2 January 2014 - abide in him

2 January 2014 - abide in him

“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

Everything relies on recognizing this one about whom John the Baptist speaks.  Everything rests on accepting the truth about who he is.

Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

So we need to get grounded in the truth of who Jesus is.  We need to do this even if we imagine ourselves to be devote and already know his identity.  The people to whom John the Evangelist speaks have "heard from the beginning" who he is.  But they still need to be reminded to let it "remain" in them in order that they can continue to live out of that truth.

History leading up to Jesus points toward him.  John the Baptist is the foremost example.  History afterward points back to him again just as does John the Evangelist.  As Blessed John Paul the Great writes in his first encyclical: "THE REDEEMER OF MAN, Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history."

This is the central truth of history.  The two John's are just examples.  But there is nothing which is unaffected by or exists without reference to the central truth of Jesus the Christ.

As Christians we aren't looking to hear something new because "in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son".  Jesus is the Word of the Father aside from whom he has nothing else to say, no other word to speak.  He is the fullness of revelation.  Therefore as long as "the anointing ... received from him remains" in us we will not need anyone to teach us about anything.  This anointing is the baptism of Jesus.  Unlike John's baptism of water this is with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His anointing has power and "teaches ... about everything and is true and not false."  The Word in fullness is spoken and the anointing is given to us in baptism.  We need not seek novelty.  Instead we must abide in the anointing from the Word.  We must fan it into flame if it grows dim.

The anointing comes from the Word of God.  Let us abide in the Word so that we may be confirmed in this anointing.  When we abide in his word we confess the Son (in our hearts and before others).  As John the Evangelist reminds us we have the Father as well when we confess the Son.  And since the anointing to which he refers is the Holy Spirit we see that we have the entire Holy Trinity dwelling within our hearts.

Let us rejoice in the mighty victory of God in the birth of our savior.  As we rejoice in his deeds may the truth of who he is permeate our hearts more and more so that "we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming."

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.