John 1:29-42
This text contains
several names for Jesus of Nazareth.
The
Baptist calls Jesus the “Lamb of God.” In this phrase the word of carries the meaning provided by. The image comes from the
fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 53:7ff) and/or from Exodus 12's description of the
Passover lamb in Egypt. Unlike all cultic lambs before him, Jesus actually
takes away our sins. . . .
Andrew
and another disciple move from John to Jesus, whom they address as “Rabbi.” But
after listening to him, they decide Jesus is the Messiah. Andrew announces the
good news to his brother Peter.
No
attempt should be made to reconcile this account with that of the Synoptics in
which Peter, Andrew, James and John follow Jesus without any introduction. The
focus here is on the Baptist's ministry of witness. – Joseph McHugh
In addition to the
names Lamb of God, Rabbi, and Messiah, biblical witness also has brought us to assign
the name Suffering Servant to the Christ, linking his life, death, and
resurrection with the one described by the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 49:1-7
The
Servant, representative of the remnant of faithful Israel, speaks to us today.
His commission was to renew God's people, “to bring back Jacob to him” (v 5).
The remnant (“survivors” in v 6) will experience freedom, but also embrace the
obligation of bringing the message of the love of the true God to all the
nations. . . .
This
is also the mission of the church. We should not be surprised that many will
reject the message of salvation. Our society also has its false gods of power
and money. Many will not respond warmly to the Gospel message. Nonetheless, we,
as servants of the Lord, must proclaim his message, else how will salvation reach
“to the ends of the earth?” – Joseph McHugh
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Whether
you call it evangelization, witnessing, or testifying, today's readings speak
about proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. . . . The invitation
is simple: “Come and see!”
John
the Baptizer said, “'I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son
of God.' The next day… he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ ”
(1:34, 36). John saw the Spirit descend on his relative Jesus when he was
baptized. John heard God's voice thundering from heaven calling Jesus God's
Beloved Son. John saw and heard, and then he spoke. That is what witnesses do.
In a courtroom, witnesses are not called to convince the jury of anything. That
is the lawyers' job. Witnesses are not called to condemn or pardon people. That
is the judge's job. Witnesses are simply called to tell people what they saw
and heard.
Like
John the Baptizer and any other witness, we are called to tell people what we
have seen and heard. . . . We have seen the Spirit's work in our own lives and
have heard God's word to us. This started at our own baptism. While many of us
cannot remember that event, we can speak about how the Spirit has led us from
our infancy and how God's word has touched our lives, comforting and
challenging us along our own personal spiritual journey. . . . All we need to
do is speak about these things to others, just as John told others what he saw
and heard. – John Paul Salay
Joseph McHugh is a freelance writer who writes on scripture and other religious
topics.
John Paul Salay is Loyola University’s Minister of Liturgy and the Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
Homily
Service 41, no. 1 (2007): 111-120.
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