2nd
Ordinary Sunday (Year A)
First
Reading: Isaiah
49:3, 5-6 Second
Reading:
1
Corinthians 1:1-3 Gospel
Reading:
John
1:29- 34
“HERE
I AM LORD, I COME TO DO YOUR WILL.”
Miss
Miriam Booth, daughter of the founder of the Salvation Army, a
beautiful, brilliant, cultured woman, began her Christian work with
great promise, and had unusual success. Very soon disease laid hold
upon her and brought her down to the point of death. A friend
visiting her one day told her that it seemed a pity that a woman so
capable should be hindered by sickness from doing the Lord's work.
She replied with gentle grace, “It is great to do the Lord's
work, but it is greater to do the Lord's will.”
The
feast of the Lord’s baptism, which we celebrated last Sunday,
ushered us into the Ordinary Time and today is its second Sunday.
After celebrating the radiant mysteries of the Lord’s incarnation,
we now have the time and leisure to contemplate the
public ministry of Jesus
– his words
and deeds
– that eventually led him to
fulfill the will of his Father
and to save the mankind through his suffering, death on the cross and
resurrection. “Here
I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
On most Sundays, we are
going to hear principally from
St. Matthew’s Gospel, which is the
primary Gospel for our current Liturgical Year A, with occasional
interjections from St. John's Gospel, as we see it today.
Today’s
Scripture Readings tell us about the identity
of Jesus, who he is and what his mission
is. In the Gospel Reading of today from St. John, we have John the
Baptist fulfilling his role as a witness and proclaiming to people
that Jesus is 'the
Lamb of God'
who takes away the sins of the world; again, he testifies that Jesus
is 'the
Greater One'
and also 'the
Son of God.'
The First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah connected with
the Gospel Reading of today tells us of the mysterious 'Servant
of God.'
God himself has chosen him from all eternity and has sent him on a
mission and has made him 'a
light to the nations.' The
Second Reading of today from St. Paul's 1st
Letter to the Corinthians is St. Paul' opening greeting to his
Christian converts in Corinth. He reminds them of his apostolic
calling and tells them that they are sanctified in Christ Jesus and
are called to be saints.
“THE
SERVANT OF GOD”:
The
First Reading of today from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah presents
us with a part of the second of the 'Servant
Songs.' The
Suffering
Servant
of Isaiah says, “The
Lord said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my
glory.”
Also, “The
Lord formed me as his servant from the womb,”
and “God
is
my strength.” The
Servant is 'the
beloved'
and 'the
chosen one of God.'
God
feels glorified in His Servant and this
faithful Servant, carries through a work that is not just for the
people of Israel, but is for all
human beings, for all creation even. He is to bring back Jacob and to
gather Israel, but he is also “to
be the light of the nations”
so that God's salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
This
prophesy of Isaiah about the 'Suffering
Servant' who was
led meekly to slaughter, can clearly be seen as being fulfilled in
Jesus, who is the
Light of the whole world
and who offers salvation to all people in obedience to the will of
God the Father.
“Here
I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS:
In
the Gospel Reading of today, we have another telling of the story we
were told about 'the Baptism of Jesus'
by St. Matthew last week, but this time by
the Evangelist John. It is to be noted that there are a few
differences in this version of Jesus’ baptism. One thing for sure,
it is completely from John the Baptist’s point of view. This
is the first appearance of Jesus in public but he does not speak out
his message. The John the Baptist does all the speaking. In fact, the
whole reading is basically John the Baptist’s witness and testimony
of who Jesus is. The Baptism of John the Baptist as presented in
John, unlike in the Synoptic Gospels is not for the forgiveness of
sins. Its purpose is to reveal Jesus to Israel as the Messiah.
a)
“Behold, the Lamb of God ...”:
In
today's Gospel we are told that as John the Baptist saw Jesus coming
toward him, he recognized him immediately and announced, “Behold,
the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
In the Synoptic versions, we remember, John the Baptist apparently
wasn’t sure who Jesus was, and sent his disciples to Jesus to ask
if he was the one he had been prophesying.
In
identifying Jesus, John the Baptist describes him as 'the
Lamb of God.'
A metaphor, one weighty with import. Why is Jesus called by this
strange title, the Lamb of God? Lambs were slaughtered and eaten by
the Hebrews in the moment of their deliverance from the land of
Egypt. The blood of those lambs marked the houses that the Lord
'passed
over.'
The lamb then became the sign and symbol of the liberation of God's
people from slavery and oppression. The annual remembrance of the
Passover that began their journey towards a promised land, still
involved, in Jesus' days, the slaughtering of lambs in the Temple.
But for us – and this
is John the Baptist's meaning – Jesus is the new Lamb which brings
freedom and liberation from the oppression of evil and sin. He
sacrifices himself to take away our sins. Through his death he
liberates us. It is no coincidence that Jesus' sacrificial death took
place at the Passover, when the Temple priests bloodily slayed
paschal lambs. Also, while hanging on the cross none of Jesus' bones
were broken, in contrast to the two thieves, just like those of the
paschal lambs. Jesus is the new Paschal Lamb who both sacrifices
himself and is sacrificed to liberate us. And it is his Blood poured
out that is the sign of our salvation.
b)
“Who ranks ahead of me...”:
John
the Baptist further says, "After me
comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me."
By saying this John the Baptist admits that priority indeed meant
superiority, and he accepts that Jesus is 'The
Greater One.' We
notice the strong superiority of Jesus over John the Baptist. There
is also a reference to Jesus having existed before John the Baptist,
which echoes what the Evangelist says in the Prologue of his gospel,
"In
the beginning was the Word,... All things came to be through him, and
without him nothing came to be." And
yet, this Jesus Lord is standing in the river water of Jordan,
together with many sinners.
Again,
as to John the Baptist's superiority, because he was the one who
baptized Jesus, the Evangelist dropped the account of Jesus' baptism
by him altogether. He also tells people that he is not the Messiah
but he is the one who prepares the way of the Messiah who is to come
and that he is not even worthy to untie the laces of his shoes. John
now points out to Jesus and tells his disciples that he is the
Messiah and encourages his disciples to follow
him.
c)
“He is the Son of God.”:
Finally,
John the Baptist makes
his declaration of faith, “Now
I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
When did he know? When he saw the Holy Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove on Jesus and it remained on him, and had been told by God
that the one who received the Spirit was the
Son of God,
the one who would baptize
with the Holy Spirit.
The
Spirit will remain with Jesus throughout his life and his ministry.
Here it signifies the permanent presence of the Spirit with him. With
this testimony John withdraws himself completely as he has fulfilled
the task he was called upon to do.
“CALLED
TO BE AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST BY THE WILL OF GOD.”:
In
the Second Reading of today we hear the first three verses from the
1st Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. It is really just a
salutation of the Letter. But there must be something more to it than
just the opening address of a letter.
In the opening words of
his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul speaks of himself as
'called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God.' The idea of calling to
apostleship is an important one. The word 'called'
appears three times in this short introduction; so obviously,
St. Paul feels that the call is a part of discipleship. St. Paul
feels that he has been called and that God is working through
him. As John the Baptist was called to bear witness to Jesus, St.
Paul has now been chosen to proclaim the good news of Christ. But the
faithful too, by the will of God, who are sanctified in Jesus Christ
are 'called to be holy' with all
those everywhere who call on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In other words, they too have been chosen by the Lord and set
apart to be witnesses to Christ. St. Paul concludes with the words
of blessing, 'The grace and peace from God
the Father and Lord Jesus be with you.'
This
short passage thus opens to us the reality of our unity
and the universality
of the Church. In Christ, the faithful become
the people of God, forming a sacred assembly, the community of God.
The
vocation and mission of Jesus Christ is replicated in our life. We
too are called to fulfill the Father’s compassionate plan to bring
salvation to all peoples of the earth. So let us say, “Here
I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
CONCLUSION:
To
conclude, today we are invited to behold the immense and universal
expanse of our Christian vocation and mission. Aware that we have
been anointed by the Spirit of power in baptism, we open our hearts
daily to the outpouring of grace and the peace that comes from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us likewise share this gift
of grace and peace with others that we may continue to grow in the
mystery of salvation.
The
readings of today tell us that if we want to be the true disciples of
Jesus then we must first find out who he really is for us and we also
need to know what his mission is in the world; for, the
mission of Jesus is also our mission. Every
disciple of Jesus is a true follower of the master and is also an
apostle who carries the good news to all. The Christian disciple not
only follows the Gospel of Jesus but also helps others to hear and
accept it also and practices it in their life. May God help us to
work together with Jesus to establish his Kingdom in the whole world
and especially in that part of it where we live out our lives. Let us
then pray and humbly say,
“Here
I am Lord, I come to do your will.”
And this is the Good News of today.
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