They Did Not Know Him

John 1:10-18
Gospel Reading for the Second Sunday after Christmas (Year A)

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. - John 1:10-11

I know that the gospel writer is talking about a time and a place. And as beautifully written as the Prologue is, there is a bit of unnecessary shade-throwing to that statement: the world did not know, his own people did not accept him. There seems to be this suggestion that, reader, you and I would have known better.

I don’t know if we would. I am actually fairly sure that we would not have known him either.

It’s one of those essential questions of pop theology: What if Jesus came back today? What would he look like? What would he do? Would Christians follow him or revile him? Granted, when you are talking about “Christians” you are talking about a wide swath of individuals who hold vastly different beliefs. So it is hard to say what his theoretical followers would do if Immanuel showed up in 2020. Those of us in the United States probably wouldn’t notice for awhile because I get the sense that he wouldn’t show up here.

I think that we would struggle with him and he would be a different challenge for different people. Odds are his physical appearance would be far closer to the Iranian general that the United States just assassinated than anyone who has ever stepped into a pulpit in most American churches. He would be hard to peg down. He would scandalize those who are moralists and might say things that others might consider backwards.

The flag-waving Christians would be outraged by his questioning of empires. The Christians who are rock-solid certain about their beliefs would be flummoxed by his questions. Some Christians would be put-off with some of the people he welcomes to the table and others would struggle with his lines in the sand. I just guess that everyone—myself included—would have some issue with Jesus that would make them doubt or scratch their heads or outright dismiss him.

Of course, all of this is conjecture. I just believe that if God in flesh showed up today, it would be a wild card. It would be something that would challenge all of us. Because the Way of Jesus runs counter to a lot of what we think; even what we think within our theoretically Christ-following circles. It would be easy for me to look at Christians with whom I disagree and say they would not know him. I could look at that infamous picture from this past week of MAGA-vangelicals (why, Michael Tait? Why?) and say, “They surely wouldn’t know Jesus if showed up today.” But would I? I don’t know. I should not be so arrogant to assume that I would.

To drive that point home, how many times does Jesus show up in the homeless beggar, the refugee child, the prisoner, the mourning widow, the abused, the neglected, and the hurting and I don’t recognize him? It’s a tough, but much-needed reminder to open up my eyes. It’s true, John, that they did not know him. Most of us don’t. May God give us the grace to look a second, third, or twentieth time and know Jesus when we see him.