SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Isaiah 49:3.5-6

Psalm 40

1Corinthians 1:1-3

John 1:29-34

JESUS: THE LAMB OF GOD

It is interesting to note that instead of reading a gospel passage from St Matthew as we do in the ordinary Sundays of Year A, the Church proposes instead a passage from the evangelist John, which is about John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus (John 1:29-34). And curiously, it is the only passage where the evangelist John talks about “the Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus like a dove from heaven”, an image that reminds us of Jesus’ baptism, as we heard last Sunday. Thus, today’s readings tend to be a continuation of last Sunday which was the solemnity of the Baptism of Jesus Christ. 

In effect, the first reading speaks of the mission of the Servant of God, a mission that extends not only to Israel, but also to the ends of the Earth (Isaiah 49:6). St Paul, in the second reading, gives us an image of such an extension when he said to the Corinthians that he has been called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and by the will of God, to the church of God that is in Corinth with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 1:1-3).

In the gospel, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him, he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). To all who were with John the Baptist, Jesus was an ordinary man, the son of the carpenter, who was coming to be baptized by John like other Jews did. But inspired by the Holy Spirit, John recognizes him as the Lamb of God, as the Son of God. To his listeners who were Jews, the “Lamb of God” would inevitably remind them not only of the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and the exodus (Ex. 12) but also of the Temple sacrifices and especially the ritual on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16).  

In this perspective, Jesus is the Lamb, the sacrificial victim, offered for the expiation of the sin of the world, and for our liberation and salvation. As such, the Baptist introduces us into the mystery of the Passion and death of Jesus right at the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus has come to die for us, manifesting God’s infinite love for us. As we begin the ordinary time, therefore, let us be conscious of this love of God and be grateful each day. And let us not forget that we are also called to love one another as the Lord has loved us. Amen