There
is an interesting paradox in the New Testament. We are first introduced to John
the Baptist as the New Elijah, the harbinger, the one who shouts in the wilderness
and prepares the way of the Lord. And yet we read in Mathew 11:1-6 and Luke
7:18-35 of John the Baptist sending his disciples to Jesus of Nazareth to ask
Jesus if he was the Messiah or whether there was need to wait for another
Messiah.
Knowing
the Messiah by Sight and Hearing
This is
a really surprising turn of events. John was laboring every day and announcing
the imminent arrival of Jesus. Yet, this same John was unsure of whether Jesus
was the real Messiah.
So what
did Jesus give as the solution to John’s question?
Jesus told John’s disciples: “Go tell John what you have seen and heard.”
Simply,
Jesus is sending them back to go share their experiences with John. He is
directing them to go and tell him what they saw and what they heard because telling
John this and sharing their experiences with him would easily make him recognize
Jesus as the Messiah.
But what
did they see? What did they hear? And what would they tell John?
They saw him thronged by crowds of people thirsty for God’s word
and heard him preach to them.
They saw Him sympathize with the poor and heard him promise them
heavenly riches.
They saw him cast out evil spirits and heard him use words of
authority.
They saw him raise the dead and heard him say he could give
eternal life to all who believe.
They saw Pharisees and Sadducees come to him and heard his bold
responses to their questions.
They saw people who trusted him, disciples who worked for him,
and heard people whisper in low tones that he was the messiah.
They saw many things and heard many proofs that he was the
Messiah.
And
taking this message back to John the Baptist would be enough to convince John
that the messiah had come.
Legio Maria
We Have Seen and Heard Christ
Just
like the disciples of John experienced Jesus and reported back to John, Legio
Maria has experienced Simeo Melkio and is reporting this to the world.
We saw him become a renowned prophet in Segegi and heard him say
he was sent by God, his father.
We heard angels and saints sing from Kachola Hill to John Baru’s
home.
Our eyes were opened at once and we saw Simeo seated on his
throne in heaven.
We saw angels and saints bowing and prostrating in worship to
him.
We received the Holy Spirit from him and did many miracles and
wonders.
We saw him raise to life Amoke of Asembo who died in Kisumu.
We saw him raise to life Angelina of Seme when he passed through
Seme.
We saw him raise to life a Roho Church adherent who died in
Gombania, Tanzania.
We saw him raise to life son of Kalaudia who died in Nairobi.
We saw him heal Salome Owiny who had bled for 10 years.
We saw him heal Obote the mute and Dalmas Oyier the cripple.
We saw angels in our midst, and we saw saints escort us.
We received many miracles in our lives and basked in the
glorious presence of him who came from above
We heard the Holy Spirit’s teaching that Jesus had come again.
And we heard Simeo Ondeto repeat that he is the son of God.
And so,
what we saw and heard we believe. And that which we believe we declare to all.
And our declaration is that Simeo Melkio is the glory of God.
We
praise him every day, and Legio Maria sings of him every day.
We walk
bare-foot in church because of his holy presence.
We make
altars for him in our churches and homes, and use his images on those altars as
public declaration of who he is to us.
We
raise his flag and the flags of saints and angels in our churches as we declare
our belief in his glory and in the truth that all saints have entered his
glory.
We
remove all chairs from our churches, so we can only have one seat of the lord,
for we cannot sit on seats when our lord is seated on his throne.
And we
implore his mercy and goodness; and work for his kingdom, for he is our God and
our Lord forever.
And so
what we have seen and heard, we declare to the world every day.