Saint John the Baptist in Prison
Visited by Two Disciples
Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1455
My dear friends,
Luke 7:18-35 presents a profound moment in the ministry of Jesus, where John the Baptist, from prison, sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is truly "the one who is to come." Jesus' response, the ensuing discourse on John, and His rebuke of the generation's fickleness hold deep significance when viewed from the perspective of the Bodhisattva path.
reported all these things to him.
So John summoned two of his disciples
and sent them to the Lord to ask,
‘Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?’
When the men had come to him, they said,
‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,
“Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?” ’
- Luke 7:18-20
John, a prophet of great realization, momentarily wavers, sending messengers to ask whether Jesus is indeed the awaited Messiah. This question reflects not a lack of faith but an opportunity for clarity. A Bodhisattva—one who walks the path of great compassion and wisdom—understands that even highly realized beings may encounter moments of uncertainty. Yet, rather than answering directly, Jesus points to the evidence of compassionate action:
and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them,
‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have good news brought to them.
- Luke 7:21-22
This response aligns with the Bodhisattva ideal of skillful means (upaya) . Rather than providing mere conceptual affirmation, Jesus directs John’s disciples to the fruits of his practice—manifested love, healing, and liberation from suffering. Similarly, a Bodhisattva does not cling to titles or external validations but is known through selfless activity that alleviates suffering and awakens others. Jesus then adds:
- Luke 7:23
Here, Jesus points to the subtle obstacle of doubt, which can arise when the path does not align with preconceived notions. A Bodhisattva must learn to recognize wisdom beyond personal expectations. Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy not through political revolution but through acts of mercy, which exemplify the Mahayana principle that the highest liberation is not found in worldly power but in boundless compassion.
‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes?
Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces.
What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”
- Luke 7:24-27
Jesus honors John as a true prophet, the forerunner of the Kingdom, yet He makes a striking declaration:
yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’
- Luke 7:28
This echoes the Bodhisattva’s understanding of emptiness (shunyata) and the paradox of greatness. A being may attain tremendous virtue, yet true greatness lies in the complete transcendence of self, where personal identity dissolves in universal compassion. The highest state is not marked by fame or asceticism but by total selflessness, where one becomes an empty vessel for divine wisdom. In the Bodhisattva path, the one who relinquishes all claim to greatness for the sake of others is truly supreme. As Shantideva has said,
For the sufferings of others,
I shall not attain the state of Buddhahood
And even in cyclic existence shall have no joy.
- Shantideva, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, VIII(131)
John, though a holy prophet, still exists within the old paradigm of righteousness through self-discipline. The Bodhisattva path, like Jesus' new covenant, is radical in its inversion: the “least” are greatest because they have given up everything, including even the self-regarding attachment to virtue itself.
acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism.
But by refusing to be baptized by him,
the Pharisees and the lawyers had rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)
- Luke 7:29-30
Luke’s parenthetical remark highlights the stark contrast between those who humbly accept transformation and those who resist it out of attachment to their own self-righteousness. The tax collectors, often despised as sinners, acknowledge the justice of God because they have undergone John’s baptism—a symbolic death of the ego and rebirth into a heart receptive to divine wisdom. In contrast, the Pharisees and lawyers, entrenched in their intellectual pride and external piety, reject this call to inner renewal, thus closing themselves off to the liberating purpose of God. This mirrors the Bodhisattva path, where true wisdom arises not from clinging to status or doctrine but from surrendering the self in compassionate openness. Just as the Pharisees and lawyers obstructed their own awakening, so too do beings who cling to identity and merit hinder their own enlightenment. A Bodhisattva recognizes that transformation begins with humility and a willingness to be reshaped by truth, rather than resisting it for the sake of preserving the illusion of self.
They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.”
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine,
and you say, “He has a demon”;
the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say,
“Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”
- Luke 7:31-34
The mind that is caught in worldly attachment (Greed, miserliness, and lust for power) and aversion (fear, hatred, and anger) will always find fault, because it does not yet recognize wisdom. The Bodhisattva does not seek validation but continues to serve beings, knowing that the world’s fickle judgments are empty.
- Luke 7:35
Wisdom (prajna) is known by its fruit. Those who embody wisdom—whether through renunciation like John or through engaged compassion like Jesus—are beyond worldly praise or blame. The Bodhisattva, too, recognizes that true realization is not about social approval but about liberating all beings from suffering, regardless of how the world perceives them.
For those on both the Christian and Bodhisattva paths, this passage is a call to steadfastness. Like Jesus, we must not seek approval but focus on manifesting through service the "mind of Christ" — what Buddhists call Bodhicitta, the "Awakening Mind" of love, compassion and wisdom. The world may misunderstand, but as Jesus says, wisdom is known by her children. If we dedicate ourselves to selfless compassion, our actions will bear witness to truth beyond words.