Much of our Catholic doctrine is both so deep and so simple that, almost inevitably, from the very beginning of the Church some people found it difficult to accept. Jesus once spoke about the eternal value of giving a cup of cold water to a disciple (Mt. 10:42), but of course, it requires a great faith to see the eternal value in such a simple gesture as giving someone a cup of water. Faith requires a very special mindset, a mindset that is prepared to go beyond the obvious and be open to new and divine possibilities.

Those who questioned John the Baptist tried to understand him within their own categories: Messiah, Elijah, the prophet promised by Moses. They were not open to the simplicity of John himself, a simplicity which demanded a new mindset.

St John sums up our religion thus: "Jesus is the Christ." Many people, however, will reduce Jesus to the level of a prophet, a teacher, a wise man. John reminds us that that is not enough: only confessing Jesus as the Messiah will enable us to lead lives worthy of eternal life, while bad Christology eventually leads to bad morality.