EPIPHANY
II - C - 17 JOHN 1. 29-42
“John
saw Jesus coming towards him…” The scene in today’s gospel reading takes place
after the Baptist has been questioned by the religious leaders of Israel over
who he thinks he is and why he is baptizing. John responds to his inquisitors
by telling them that he is not the Christ (Messiah). His baptism is of water,
whereas, the baptism of Christ will be with Holy Spirit. His job is to prepare
the way and then get out of the way.
The
words and actions of John, nevertheless, have attracted a small band of
followers who are with him when “John saw Jesus coming towards him and
declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” After
making his declaration John adds his testimony. Jesus is the one whom God has
sent; the one who will baptize with Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of God.
I
can only begin to imagine what must have gone through the minds of John’s
disciples when they heard this. What could all of this possibly mean for
Israel, and more importantly for them? John’s words and actions had stirred
their imaginations, warmed their hearts and raised their hopes that one day
they would find Messiah. Now, John was pointing him out! Could it really be
true?
The
next day when John was standing with two of his disciples, Jesus passed by a
second time. Again John declared him as the lamb of God. By doing so John
pointed away from himself and towards Jesus. The two disciples of John were
moved to follow Christ. As Gentiles, so far removed from this scene and the
times, we overlook the significance of the title “Lamb of God.”
John’s
designation of Jesus as God’s lamb is significant in that it points to how
things are going to end and why Jesus dies a sacrificial death for the sins of
the world. For the disciples of John, who were Jewish, his words evoked certain
images. The title “lamb of God” makes one think, first of all, of the Passover
lamb.
John
is explicit in dating the death of Jesus on the afternoon of the “preparation “
day when the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple courtyard. Thus we say in the
Eucharist that Christ is our Passover sacrificed for us.
A
second image, and just as important if not more so, comes from Isaiah. The lamb
signifies the servant of God who would be lead as a lamb to the slaughter
bearing the sins of the world. The image John evokes, then, points to the
function of Messiah.
“Look
here is the lamb of God,” John said. He might have just as well said “go follow
him. He is a leader who can save you from sin and will lead you to victory.”
Both thoughts may have been combined which moved Andrew and the other disciple
to leave John and follow Jesus.
What
Andrew and the other disciple thought they were doing was looking for Messiah.
What they didn’t realize was that Messiah was looking for them. They had no
idea what that was going to involve.
When
Jesus finds them he gives them a new vocation. It was a life-changing moment.
He even gave Simon a new name. The new life began for them, as it does for each
of us, at baptism. We go looking for Jesus only to discover that he has been
looking for us all along.
As
St. Paul reminded the Church at Corinth, “God is faithful; by him you were
called into the fellowship of his son…” It is God who initiates the
relationship; it is up to us to respond.
John’s
baptism by water might wash away sin, but Jesus’ baptism with Holy Spirit
removes it. And by removing it, we who have been baptized into his death and
raised to new life in him have become a new people; “not lacking in any
spiritual gift as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as St.
Paul aptly reminds us.
There
is a danger, however, in having been a Christian for years on end.
We
can become complacent in our vocation, as did the God’s people Israel, and miss
the true meaning of what Jesus has done and continues to do for the life of the
world and what it is God is calling us to do in response.
Israel
was God’s chosen people. He gave them the vocation of being the “light of the
world.” As Isaiah reminds Israel “ I
will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the
ends of the earth.“
They
were to point to God and prepare the world for the Day of His coming. But they
became complacent and focused more on themselves as the chosen ones and less on
preparing the world for that Day.
In
doing so, they failed to live into their God-given vocation. God sent his
prophet, John Baptist, to call them to repentance as a means of preparing
themselves and the world for the coming of the Promised One. But they were
blinded by their own self-righteousness and relied on the fact that they were
sons of Abraham.
God’s
Messiah came. God provided for himself a lamb of sacrifice who would bear the
sins of the world and by his death and resurrection would open the way for all
who believed in Him to have eternal life. But Israel did not recognize him and
chose instead to reject him by nailing Him to the cross.
The
vocation God initially gave to his people Israel now belongs to the Church, the
bride of Christ. We are the new Israel. Our vocation as Christians, to go and
make disciples of all nations, came to each of us at our baptism where we were
sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’ own forever.
Like John Baptist, and the Israel of old, our
role is to point away from ourselves and to Him who is the true light of the
world, so that “He may be made known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the
earth,” even Jesus Christ Our Lord. AMEN+
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