“I did not know him.”  This is what John the Baptist says of Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel (John 1:29-34). In fact, he says it twice in this Gospel passage.

 

We might find it surprising that John would say he did not know Jesus, given that his mother, Elizabeth, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were related. When the angel Gabriel told Mary she would conceive through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, he also told her, “Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her.” Upon hearing that news, Mary went to stay with Elizabeth until her baby was born.

 

Mary and Joseph certainly knew about the birth of John the Baptist. It would be logical to assume that Elizabeth and Zechariah would likewise have been aware of the birth of the child Jesus. These two boys, who were related and only six months apart in age, would have had some contact with one another during their childhood. In addition, their proud parents would have shared news about their sons, both born through divine intervention.

 

Yet what John says about not knowing Jesus is certainly understandable. For as we are aware from our own experience, there are various levels of “knowing someone.” We may know someone on a casual basis. We may have met that person’s family, spent time with that person at school or work, had some informal conversations, and learned something about his or her politics. Such superficial knowing is quite different from intimately knowing a person. Truly knowing a person requires being aware of a person’s hopes and dreams, their successes and failures, the depth of their relationships with friends and family, the level of their faith, their vision of life, and their self-understanding.

 

While John the Baptist was certainly aware of Jesus, he did not know who Jesus truly was until the Spirit of God opened his eyes to truly see the one who was standing before him at the Jordan River. As John tells us, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him…the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ With that insight, John came to know who Jesus truly was: he was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He was “the Son of God.”

 

As Christians, none of us would say that we do not know Jesus. We call him our Savior and Lord, and we profess our faith in him each Sunday. Yet our knowledge of Jesus may only be superficial. We may know the right words to describe him, but we may not truly know him on a deep, personal level. We may not know him as the loving Lamb of God who wishes to walk with us through this life and bring us to the fullness of life in the kingdom of heaven.

 

May the Holy Spirit, who enabled John the Baptist to recognize Jesus, open our eyes and hearts during this New Year of 2026 so we may truly come to know Jesus Christ.

 

© 2026 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski