. The Messiah was not far off; he was there, standing among them, in the ordinary press of the crowd, and they did not see him. The greatest presence in their midst went unrecognized. John, for his part, knew his own smallness before this One, unworthy even to loosen his sandal, and pointed everyone toward him rather than to himself.

There is a searching truth here about how easily we miss the Lord who is near. Christ is often present in ways we do not recognize, in the ordinary, the overlooked, the person in front of us, the moment we are hurrying past. Among you stands one you do not know. The invitation is to have eyes that recognize the Lord who is already present, not far off but near, standing in our midst, often unseen. Ask God for eyes to see him where he already is, and, like John, to point others toward the One who stands among us, rather than to ourselves.

Lord, John said the Messiah was already standing among the crowd, unrecognized: among you stands one you do not know. Give me eyes to recognize you where you are already present, near rather than far off, in the ordinary, the overlooked, the person in front of me. And like John, help me point others toward you rather than to myself, unworthy as I am to untie your sandal.