Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 64
Lectionary: 64
The LORD said to me: You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm PS 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
R/ (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R/ Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R/ Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R/ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Reading 2 1 COR 1:1-3
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of
God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel JN
1:29-34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
Scripture Study
January 19, 2014 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
FIRST READING: Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6. The Lord said to me, "You are my
servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." And now the Lord says, who
formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that
Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and
my God has become my strength---he says: "It is too light a thing that you
should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the
preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my
salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
EXPLANATION: We have here a messianic prophecy, which is the second of the "servant of Yahweh" or "suffering servant" prophecies, found in second-Isaiah, chapters 42-53. These were prophecies uttered during the Babylonian exile to encourage the Jewish exiles to persevere in their trust in Yahweh, who would soon liberate them from Babylon, and eventually send them the long-expected Messiah, promised to Abraham. This "one who is to come," will give perfect obedience to God, will bear severe hardship, will be "a man of sorrows," and because of this he will bring back all men, Jew and Gentile, to God. He will represent the whole human race, and earn for it the true friendship of God.
The Lord . . . glorified: The "servant," the Messiah, says God has appointed him as his (faithful) servant who will bring all men to reverence and glorify God. The insertion of Israel after "my servant," is very probably a later gloss. In verse 5, the servant will bring back Israel to God, so he can hardly be identified with Israel.
formed . . . womb: He was predestined before his birth for this office. He is to be in human nature, formed in his mother's womb by God. The full implication of these words can be seen in their fulfillment, as described in Luke's Gospel: "the angel answered (Mary's question regarding her virginity): 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow and so the child will . . . be called the Son of God'" (Lk. 1: 34-36. see Mt. 1: 18-22).
to bring back . . . Israel: The Chosen People were to be the first to whom the Messiah and his message would come.
light . . . nations: This was only a small part of God's purpose in sending his Son. The salvation which the Messiah brought was for the Gentiles too, "even to the end of the earth."
APPLICATION: That these prophecies were remembered and studied by devout Jews is evident from the words of Simeon, who because of his saintly life, had been promised that he would live to see the promised Messiah. The promise was fulfilled. He was inspired to come to the temple on the very day the Blessed Mother brought the Infant Jesus for his presentation, as the Mosaic law prescribed. Simeon recognized in the Infant Jesus the promised Messiah. He took him in his arms, and sang his "Nune dimittis . . . My eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for all the nations, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel" (Lk. 2: 27-32).
We too today, twenty centuries later, can sing that "Nune dimittis" with heartfelt joy and gratitude, for we can see, and have seen with the eyes of faith, that our Savior, the Son of God, has come among us, and has enlightened us with the true knowledge of our real purpose in life.
Because of our Christian faith, life has an entirely different meaning for us from what it had for our pagan ancestors. The real pagans today---those who never heard of Christ, or of his all-loving divine Father---and especially the self-made pagans, who. have heard of God and of his divine Son who became man, but do not believe in his divinity or his message, must and should, look at human life on earth as a torture invented by some cruel sadistic joker. If they happen to have many of this world's goods they may he able to avoid some of life's hardships. But wealth cannot guarantee them good health and peace of mind; in fact, its possession adds to the torture that the thought of having to die very soon must constantly cause them. They must leave it all and end in a hole in the ground, like their pet dog or any other dumb beast of the field.
If, instead, the neo-pagan has little of this world's possessions, his few years on earth are but a purgatory in preparation for NOTHING.
Let us thank and bless God, with the saintly Simeon and with the millions of devout Christians down through the centuries, for having given us the light of faith, and the source of that light, his beloved Son who came among us. Because of Christ's coming on earth, and because of the gospel of peace and hope that he has left to us, we know the purpose of life. We know why we are here, we know why we must expect and accept trials and troubles, because we know where we are going, and understand that life's tribulations, as well as its joys and consolations, are the road which leads us to the true life.
Thank you, God of love, for sending your divine Son to make heaven available to us! Thank you for having given us the Christian faith, which shows us what path to follow in our journey to that real heaven. Please forgive our past forgetfulness of your goodness, and give us the grace to follow our loving Savior more closely in future, so that when death calls us we may be worthy of the eternal life he earned for us. Amen.
SECOND READING: 1 Cor. 1: 1-3. Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes.
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
EXPLANATION: Corinth, an important port-town and a Roman colony, was materially prosperous but morally corrupt. In the year 50 A.D., St. Paul went there to preach the gospel. He made some converts among his fellow-Jews, and many among the Gentiles, during his two years' stay there. He left for Ephesus in 52 A.D., and from there he wrote this Epistle to the church of Corinth, correcting some of the abuses that had crept in, and adding further explanations to the gospel message he had already taught them.
The opening verses of this letter have been chosen for our reading today, because they show the prophecy, read in the first lesson, as fulfilled among the pagans, as well as emphasizing the purpose of the Messiah's coming: the sanctification and true enlightenment of all nations.
Paul . . . Jesus: Paul rightly attributes his vocation, to be an apostle of Christ, to the direct intervention of God. He had done nothing to deserve it. In fact, he had done everything to make himself unworthy of it. Of the bitter opponents of the early Christians in Jerusalem, he was the most bitter. A vision of the risen, glorified Christ, seen on the road to Damascus, had changed his outlook, and his way of life (see Acts 9: 1-19).
our . . . Sosthenes: Paul, in his letters, usually mentions one or more of his assistants in the apostolate, who are with him at the time of writing. Evidently, Sosthenes was known to the Corinthian Christians. Most probably he was the Sosthenes mentioned in Acts 18:17, who was the president of the Jewish synagogue and was beaten up by the Jews who opposed Paul, because most probably, he had favored Paul and was about to join him.
church of God: This is a translation (coming through the Greek LXX) of the Hebrew phrase Qahal Yahweh, that is, the assembly of Yahweh, meaning God's Chosen People. It shows that from the earliest days the Christian Church saw itself as God's Chosen People of the new covenant.
called . . . saints: Called to be Christians and eventually saints.
call . . . name: Accept and reverence:
our Lord . . . Christ: The basis of Christianity is the divinity of Jesus Christ, the man who had lived and died in Palestine (our Lord=our God).
their Lord and ours: He is God, not only of the Corinthians but of all nations.
grace and peace: Two of the usual blessings found in the openings or the endings of the Christian letters. Peace, in St. Paul, has a fuller meaning through the Hebrew shalom, which meant well-being. Christian peace, especially in St. Paul, means reconciliation with God (see Col. 1: 20; Rom. 5:1), and unity among the brotherhood (Col. 3:15).
APPLICATION: The conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus---the changing of the arch-enemy of Christianity into an apostle of Christ Jesus---was, after the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day, the greatest benefit God conferred on the infant Church. From the moment he began his apostolate, he devoted himself wholeheartedly and exclusively to the spreading of Christianity among the Gentiles. Every thought of his mind, every bodily energy, and every gift of grace and nature which he possessed, were given to that one end : to make Christ and his message of salvation known to all men. He did not forget his fellow- Jews, but when they rejected him and his master Christ, he turned to the Gentiles.
During the 34 years of his missionary activity, he founded flourishing Christian churches in the principal towns of Asia Minor and Greece. In Rome itself he played a big part in the spread of the faith, from his prison cell. After his release in 62 from his first imprisonment, he spent another four or five years preaching in Spain and Italy, and re-visiting his earlier converts. Finally, in the year 67 or thereabouts, he laid down his life in Rome for the faith for which he had lived.
His apostolate did not end with his death. He has left to the Church a collection of letters, which are a source of encouragement and instruction for all who would live a true Christian life.
Today, he reminds each one of us that being Christians means we are called to be saints in heaven, when our years on earth come to an end. In heaven we shall certainly be, if we appreciate properly our Christian vocation, and live as true Christians, each day of our earthly lives. This does not mean that we must not take any interest in the affairs of this world, nor does it mean that we should neglect the earthly duties, which our own particular walk in life imposes on us. On the contrary living a truly Christian life means that we carry out faithfully and honestly our daily tasks. Our week-days are as important as our Sundays. In fact, if our week-days are dishonestly, that is sinfully, spent, our Sunday display of "Christian devotion" is not only a sham, it is an attempt at deceiving God. In reality, we are deceiving only ourselves.
Paul is still praying and wishing for us that grace and peace which he wished for the Corinthians. We need God's grace, and his divine help, to live in peace and union with him, and with our fellowman. Paul's prayer for us will be heard. Christ our Lord will not refuse his most devoted apostle if, but only if, we heed Paul's words, and try every day to follow the path of faith which he preached to the Corinthians, and is still preaching to us today.
GOSPEL: John 1: 29-34. John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that is the Son of God."
EXPLANATION: All four Evangelists narrate the part played by John the Baptist to prepare the people for the proximate arrival, in their midst, of the promised and long-expected Messiah. The Baptist had spent his youth, and early manhood, living as a hermit in the desert of Judah. God revealed to him that the time had come for him to go to the Jordan riverside, to bring the glad tidings to the Chosen People.
Many thought the Baptist was himself the Messiah, but he vehemently denied this and said he was not even worthy to be his lowliest slave. On the previous day, recognizing the Lord's superiority, he had reluctantly baptized Jesus in the Jordan. During that washing with water, the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and heard the voice from heaven proclaiming him to be his chosen servant foretold by Isaiah (see Gospel of last Sunday---Feast of the Baptism of our Lord).
Jesus coming . . . him: Jesus remained for a few days (see Jn. 1: 33-45), near the Jordan region where John was preaching.
Behold . . . God: The Baptist points out Jesus to the people as the Messiah, the "servant of God" of whom Isaiah spoke. John spoke in Aramaic, and in that language the same word Thalya can mean lamb or servant. The "passover lamb" (Ex. 12: 7) had no part in taking away sin, but the servant of God, in Isaiah 53:7, is compared to a "lamb led to the slaughter," and suffering for the sins of his people.
he . . . I said: This is, on the previous day (Jn. 1: 27; Mt. 3: 6).
he was . . . me: Not in his human nature, because the Baptist was born six months before Christ, but in his divine nature (see Jn. 1: 1). Whether the Baptist understood the full meaning of his words or not is doubtful, but when John the Evangelist was writing his gospel the real meaning of these words was clear to all Christians.
revealed to Israel: The Baptist's mission to prepare the Chosen People for the proximate arrival of the Messiah.
Spirit descend . . . dove: See last Sunday's gospel regarding this fact.
he . . . said: John the Baptist had evidently never met Christ. This is understandable : they lived about 80 miles apart, a long distance in those days. Besides, John spent his days in the desert.
baptizes . . . Spirit: John's baptism was only a type, or symbol, of the real baptism with which Christ would baptize men. He would confer on them not only "grace," friendship with God, but sonship of God.
witness . . . God: The Baptist's witness was, that the man he had baptized and on whom he had seen the Spirit descend (the sign of identification given him by God---"he who sent me"), was the expected Messiah, the servant described in Isaiah. At that time, his divinity was not yet recognized, nor was it made manifest, but by the time the Evangelists wrote, it was the basic teaching and belief of the Church.
APPLICATION: At last the promise, made to Abraham when God commanded him to leave his home, his country, and his kin (Gen. 12:1-3), was fulfilled. The Messiah who would bring blessings to Jew and Gentile (to all mankind) had arrived. Eighteen hundred years of expectation had at last come to an end. During these long years of waiting, God had, through his prophets and through his prophetic actions, renewed the hope in the hearts of his Chosen People. These prophecies and prophetic actions had given indications that the expected one would be someone very close to God, someone who was more than a mere man. Yet, who among the Chosen People could ever have thought that the "Promised One" would be the very Son of God in human nature?
His contemporaries, when he came, refused to believe this truth even though Christ had, during his public ministry, made claims to equality with God the Father, and had proved these claims by miracles (see, for example, the story of the paralytic: "Your sins are forgiven you . . . who can forgive sins but God alone? . . . to prove to you . . . he said to the sick man 'get up . . . and go home,'" Lk. 5: 17-25).
But we must try to understand how difficult for a strict monotheistic Jew were the thought of three persons in God (the Trinity), and the idea that the infinite God could be in a limited, finite, human nature (the Incarnation). Our Lord himself showed that he understood their lack of faith, when he said on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23: 24).
We, however, have no reason for any such doubts or scruples. The full story of Christ's conception, birth, life, preaching and miracles, crowned by his death on the cross and his glorious resurrection, is in itself sufficient guarantee and proof that he was indeed the Son of God-made-man for our sakes. The spread of his Church among the Jews and Gentiles is another convincing proof. What sane man would accept self-mortification, undergo trials and hardships, even martyrdom, or give up all the attractions and pleasures of the body, if he were not convinced that the story of Christ, and therefore his gospel-message, were true?
The sad part is that, while we have every reason, in this world and the next, to believe in Christ and follow his teaching, so many nominal Christians live as if Christ himself had never lived and died for them. Their hearts are centered in the pleasures, the power and the wealth of this earth. These are passing things, which they will have to bid goodbye very soon. They devote their energies to getting all this world can give them. Its final gift to them will be a six-feet-by-three hole in the earth.
If we neglect our vocation as Christians, if we forget God's infinite love for us, as shown in the Incarnation, and if we fail to learn the lesson he taught us : that our purpose in this short life is to earn the eternal life after death, we, too, could become renegades to Christianity, traitors to Christ and our own greatest enemy.
Christ came to make us his brothers and children of the heavenly Father. He came to die for us so that we could live forever. We can deny our heaven-sent brother, we can leave our father's home, we can lose the eternal happiness that Christ has won for us. God forbid that we should ever be so foolish, so ungrateful to God and Christ, and so harmful to our own real self-interest.
EXPLANATION: We have here a messianic prophecy, which is the second of the "servant of Yahweh" or "suffering servant" prophecies, found in second-Isaiah, chapters 42-53. These were prophecies uttered during the Babylonian exile to encourage the Jewish exiles to persevere in their trust in Yahweh, who would soon liberate them from Babylon, and eventually send them the long-expected Messiah, promised to Abraham. This "one who is to come," will give perfect obedience to God, will bear severe hardship, will be "a man of sorrows," and because of this he will bring back all men, Jew and Gentile, to God. He will represent the whole human race, and earn for it the true friendship of God.
The Lord . . . glorified: The "servant," the Messiah, says God has appointed him as his (faithful) servant who will bring all men to reverence and glorify God. The insertion of Israel after "my servant," is very probably a later gloss. In verse 5, the servant will bring back Israel to God, so he can hardly be identified with Israel.
formed . . . womb: He was predestined before his birth for this office. He is to be in human nature, formed in his mother's womb by God. The full implication of these words can be seen in their fulfillment, as described in Luke's Gospel: "the angel answered (Mary's question regarding her virginity): 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow and so the child will . . . be called the Son of God'" (Lk. 1: 34-36. see Mt. 1: 18-22).
to bring back . . . Israel: The Chosen People were to be the first to whom the Messiah and his message would come.
light . . . nations: This was only a small part of God's purpose in sending his Son. The salvation which the Messiah brought was for the Gentiles too, "even to the end of the earth."
APPLICATION: That these prophecies were remembered and studied by devout Jews is evident from the words of Simeon, who because of his saintly life, had been promised that he would live to see the promised Messiah. The promise was fulfilled. He was inspired to come to the temple on the very day the Blessed Mother brought the Infant Jesus for his presentation, as the Mosaic law prescribed. Simeon recognized in the Infant Jesus the promised Messiah. He took him in his arms, and sang his "Nune dimittis . . . My eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for all the nations, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel" (Lk. 2: 27-32).
We too today, twenty centuries later, can sing that "Nune dimittis" with heartfelt joy and gratitude, for we can see, and have seen with the eyes of faith, that our Savior, the Son of God, has come among us, and has enlightened us with the true knowledge of our real purpose in life.
Because of our Christian faith, life has an entirely different meaning for us from what it had for our pagan ancestors. The real pagans today---those who never heard of Christ, or of his all-loving divine Father---and especially the self-made pagans, who. have heard of God and of his divine Son who became man, but do not believe in his divinity or his message, must and should, look at human life on earth as a torture invented by some cruel sadistic joker. If they happen to have many of this world's goods they may he able to avoid some of life's hardships. But wealth cannot guarantee them good health and peace of mind; in fact, its possession adds to the torture that the thought of having to die very soon must constantly cause them. They must leave it all and end in a hole in the ground, like their pet dog or any other dumb beast of the field.
If, instead, the neo-pagan has little of this world's possessions, his few years on earth are but a purgatory in preparation for NOTHING.
Let us thank and bless God, with the saintly Simeon and with the millions of devout Christians down through the centuries, for having given us the light of faith, and the source of that light, his beloved Son who came among us. Because of Christ's coming on earth, and because of the gospel of peace and hope that he has left to us, we know the purpose of life. We know why we are here, we know why we must expect and accept trials and troubles, because we know where we are going, and understand that life's tribulations, as well as its joys and consolations, are the road which leads us to the true life.
Thank you, God of love, for sending your divine Son to make heaven available to us! Thank you for having given us the Christian faith, which shows us what path to follow in our journey to that real heaven. Please forgive our past forgetfulness of your goodness, and give us the grace to follow our loving Savior more closely in future, so that when death calls us we may be worthy of the eternal life he earned for us. Amen.
SECOND READING: 1 Cor. 1: 1-3. Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes.
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
EXPLANATION: Corinth, an important port-town and a Roman colony, was materially prosperous but morally corrupt. In the year 50 A.D., St. Paul went there to preach the gospel. He made some converts among his fellow-Jews, and many among the Gentiles, during his two years' stay there. He left for Ephesus in 52 A.D., and from there he wrote this Epistle to the church of Corinth, correcting some of the abuses that had crept in, and adding further explanations to the gospel message he had already taught them.
The opening verses of this letter have been chosen for our reading today, because they show the prophecy, read in the first lesson, as fulfilled among the pagans, as well as emphasizing the purpose of the Messiah's coming: the sanctification and true enlightenment of all nations.
Paul . . . Jesus: Paul rightly attributes his vocation, to be an apostle of Christ, to the direct intervention of God. He had done nothing to deserve it. In fact, he had done everything to make himself unworthy of it. Of the bitter opponents of the early Christians in Jerusalem, he was the most bitter. A vision of the risen, glorified Christ, seen on the road to Damascus, had changed his outlook, and his way of life (see Acts 9: 1-19).
our . . . Sosthenes: Paul, in his letters, usually mentions one or more of his assistants in the apostolate, who are with him at the time of writing. Evidently, Sosthenes was known to the Corinthian Christians. Most probably he was the Sosthenes mentioned in Acts 18:17, who was the president of the Jewish synagogue and was beaten up by the Jews who opposed Paul, because most probably, he had favored Paul and was about to join him.
church of God: This is a translation (coming through the Greek LXX) of the Hebrew phrase Qahal Yahweh, that is, the assembly of Yahweh, meaning God's Chosen People. It shows that from the earliest days the Christian Church saw itself as God's Chosen People of the new covenant.
called . . . saints: Called to be Christians and eventually saints.
call . . . name: Accept and reverence:
our Lord . . . Christ: The basis of Christianity is the divinity of Jesus Christ, the man who had lived and died in Palestine (our Lord=our God).
their Lord and ours: He is God, not only of the Corinthians but of all nations.
grace and peace: Two of the usual blessings found in the openings or the endings of the Christian letters. Peace, in St. Paul, has a fuller meaning through the Hebrew shalom, which meant well-being. Christian peace, especially in St. Paul, means reconciliation with God (see Col. 1: 20; Rom. 5:1), and unity among the brotherhood (Col. 3:15).
APPLICATION: The conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus---the changing of the arch-enemy of Christianity into an apostle of Christ Jesus---was, after the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day, the greatest benefit God conferred on the infant Church. From the moment he began his apostolate, he devoted himself wholeheartedly and exclusively to the spreading of Christianity among the Gentiles. Every thought of his mind, every bodily energy, and every gift of grace and nature which he possessed, were given to that one end : to make Christ and his message of salvation known to all men. He did not forget his fellow- Jews, but when they rejected him and his master Christ, he turned to the Gentiles.
During the 34 years of his missionary activity, he founded flourishing Christian churches in the principal towns of Asia Minor and Greece. In Rome itself he played a big part in the spread of the faith, from his prison cell. After his release in 62 from his first imprisonment, he spent another four or five years preaching in Spain and Italy, and re-visiting his earlier converts. Finally, in the year 67 or thereabouts, he laid down his life in Rome for the faith for which he had lived.
His apostolate did not end with his death. He has left to the Church a collection of letters, which are a source of encouragement and instruction for all who would live a true Christian life.
Today, he reminds each one of us that being Christians means we are called to be saints in heaven, when our years on earth come to an end. In heaven we shall certainly be, if we appreciate properly our Christian vocation, and live as true Christians, each day of our earthly lives. This does not mean that we must not take any interest in the affairs of this world, nor does it mean that we should neglect the earthly duties, which our own particular walk in life imposes on us. On the contrary living a truly Christian life means that we carry out faithfully and honestly our daily tasks. Our week-days are as important as our Sundays. In fact, if our week-days are dishonestly, that is sinfully, spent, our Sunday display of "Christian devotion" is not only a sham, it is an attempt at deceiving God. In reality, we are deceiving only ourselves.
Paul is still praying and wishing for us that grace and peace which he wished for the Corinthians. We need God's grace, and his divine help, to live in peace and union with him, and with our fellowman. Paul's prayer for us will be heard. Christ our Lord will not refuse his most devoted apostle if, but only if, we heed Paul's words, and try every day to follow the path of faith which he preached to the Corinthians, and is still preaching to us today.
GOSPEL: John 1: 29-34. John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that is the Son of God."
EXPLANATION: All four Evangelists narrate the part played by John the Baptist to prepare the people for the proximate arrival, in their midst, of the promised and long-expected Messiah. The Baptist had spent his youth, and early manhood, living as a hermit in the desert of Judah. God revealed to him that the time had come for him to go to the Jordan riverside, to bring the glad tidings to the Chosen People.
Many thought the Baptist was himself the Messiah, but he vehemently denied this and said he was not even worthy to be his lowliest slave. On the previous day, recognizing the Lord's superiority, he had reluctantly baptized Jesus in the Jordan. During that washing with water, the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and heard the voice from heaven proclaiming him to be his chosen servant foretold by Isaiah (see Gospel of last Sunday---Feast of the Baptism of our Lord).
Jesus coming . . . him: Jesus remained for a few days (see Jn. 1: 33-45), near the Jordan region where John was preaching.
Behold . . . God: The Baptist points out Jesus to the people as the Messiah, the "servant of God" of whom Isaiah spoke. John spoke in Aramaic, and in that language the same word Thalya can mean lamb or servant. The "passover lamb" (Ex. 12: 7) had no part in taking away sin, but the servant of God, in Isaiah 53:7, is compared to a "lamb led to the slaughter," and suffering for the sins of his people.
he . . . I said: This is, on the previous day (Jn. 1: 27; Mt. 3: 6).
he was . . . me: Not in his human nature, because the Baptist was born six months before Christ, but in his divine nature (see Jn. 1: 1). Whether the Baptist understood the full meaning of his words or not is doubtful, but when John the Evangelist was writing his gospel the real meaning of these words was clear to all Christians.
revealed to Israel: The Baptist's mission to prepare the Chosen People for the proximate arrival of the Messiah.
Spirit descend . . . dove: See last Sunday's gospel regarding this fact.
he . . . said: John the Baptist had evidently never met Christ. This is understandable : they lived about 80 miles apart, a long distance in those days. Besides, John spent his days in the desert.
baptizes . . . Spirit: John's baptism was only a type, or symbol, of the real baptism with which Christ would baptize men. He would confer on them not only "grace," friendship with God, but sonship of God.
witness . . . God: The Baptist's witness was, that the man he had baptized and on whom he had seen the Spirit descend (the sign of identification given him by God---"he who sent me"), was the expected Messiah, the servant described in Isaiah. At that time, his divinity was not yet recognized, nor was it made manifest, but by the time the Evangelists wrote, it was the basic teaching and belief of the Church.
APPLICATION: At last the promise, made to Abraham when God commanded him to leave his home, his country, and his kin (Gen. 12:1-3), was fulfilled. The Messiah who would bring blessings to Jew and Gentile (to all mankind) had arrived. Eighteen hundred years of expectation had at last come to an end. During these long years of waiting, God had, through his prophets and through his prophetic actions, renewed the hope in the hearts of his Chosen People. These prophecies and prophetic actions had given indications that the expected one would be someone very close to God, someone who was more than a mere man. Yet, who among the Chosen People could ever have thought that the "Promised One" would be the very Son of God in human nature?
His contemporaries, when he came, refused to believe this truth even though Christ had, during his public ministry, made claims to equality with God the Father, and had proved these claims by miracles (see, for example, the story of the paralytic: "Your sins are forgiven you . . . who can forgive sins but God alone? . . . to prove to you . . . he said to the sick man 'get up . . . and go home,'" Lk. 5: 17-25).
But we must try to understand how difficult for a strict monotheistic Jew were the thought of three persons in God (the Trinity), and the idea that the infinite God could be in a limited, finite, human nature (the Incarnation). Our Lord himself showed that he understood their lack of faith, when he said on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23: 24).
We, however, have no reason for any such doubts or scruples. The full story of Christ's conception, birth, life, preaching and miracles, crowned by his death on the cross and his glorious resurrection, is in itself sufficient guarantee and proof that he was indeed the Son of God-made-man for our sakes. The spread of his Church among the Jews and Gentiles is another convincing proof. What sane man would accept self-mortification, undergo trials and hardships, even martyrdom, or give up all the attractions and pleasures of the body, if he were not convinced that the story of Christ, and therefore his gospel-message, were true?
The sad part is that, while we have every reason, in this world and the next, to believe in Christ and follow his teaching, so many nominal Christians live as if Christ himself had never lived and died for them. Their hearts are centered in the pleasures, the power and the wealth of this earth. These are passing things, which they will have to bid goodbye very soon. They devote their energies to getting all this world can give them. Its final gift to them will be a six-feet-by-three hole in the earth.
If we neglect our vocation as Christians, if we forget God's infinite love for us, as shown in the Incarnation, and if we fail to learn the lesson he taught us : that our purpose in this short life is to earn the eternal life after death, we, too, could become renegades to Christianity, traitors to Christ and our own greatest enemy.
Christ came to make us his brothers and children of the heavenly Father. He came to die for us so that we could live forever. We can deny our heaven-sent brother, we can leave our father's home, we can lose the eternal happiness that Christ has won for us. God forbid that we should ever be so foolish, so ungrateful to God and Christ, and so harmful to our own real self-interest.
Meditation: "Behold the Lamb of God!"
John calls Jesus the Lamb of God and thus
signifies Jesus' mission as the One who redeems us from our sins. The blood of
the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) delivered the Israelites in
Egypt from death. The blood of Jesus, the true Passover Lamb who offered his
life up for us on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 Corinthians
5:7), delivers us from everlasting death and destruction. It is significant
that John was the son of a priest, Zachariah, who participated in the daily
sacrifice of a lamb in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29). In
Jesus he saw the true and only sacrifice which delivers us from sin.
When John says he did not know Jesus he was referring to the
hidden reality of Jesus divinity. But the Holy Spirit in that hour revealed to
John Jesus' true nature, such that John bore witness that this is the Son of
God. How can we be certain that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of God? The
Holy Spirit makes Christ known to us through the gift of faith. God gives us
freely of his Spirit that we may comprehend the great mystery and plan of God
to unite all things in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:10). Do you
seek to grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ?
"Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy
Spirit and let me grow in the knowledge of your love and truth. Let your Spirit
be aflame in my heart that I may know and love you more fervently and strive to
do your will in all things."
“Behold the Lamb
of God!”
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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Father Walter Schu, LC
John 1:29-34
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared,
"Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he
of whom I said, ´After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was
before me.´ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for
this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified,
"I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on
him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water
said to me, ´He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who
baptizes with the Holy Spirit.´ And I myself have seen and have testified
that this is the Son of God."
Introductory Prayer: Jesus, thank you for this opportunity to be with you, my
Lord and my God. You always seek me first. Even my desire to encounter you is
a fruit of your love for me, of the action of your grace in my heart. I trust
that this day will be filled with the graces I need to respond generously to
your call to holiness and to be your apostle.
Petition: Lord, help me to be a witness to you with the same
courage, humility, and openness to the Holy Spirit as John the Baptist.
1. John “Saw Jesus Coming Toward Him.” - Jesus is
always coming toward us, too. Why? Because he loves us. He never imposes
himself. He doesn’t burst through the door and force us to accept him or even
acknowledge him. But he does remain close, hoping we will catch a glimpse of
his love and, in that instant, recognize that he is everything our hearts
long for. What will happen if we open the door of our life, of our heart, to
Christ? He will call us to abandon the tight confines of our egotism, greed,
lust, envy, and selfishness. He will open undreamed-of horizons and give a
rich, new dimension to our poor, fleeting days on this earth. He will bestow
on us a transcendent mission: to testify to him not only with our words, but
with everything that we are.
2. John Testifies to “the Lamb of God.” - As John the
Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him, he proclaims: “Behold the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!” John’s title for Jesus is rich in
meaning. Fifteen hundred years before Christ, during the exile in Egypt, the
blood of the paschal lamb spread on the Israelites’ doorposts saved their
families from the angel of death, who slaughtered the first-born of the
Egyptians. As a result, Moses was able to lead the chosen people to the
Promised Land. Christ is the true Lamb of God who offers himself in sacrifice
to take away our sins and to open to us the Promised Land of heaven. John’s
testimony requires humility: His own disciples leave him to follow Jesus. Do
I strive for this same humility? Do I put my testimony to Jesus above my own
self-interest?
3. John Recognizes Jesus Through the Holy Spirit: John’s testimony was so
convincing that many of his own disciples became followers of Jesus. Yet John
himself claimed that at first he did not know Jesus. What did he mean by this
enigmatic phrase? As Jesus’ relative, John certainly knew who he was; however,
the precise moment in which Jesus was to begin his Messianic mission remained
unknown to John. It was only through the action of the Holy Spirit that John
fully recognized Jesus as the Chosen One of God, who was now to be revealed
to God’s chosen people. The Holy Spirit seeks to work with the same power in
our own lives. What attachments to worldly interests still distract me from
the Holy Spirit’s action? What fears still hold me back from letting him do
with me whatever he pleases? Do I fully trust in him who is love itself?
Conversation with Christ: Thank you for always coming toward me,
Lord. Thank you for your love for me. At times I don’t know what you see in
me, Lord, but even in my weakness and sinfulness I want to return love with
love. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, help my love for you to be bold
and ardent.
Resolution: I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me openly bear
witness to Christ during the day.
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SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, JOHN 1:29-34(Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3)
KEY VERSE: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (v 29).
READING: John the Baptist was a prophet sent by God to announce the coming of the Messiah. John declared who he was by stating who he was not. He was not the Messiah, but one who gave witness on his behalf. When Jesus came to him for baptism, John recognized him as the anointed one (Hebrew, mashiach). When he saw God's spirit "descending from heaven like a dove" (v 32), John testified that Jesus was God's Son who would baptize with the purifying grace of the Holy Spirit. The next day, John paid tribute to Jesus by identifying him with the significant title, the "Lamb of God" (v 29). Perhaps John was thinking of the coming Passover Feast (Jn 2:13). Just as the blood of the slain lamb protected the Israelites on the night when they left Egypt (Ex 12:11-13), Jesus, the new Paschal lamb, shed his blood for the salvation of the world. John's gospel stated that Jesus was put to death on "the day of Preparation for the Passover" (Jn 19:14a) when the lambs were sacrificed in the temple. Paul also thought of Jesus as the Passover Lamb. "Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed” (1Cor 5:7). The prophet Isaiah said that God's suffering servant was led "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Is 53:7b). In the book of Revelation, Jesus is portrayed as the victorious lamb who conquered evil through his death and resurrection (Rv 5:6-14).
REFLECTING: Is my life a witness to Jesus for others?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, thank you for giving me life by dying for my sins.
NOTE: The First Sunday of Ordinary Time is perpetually impeded by the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, JOHN 1:29-34(Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3)
KEY VERSE: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (v 29).
READING: John the Baptist was a prophet sent by God to announce the coming of the Messiah. John declared who he was by stating who he was not. He was not the Messiah, but one who gave witness on his behalf. When Jesus came to him for baptism, John recognized him as the anointed one (Hebrew, mashiach). When he saw God's spirit "descending from heaven like a dove" (v 32), John testified that Jesus was God's Son who would baptize with the purifying grace of the Holy Spirit. The next day, John paid tribute to Jesus by identifying him with the significant title, the "Lamb of God" (v 29). Perhaps John was thinking of the coming Passover Feast (Jn 2:13). Just as the blood of the slain lamb protected the Israelites on the night when they left Egypt (Ex 12:11-13), Jesus, the new Paschal lamb, shed his blood for the salvation of the world. John's gospel stated that Jesus was put to death on "the day of Preparation for the Passover" (Jn 19:14a) when the lambs were sacrificed in the temple. Paul also thought of Jesus as the Passover Lamb. "Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed” (1Cor 5:7). The prophet Isaiah said that God's suffering servant was led "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Is 53:7b). In the book of Revelation, Jesus is portrayed as the victorious lamb who conquered evil through his death and resurrection (Rv 5:6-14).
REFLECTING: Is my life a witness to Jesus for others?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, thank you for giving me life by dying for my sins.
NOTE: The First Sunday of Ordinary Time is perpetually impeded by the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Beyond Prayer
The beauty of the Mass is that it becomes an experience beyond
description. It means more than we can ever understand it to mean, more than
just words. At Mass, we pray with our whole selves: body, mind, and spirit.
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will
‘This is the man I spoke about.’In the gospel extract we read about John the Baptist noticing Jesus walking towards him and declaring, ‘I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’ In the first reading, the Servant describes Jesus’ role to be the ‘Light of Nations’, a phrase that describes Jesus so well – or do we prefer the other phrase, ‘Saviour of the world’? In our prayer let us imagine the gospel scene of John with his disciples and then Jesus. Or we may prefer to stay with a phrase or two from the readings. Or, better still, stay in the presence of Jesus with however we are moved.
January
19
St. Fabian
(c. 250)
St. Fabian
(c. 250)
Fabian was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one
day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church
historian, says a dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian. This sign
united the votes of clergy and laity, and he was chosen unanimously.
He led
the Church for 14 years and died a martyr’s death during the persecution of
Decius in 250 A.D.. St. Cyprian wrote to his successor that Fabian was an
“incomparable” man whose glory in death matched the holiness and purity of his
life.
In the
catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave may still be
seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words, “Fabian, bishop,
martyr.”
Comment:
We can go confidently into the future and accept the change that growth demands only if we have firm roots in the past, in a living tradition. A few pieces of stone in Rome are a reminder to us that we are bearers of more than 20 centuries of a living tradition of faith and courage in living the life of Christ and showing it to the world. We have brothers and sisters who have “gone before us with the sign of faith,” as the First Eucharistic Prayer puts it, to light the way for us.
We can go confidently into the future and accept the change that growth demands only if we have firm roots in the past, in a living tradition. A few pieces of stone in Rome are a reminder to us that we are bearers of more than 20 centuries of a living tradition of faith and courage in living the life of Christ and showing it to the world. We have brothers and sisters who have “gone before us with the sign of faith,” as the First Eucharistic Prayer puts it, to light the way for us.
Quote:
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
LECTIO DIVINA:
2ND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)
Lectio:
Sunday, January 19, 2014
John the Baptist announces Jesus
as the Lamb of God
John 1:29-34
as the Lamb of God
John 1:29-34
1. Opening prayer
In this prayerful
reading of the Gospel of John, we recall the words of John Henry Newman to
accompany and stimulate us, words that he liked to use in prayer to the Lord:
Stay with me, and I shall begin to shine as you shine; to shine so as to be
light for others. Jesus, the light will all come from you: nothing will be
because of me. It will be you who shines on others through me. Grant that I may
praise you thus, in the way that you like most, shining on all those who are
around me. Give them and me your light; enlighten them together with me,
through me. Teach me to spread your praise, your truth, your will. Grant that I
may make you known not through words but by example, that influence of
solidarity that comes from what I do, visibly resembling your saints, and
clearly full of the love that grows in my heart for you» (Meditations and
Devotions).
2. The text
29 The next day, he saw Jesus coming towards him and said,
'Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 30 It was
of him that I said, "Behind me comes one who has passed ahead of me
because he existed before me." 31 I did not know him myself, and yet my
purpose in coming to baptise with water was so that he might be revealed to
Israel.' 32 And John declared, 'I saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove
from heaven and rest on him. 33 I did not know him myself, but he who sent me
to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit
come down and rest is the one who is to baptise with the Holy Spirit." 34
I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.'
3. A prayerful silent pause
The Word of God demands that we want and welcome it through a
meditation of silence. Quieten yourself, allow yourself to welcome the presence
of God in his Word; a silence that makes room in your heart so that God may
come and talk to you.
4. A symbolical reading
This Gospel passage speaks of two animals of great spiritual
value in the Bible: the lamb and the dove. The first alludes to significant
texts in the Bible: the paschal meal of the exodus (cc.12-13); the glory of the
Christ-Lamb in the Apocalypse.
a) The symbol of the lamb:
Let us turn our attention to the symbol of the «Lamb (amnos) of
God», and to its meaning.
- A first biblical allusion for an understanding of this
expression used by John the Baptist to point out the person of Jesus, is the
figure of the victorious Lamb in the book of the Apocalypse:
in 7:17 the Lamb is the shepherd of the nations; in 17:14 the Lamb squashes the
evil powers on earth. In Jesus’ time, people imagined that at the end of time a
victorious lamb or one that would destroy the powers of sin, injustice and evil
would appear. This idea conforms to the eschatological preaching of John the
Baptist who warned that God’s anger was imminent (Lk 3:7), that the axe was
already laid at the roots of the trees, and that God was ready to cut down and
throw on the fire every tree that did not bear good fruit (Lk 3:9). Mt 3:12 and
Lk 3:17.
Another very powerful expression with which the Baptist
introduces Jesus is in Matthew 3:12: «His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will
clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he
will burn in a fire that will never go out». It is not wrong to think that John
the Baptist could describe Jesus as the lamb of God who destroys the sin of the
world. In fact, in 1 John 3:5 it is written: «Now you know that he appeared in
order to abolish sin»; and in 3:8: «It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared». It is possible that John the Baptist greeted
Jesus as the victorious lamb who, by God’s command, was to destroy evil in the
world.
- A second biblical allusion is to the Lamb as the
suffering servant. This figure of the suffering servant or of Jhwh is the
subject of four canticles in Deutero-Isaiah: 42:1-4.7.9; 49:1-6.9.13; 50:4-9.
11); 52:13-53,12. We need to ask ourselves whether the use of «Lamb of God» in
John 1:29 is not coloured by the use of “lamb” to allude to the suffering
Servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 53. Did John really consider Jesus the lamb as the
suffering Servant?
There certainly are no clear proofs that the Baptist made such a
connection, nor are there proofs that exclude such a possibility. Indeed in
Isaiah 53:7 it is written that the Servant: «never opened his mouth, like a
sheep that is dumb before its shearers, never opening its mouth». This
description is applied to Jesus in Acts 8:32, and so this likeness between the
Suffering Servant and Jesus was made by the early Christians (see Mt 8:17 = Is
53:4; Heb 9:28 = Is 53:12).
Besides, in John the Baptist’s description of Jesus in 1:32-34,
there are two aspects that recall the figure of the Servant: in v. 32 John the
Baptist says that he saw the Spirit coming down on Jesus and resting on him; in
34 he identifies Jesus as the chosen of God. Thus also in Isaiah 42:1 (a
passage the synoptics also connect with the baptism of Jesus) we read: «Here is
my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights (see Mk 1:11).
I have endowed him with my spirit». Again in Isaiah 61:1: «The Spirit of the
Lord Yahweh has been given to me». These biblical allusions strengthen the
possibility that the Evangelist made a connection between the Servant of Isaiah
42; 53 and the Lamb of God.
In other parts of John’s Gospel we also find Jesus described
with the traits of the suffering Servant (12:38 = Is 53:1).
One interesting aspect to be noticed is that the Lamb of God is
said to take away the sin of the world. In Isaiah 53:4.12, it is said that the
Servant bears or takes on himself the sins of many. By his death, Jesus takes
away sin or takes it on himself.
Thus according to the second interpretation, the Lamb as
suffering Servant, is Christ who offers himself freely to eliminate sin from
the world and restore his brothers and sisters in the flesh back to God.
We find a modern confirmation of this interpretation of Jesus as
“Lamb of God” in a document of the Italian bishops: «The Apocalypse of John,
going even to the ultimate depths of the mystery of the One sent by the Father,
recognises in him the Lamb who is sacrificed “since the foundation of the
world” (Apc 13:8), the One whose wounds healed us (1 Pt 2:25; Is 53:5)»
(Communicating the Gospel in a changing world, 15).
- A third biblical allusion is the Lamb as the paschal
lamb. John’s Gospel is full of Paschal symbolism especially in
relation to the death of Jesus. For the Christian community for whom John is
writing his Gospel, the Lamb takes away the sin of the world by his death. In
fact, in John 19:14 it is written that Jesus was sentenced to death at midday
on the eve of the Pasch, that is at the time when priests began to sacrifice
paschal lambs in the Temple for Easter. Another connection of the paschal
symbolism with the death of Jesus is that while Jesus was on the cross, a
sponge soaked in vinegar was raised up to him on a stick (19:29), and it was
the stick or hyssop that was dipped into the blood of the paschal lamb to
sprinkle the doorposts of the Israelites (Es 12:22). Then in John 19:36 the
fulfilment of Scripture that not one bone of Jesus would be broken, is clearly
a reference to the text in Exodus 12:46 where it is written that not one bone
of the paschal lamb must be broken. The description of Jesus as the Lamb is
found in another of John’s works, namely the Apocalypse: in 5:6 mention is made
of the sacrificed lamb; in 7:17 and 22:1 the Lamb is the one from whom flows
the spring of living water and this aspect is also an allusion to Moses who
made water to flow from the rock; finally, in 5:9 reference is made to the
redeeming blood of the Lamb, another paschal motif that recalls the salvation
of the houses of the Israelites from the danger of death.
There is a parallel between the blood of the lamb sprinkled on
the doorposts as a sign of liberation and the blood of the lamb offered in a
sacrifice of liberation. Soon Christians began to compare Jesus to the paschal
lamb and, in doing so, they did not hesitate to use sacrificial language: «Christ,
our Passover, has been sacrificed» (1 Cor 5:7), including Jesus’ task of taking
away the sin of the world.
b) The symbol of the dove:
This second symbol also has several aspects to it. First of all,
the expression “like a dove” was common to express the affective connection
with the nest. In our context it says that the Spirit has found its nest, its
natural habitat of love in Jesus. Moreover, the dove symbolises the love of the
Father that rests on Jesus as in a permanent dwelling place (see Mt 3:16; Mk
1:10; Lk 3:22).
Then the expression «like a dove» is used in connection with the
verb to descend to express that it is not a question of the physical aspect of
a dove but the way the Spirit descends (like the flight of a dove), in the
sense that it does not strike terror but rather inspires trust. Such biblical
symbolism of the dove does not have parallel symbolisms in the Bible; however
an old rabbinical exegesis compares the hovering of the Spirit of God over the
primordial waters to the fluttering of the dove over its nest. It is not
impossible that in using this symbol, John wanted to say that the descent of
the Spirit in the shape of a dove was a clear reference to the beginning of
creation: the incarnation of God’s plan in Jesus is the summit and aim of God’s
creative activity.
The love of God for Jesus (corresponding to the movement of the
dove returning to its nest) urges him to pass on the fullness of his divine
essence (the Spirit is love and loyalty).
5. The message
a) Christ is our salvation: The Baptist had the task of pointing out in
Jesus «the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world». The proclamation
of the Gospel, the word of Jesus Christ, is as essential and indispensable
today as it was yesterday. We never cease to need liberation and salvation.
Proclaiming the Gospel does not mean communicating theoretical truths nor is it
a collection of moral teachings. Rather, it means allowing people to experience
Jesus Christ, who came into the world – according to John’s witness – to save
humankind from sin, evil and death. So we cannot transmit the Gospel and at the
same time not pay attention to the daily needs and expectations of people. To
speak of faith in Jesus, lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, means
to speak to people of our time, first asking ourselves what do they seek in the
depths of their heart.
“If we wish to hold on to an appropriate criterion…, we shall
need to nurture two complementary focal points… Jesus Christ is witness to
both. The first consists of our effort to listen to the culture of our world so
as to discern the seeds of the Word already present there, even beyond the
visible borders of the Church. To listen to the most intimate expectations of
our contemporaries, consider seriously their wishes and desires, seek to
understand that which burns in their hearts and what makes them afraid and
diffident”. Besides, paying attention to the needs and expectations of people
«does not mean renouncing what is different in Christianity, or the
transcendence of the Gospel… the Christian message points to a fully human way
of life but does not limit itself to presenting mere humanism. Jesus Christ
came so that we may partake of the divine life, of that life which has been
called “the humanity of God”. (Communicating the Gospel in a changing world n.
34)
b) The Spirit does not come only to rest on Jesus, but to possess him permanently so that he
may share himself with others in baptism. Finally, the lamb who pardons sins
and “the dove of the Church, meet in Christ”. Here is a quotation from St.
Bernard where he brings together the two symbols: “The lamb is among animals
that which the dove is among birds: innocence, sweetness and simplicity”.
c) Some practical suggestions:
- Renew our availability to collaborate with the mission of
Christ in communion with the Church by helping people to be free of evil and of
sin.
- To stand by men and women on their journey that they may live in hope in Jesus who liberates and saves.
- To give witness to one’s joy in experiencing the efficacy of the word of Jesus in one’s life.
- To live by communicating faith giving witness to Jesus, saviour of every person.
- To stand by men and women on their journey that they may live in hope in Jesus who liberates and saves.
- To give witness to one’s joy in experiencing the efficacy of the word of Jesus in one’s life.
- To live by communicating faith giving witness to Jesus, saviour of every person.
6. Psalm 40
This psalm speaks of the situation of a person who, freed from
some oppression, finds no more authentic attitude in reply to God than an
existential and total availability to his word.
I waited, I waited for Yahweh,
then he stooped to me and heard my cry for help.
He put a fresh song in my mouth, praise of our God.
then he stooped to me and heard my cry for help.
He put a fresh song in my mouth, praise of our God.
You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering,
but you gave me an open ear,
you did not ask for burnt offering or sacrifice for sin;
then I said, 'Here I am, I am coming.'
but you gave me an open ear,
you did not ask for burnt offering or sacrifice for sin;
then I said, 'Here I am, I am coming.'
In the scroll of the book it is written of me,
my delight is to do your will;
your law, my God, is deep in my heart.
my delight is to do your will;
your law, my God, is deep in my heart.
I proclaimed the saving justice of Yahweh in the great assembly.
See, I will not hold my tongue, as you well know.
See, I will not hold my tongue, as you well know.
7. Closing prayer
Father, who on the day of the Lord
gather your people to celebrate
the One who is First and Last,
the Living One who has conquered death,
grant us the strength of your Spirit so that, having broken the chains of evil,
we may render you the free service
of our obedience and love,
so that we may reign with Christ in glory.
For He is God, who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.
(From the Liturgy)
gather your people to celebrate
the One who is First and Last,
the Living One who has conquered death,
grant us the strength of your Spirit so that, having broken the chains of evil,
we may render you the free service
of our obedience and love,
so that we may reign with Christ in glory.
For He is God, who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.
(From the Liturgy)
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