Knowing Who Jesus Is

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐏𝐀𝐔𝐋 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝟒𝟕:𝟐-𝟏𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟏, 𝟒𝟕, 𝟓𝟎-𝟓𝟏 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟔:𝟏𝟒-𝟐𝟗

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “…"...𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦." (𝐯.𝟐𝟎)

          It is always a joy to see our Churches filled with parishioners especially on Sundays such that almost all parishes in the urban areas celebrate at least four to five Eucharistic Celebrations on Sundays which is regarded as a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics.

          That is the upside. The downside is that there are also many of those who go to Church are not familiar with the Order of the Mass and worse still many do not know the value of the Mass and its benefits to their spiritual well-being. The sad part is when you see people going through the motions of the mass but with many of those in attendance in a state of inattentiveness and seeming lack of interest in the liturgical celebration.    

         This has always been a struggle among Catholics which is why other religious sects are fond of labeling Catholics as seasonal Christians which means that almost majority of baptized Catholics are seen flocking to Churches during the five liturgical seasons celebrated by the Catholic Church – Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Times especially on Sundays.

         There are several factors why this is so primary of which is the people’s lack of understanding of the purpose of the Mass, its value to the soul of a person, distractions and abject ignorance not only of the value of the mass but a distressing lack of knowledge of who God is.

         And only those who have a genuine relationship with God and who profess faith in the Trinitarian God would know who God is and in a more particular way – who Jesus is. It is certain that the average man on the street much more a person though he maybe a baptized Catholic, but who has never been to a church in his entire life.

         I grew up in a Catholic environment as I was surrounded by my parents and close relatives who are devoutly Catholics but my knowledge of God notwithstanding the influence of my family was marginal. In my growing up years I went through the motions of the duties and responsibilities of a Catholic because this was a requirement of the Catholic school that I attended.  

        In some way, this was the case of Herod who just couldn’t make out who Jesus was and this was not without reason. Herod lived in Tiberias which was part of Galilee but which at the time was populated by Gentiles and there was no account that Jesus went to Tiberias.

        Because Herod didn’t know who Jesus was the first thing that came to his mind was the name of John the Baptist: “𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝!” (𝐯.𝟏𝟔) To refer to Jesus as John was probably out of guilt that Herod felt for the murder of the prophet who is remembered for paving the way for the coming of Jesus.

         Others said Jesus was Elijah (𝐯.𝟏𝟓). Again, this was based on the conduct of the Jews who were awaiting the return of the great prophet who also was expected to announce the coming of the Lord. And others simply dismissed Jesus as “𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐨.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟓)          

         This scenario is no different from what we see in the ordinary course of everyday life today. The “unchurched” who wasn’t provided with catechetical instruction in their growing up years will not be able to give us even an abstract view of who Jesus is and this is the reason why the Church in 2014 decreed that year to be the Year of the Laity which was program aimed at reigniting the faith of Filipino Catholics to bring the unchurch into the Christian faith.

         But it was not enough. The needed follow through of the catechetical instruction was not implemented although today many Parish Councils throughout the country have intensified their catechesis to revive the bring Jesus into the hearts of ordinary Catholics.

         What this Gospel passage today is telling us is that past sins especially that which was as grievous as the murder perpetrated by Herod will not go away especially if it remains buried in the memory of an unrepentant sinner because the natural tendency is it will keep coming back as the sin continues to haunt an offender like Herod.

         The irony of it all was that Herod loved to listen to the prophetic words spoken by John the Baptist and the only thing that he couldn’t accept was when the prophet started speaking against his illicit relationship with Herodias who was previously married to his brother Philip.

         And Herod Antipas feared John the Baptist because he spoke the truth about his adulterous relationship with Herodias. But he also respected John because he knew that he was a man of unquestionable integrity and that many people believed in the evangelist.

         This is where we can draw a parallelism because this oddity in the character of Herod can also be found in many of us who unknowingly are treading on two parallel courses in our spiritual and temporal journey.

         Some of us may be faithful in our attendance in the Eucharistic Celebrations or the Mass and also in Prayer Meetings for those who belong to a Christian community or prayer group and we lift up our hands and say “yes Lord,” “Amen, Lord” but our temporal lives do not reflect any of the spirituality that we have in the spiritual setting.

         The sin of Herod was that he gave in to his impulsive nature when he failed to discern the request of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, for the head of John to be delivered on a plate. Such impulsiveness is not new as there are times when some of us also lose our sense of right judgment and we do things that we regret afterwards.

         There was someone who once said there are quick decisions and there are good decisions, but it is very seldom that a man will arrive at a good quick decision. There was no doubt that Herod made a bad quick decision, but have we also asked ourselves how many times we also made a quick decision that turned awry or bad.

         Herod was drunk at the time, and he failed to rein in his impulsive nature and this was what Paul warned in his letter to the 𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟓:𝟏𝟖: “𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲 (𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠). 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭.”        

        What this gospel written by Mark shows was that we who would like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and take over the mission he left behind must have the courage and the boldness to speak the truth. If there was one thing admirable with John it was that he did not even think twice when he decided to rebuke Herod for his adulterous relationship with Herodias and he put his life on the line to tell the truth.

         Jesus is telling us to pattern our lives to that of John the Baptist who never minced any words who spoke the truth to the point of death. As evangelists or catechists whose primary duty is to bring the unbelievers and the doubters to Jesus Christ, this example of John is the model that Jesus is asking us to follow.

         Historical accounts claim that Herod Antipas had talked to John to soften his critique of the former’s relationship with Herodias, but John stood his ground and risked his life rather than compromise.

         We the church who are now tasked to bring the Gospel of Christ to others and take the same path that John the Baptist are being commanded to place our life in the hands of God and the 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 provides us an inspiration when it said in 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢 2471:“𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 “𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 “𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥.” 𝘐𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵. 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 “𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯.”        

          Like John the Baptist, we are to bear witness to the truth and as Christians we must not be ashamed of testifying to what the Lord has done in our lives. Remember also what 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝑽𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: “𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐.”        

          Men are drawn to Christ by the testimony of witnesses whose lives were transformed with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is thus imperative that preachers, evangelists and teachers must stand as witnesses to the Gospel because it is only by testifying that we can help bridge the gap that separate men from God.

        We also must not forget that we are the Gospel that we preach and teach such that it is important that others must see Jesus to be present in our lives. This was what John the Baptist did. He told the truth. He was the conscience of God, and he gave his life for the truth. And in the pursuit of our mandate to bring the Gospel of Love to the ends of the earth, it is imperative that we have a personal knowledge of who Jesus is and a relationship with him that will stand the test of time.  (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 6, 2026)