🙏 SUNDAY INSIGHTS - THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 🙏

First Reading - Isaiah 49:3,5-6 

Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 

Gospel - John 1:29-34

A tourist visited a Church in Werner, Germany and was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb carved on the bell tower of the church. He asked why it was there and was told that when the bell tower of the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured. How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved. To commemorate that miraculous escape, a fellow stone artist carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman had fallen. — This statue of the lamb expresses a tiny bit of what John the Baptist means when he introduces Jesus to his disciples saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” Much deeper and more meaningful must be our gratitude to Jesus the Lamb of God for saving us from the eternally fatal fall from grace. The central theme of today’s readings is a challenge to live like the Lamb of God and to die like the Lamb of Godand thus bear witness to Christ the “Lamb of God.” 

Today's first reading gives us the Second Servant Song from the Book of Isaiah. This song of the servant focuses on the mission of the servant to bring back the people to the Lord. The re-gathering of the people as the mission of the servant refers to the people of Israel and other nations as well. The song proposes strikingly a new teaching of the servant to include other nations as his mission commissioned by God by bringing light and salvation to them. However, the song also underscores the failures of the servant to do so but he exudes confidence and trust in God despite all. The fusion of the mission of the servant to Israel and other nations paves the way to understand the role of the mission of Jesus to gather all people to God.

In the second reading, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are “sanctified and called to be holy,” like all who call on the Name of Jesus in Faith. They are called by God and consecrated in Christ Jesus for a life of holiness and service. By virtue of their Baptism into Christ Jesus, believers become members of his Body. They are not alone—they are called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Further, that same Lord Jesus is the Lord of those other Churches as well. As people who are baptized into Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit, they, and we, share the vocation of Israel and the Church. So we are all meant to serve as “a Light to the nations,” with Jesus, God’s “Suffering Servant.”

As precursor of Jesus, John gives testimony to Jesus in today’s Gospel. A testimony can be a statement of a truth about something or someone, or a public expression of a religious experience. John the Baptist gives testimony to Jesus by pointing out that he is the Lamb of God (vv 29, 36); a man who was before me (v 30); the One on Whom the Holy Spirit remained (v 33); and the Son of God (v 34). John’s disciples call Jesus, “Rabbi” (vs. 38). Andrew calls him the Messiah (v 41), and Nathaniel calls Jesus Rabbi, Son of God, and King of Israel (vs. 49). Jesus completes the Christology with his own declaration that he is the Son of Man (vs. 51).

John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the Jews as the “Lamb of God” on the second day (Jn 1:29). He repeats it on the third day. “Lamb of God” is the most meaningful title given to Jesus in the Bible. It is used 29 times in the book of Revelation. It sums up the love, the sacrifice, and the triumph of Christ. John’s introduction probably brought five pictures of the “lamb” to the minds of his Jewish listeners.

The Lamb of Atonement (Lv 16:20-22). A lamb was brought to the Temple on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Placing his hands over its head, the high priest transferred all the sins of his people onto the animal. It was then sent into the forest to be killed by some wild animal. 2) The Lamb of Daily Atonement (Tamid [“standing,” perpetual, continual] Sacrifice) — (Ex 29:38-42; Nm 28:1-8). One lamb was sacrificed on the “Black Altar” of the Temple every morning and another was sacrificed every evening to make a continuous sacrifice in order to atone for the sins of the Jews. 3) The Paschal Lamb (Ex. 12:11ss), the blood of which saved the first born of the Jewish families in Egypt from the Angel of destruction. This lamb reminded them also of the Paschal Lamb which they killed every year on the Passover Feast. 4) The Lamb of the Prophets which portrayed One who, by His sacrifice, would redeem His people: “The gentle lamb led to the slaughterhouse” (Jer 11:19), “like a lamb to the slaughter” (Is 53:7). Both refer to the sufferings and sacrifice of Christ. 5) The Lamb of the Conquerors. This was the picture of a horned lamb on the Jewish flag at the time of Maccabaean liberation war, used as a sign of conquering majesty and power. The great Jewish conquerors like Samuel, David, and Solomon were described by the ancient Jewish historians as “horned lambs.”

Christ as Lamb of God is a title familiar to us. In the Eucharist, at “the breaking of the bread” we proclaim in word or song what the Baptist said. Our traditional fraction anthem is the Agnus Dei – “Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us/grant us peace.” In this prayer we give expression to our deepest understanding of the identity and purpose of Jesus Christ as our Lamb and Lord. By His life of love and sacrifice, we believe and affirm that He is the One Who was to come, came, and continues to come, into a broken world to take our sins upon Himself. 

Dear friends, we need to live and die like the Lamb of God. (A) Live like a lamb - by i) leading pure, innocent, humble, selfless lives obeying the Christ’s commandment of love; ii) appreciating the loving providence and protecting care of the Good Shepherd in His Church; iii) eating the Body and drinking the Blood of the Good Shepherd; and iv) deriving spiritual strength from his Holy Spirit through the Sacraments and prayers. (B) Die like a sacrificial lamb by: i) sharing our blessings of health, wealth, time, and talents with others in the family, parish, and community; ii) bearing witness to Christ in our illness, pain and suffering; iii) offering our suffering for the salvation of souls and as reparation for our sins and those of others.

We need to rebuild broken lives. Like the missionary call of the servant in Isaiah (Is 49:1-3) and “those called to be saints” in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Church in Corinth (1Cor 1:2ff), we are informed that God’s call is trustworthy and true. Therefore, we can believe from the depth of our hearts that our God is faithful. Our faithful response to God is to rebuild broken lives, our own and others’, reconciling them with God’s love and justice through Christ Jesus our Lamb and Lord. Through Baptism into the Body of Christ, we are empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit to help free and build up the oppressed. Through the love of the Lamb of God, we are called to better the lot and improve the broken spirit, of all who have been exiled from the possibility of hope and from God’s righteousness or who are burdened by the yoke of spiritual, social, economic, and political dislocation. In other words, through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the glorified Lamb, we are called to empower the human spirit with a sense of identity and purpose.

We need to be witnesses to the Lamb of God. Today’s Gospel reminds us that being a disciple of Jesus means that we grow by Faith to become witnesses for Him. And bearing witness to Christ is an active, not passive, lifetime enterprise. One cannot be a disciple of Jesus at a distance any more than one can be a distant lover. To love Christ is to be drawn close to Him, to know Christ personally, to experience Him through the Bible, prayer, and the Sacraments, and to inspire others to want to know Jesus. To help Christ is to share the Good News about Him with others. Blessed are we when we bring to others the gifts of love, peace, justice, patience, and mercy, thus becoming witnesses for the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.