Not in our image
John the Baptist always amazes me, and not just because of his fashion choices or dietary choices (I’ve never been a lover of honey, but locusts sound even less appetising). He was the one who paved the pathway for Jesus, calling the errant people of God back to the Lord with his fiery repentance sermons. But he and Jesus were so very different. John was an ascetic, and his wilderness man lifestyle seemed harsh and even fanatical to some. Jesus, infamous in the eyes of the Pharisees because of his love of banquets and friendships with arch-sinners, seemed to come at life from the opposite extreme. Both men were roundly criticised, which proves that there is no pleasing some people.
But notice that as he languished in prison, John hit a crisis. Was this Jesus really the Christ? The little band of John’s disciples therefore came as a delegation to gently look for confirmation that Jesus really was ‘the One’. Surely John was tempted to think that the coming Messiah would do things according to his expectations – indeed, that Jesus would be an extension of the ministry and lifestyle of John. Jesus knew that he was hard for John to take – hence his words, ‘blessed are those who do not fall away on account of me’ – the phrase means literally, ‘not be scandalised by me’.
Perhaps you’re struggling with someone right now because they don’t ‘do faith’ according to your expectations. Are they wrong – or just different? Let’s not try to make people in our own image. That’s already been done – and can only be done – by God alone.