God knows us from the womb, scripture says. That’s a long acquaintance, and it comes with an intimate understanding of who we are and can become. No one can ever know us as God does. Which is also to say: nothing about us is hidden from God. Depending on how many secrets we keep from the world, this can be an appalling thought.

God knows us deeply, and our happiness lies in knowing God. Knowledge of God arrives in close proximity to the divine will. Isaiah describes the faithful servant conforming to God’s service so precisely that God’s strength is his, and God’s light shines through him. As we become truer servants, we may borrow divine strength and reveal divine light! No wonder the psalmist cries: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will!

Similarly, Paul reminds the Corinthians how true holiness makes us conduits for the radiance of Christ.

This is intriguing, since John the Baptist says something curious in chapter one of John’s gospel, and he says it twice, which makes it significant. John says of Jesus: “I did not know him.” Twice, in verses 31 and 33. If knowing Jesus is vital to faith, why does the Baptist emphasize his ignorance?

Some scholars ascribe the comment to the fourth gospel’s resolute dismissal of a “friendly neighborhood Jesus.” While Luke presents the Baptist as Jesus’ cousin by twinning their infancy narratives, John’s gospel turns the synoptic baby stories into a theological exploration of the Logos entering into time. The Christ of faith will not be bounced on a knee! Nor will he have cousins, apparently. Jesus and John are therefore strangers when they meet at the Jordan.

It seems rather a lot of trouble simply to disavow kinship. To Raymond Collins, the implications go deeper. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah was expected to arrive anonymously in the world—not with angel hosts singing the news, and stars signaling his position. Justin Martyr describes how this expectation presented an obstacle to faith for some: “But Christ—if He has indeed been born, and exists anywhere—is unknown, and does not even know Himself, and has no power until Elias come to anoint Him, and make Him manifest to all” (Dialogue with Trypho, VIII, 4).

The fourth gospel, facing the same objections, presents a more palatable entry. The Christ in Jesus is indeed hidden; even the forerunner didn’t suspect his identity until the "day of choice"—the opportune hour of divine action. What secures the Baptist his place in the story is that, once Jesus is revealed, he testifies to him boldly. When the opportune hour comes to us and we see Jesus, do we do the same?

Related scripture links

Jesus on Moses and Abraham: John 5:45-47; 7:19-24; 8:31-59
Saint Paul’s complex identity: Acts 22:3-5; Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:13; 9:1-2, 19-23; 2 Cor. 11:22-23; Gal. 2:19-20; Eph. 4:1; Phil. 1:1; 3:5; Titus 1:1; Philem. 1
Jesus as lamb: Isa. 52:23-53:12; John 19:36; 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 9:11-28; Rev. 5:6-14; 14:1-5; 19:9; 21:22-22:5
Jesus and the Spirit in John: 3:5, 34; 7:38-39; 20:22

Catechism links

Lamb: CCC 407-409; 536; 608; 711-716; 1137; 1505
Messiah: CCC 436-440; 1286-1287
John the Baptist: CCC 523; 717-720