The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

January 18, 2026 – Second Sunday in Ordinary Time- John 1:29-34

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Today’s gospel again involves Jesus and John the Baptist. Considered in that reading is the matter of the relationship between John and Jesus and the work (ministry) they are intended by God to accomplish. John believes that his work of baptizing with water is secondary to that of Jesus although he likely does not fully understand that of Jesus.

To me this is a very suggestive idea that directly involves you and me. While it is true that we can date our birth here on Earth (for the record I was born of September 21, 1938), I ask if we were existing in any way before then?

The spiritual answer to that is hidden in the words that John uses to describe Jesus. John states the following, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” This truth of our faith draws us into what some call “the divine plan.”

This “plan “comes directly from God. It includes the coming of Jesus and the role of John the Baptist to announce the unfolding of that plan in time. And – here’s what is important for you and me – the plan also involves each of us. Yes, a very important aspect of our biological existence entails our parents, but there’s a longer history that we are each part of. I refer to our so-called pre-existence in the heart and mind of God.  

We do not self-create but are created by God. An idea I learned years ago is that we are intentionally brought into existence by God’s love. Unlimately, we are not self-created despite what some pop psychology suggests. Although exactly how God was involved in our existence is certainly one of life’s imponderables, we can dwell on this mystery of our existence.

Like why was I created and not someone else? Why did God create beings like us? Are there intelligent beings elsewhere in the created universe – a question now on the minds of many cosmic scientists.

While none of us can move beyond knowing that we exist and when we began existing on Earth, we cannot clearly know what happened before our life here. But we can try to imagine it and perhaps grow in wonder and gratitude to God for having created us. John the Baptist knew that Jesus came before him, that he came from God. Cannot in some way this also apply to us?

David M. Thomas, PhD