The Joy of Pointing to Christ!

Saturday, January 10, 2026

1 Jn 5:14-21; Jn 3:22-30

Today’s Gospel highlights the joy of pointing to Christ in John’s testimony about Jesus. 

The statement of John’s disciples reveals their insecurity in a way. They see that the scenes have quickly changed. The baptizer is not anymore the only one. Now Jesus has started baptizing, and ‘everyone is coming to him.’ Hence, in their statement, we can sense the tendency to compare John to Jesus and feel insecure about the latter’s growing importance.

But John handles the situation beautifully. He minces no words about Jesus. At the same time, he takes care that his testimony does not add to the fear of his disciples. John manifests his joy in pointing to Christ, thus acknowledging the greatness of Jesus while wanting his disciples to be with him. In other words, when his disciples go through a feeling of insecurity about Jesus’ greatness, John points to Jesus as their security. 

Thus, in testifying to Jesus and accepting his role as the ‘best man’ who is ‘sent before Christ,’ John demonstrates what it means to step aside gracefully when the Messiah walks into the scene. Thus, in John, we witness the joy of pointing to Christ in a selfless manner. 

John’s testimony about Jesus shows a steady progression. John recognizes the heavenly arrangement in Christ’s greatness. John makes it clear that our ministry comes from God, and it is entrusted to us for a purpose. Secondly, he reaffirms his identity as a witness to Christ. Thus, he not only declares Jesus as the Messiah but also affirms that he is his witness. Thirdly, employing the bridegroom image, John is self-effacing. His self-effacement flows from a joyous awareness of his responsibility as the friend of the bridegroom. Finally, for John, success means surrendering to Christ. In his testimony about Jesus, he ensures that people see Jesus, not him. This is how John evaluates the success of his mission. 

John leaves a compelling lesson behind: ‘We Christians succeed in life if our lives point to Christ. Our failure would be not being able to do so.’

Let us pray that, like John, we may experience the joy of pointing to Christ. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar