18 Jan 2020
Gospel Reflection
Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
The Gospel (John 1:29-34)
This is the Second Sunday of the Three Year Liturgical cycle, Year 1 (A) of the cycle, in which the Gospel readings will be from the Gospel of Matthew. But this will only begin next Sunday. We are still under the liturgical influence of the Feast of the Epiphany. Three great manifestations were recalled by the Church for the liturgy of the Feast of the Epiphany: on Epiphany itself the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles (the Magi), at the Baptism the manifestation by the Father’s voice, and on the Sunday after this (Second of the Yearly Cycle), Jesus’ manifestation of his glory at Cana. In the earlier liturgy, the narrative of the wedding feast at Cana was read on this the second Sunday of each year. It is now read on the Third Year (C) of the cycle while other manifestations from the Baptism period, as in John’s Gospel, are read in years one and two (A and B) of the cycle.
“The Spirit will be given as a gift to the Church by Jesus.”
Thus, in today’s reading we are in the Jordan area with John the Baptist, and the text speaks of the Baptist’s witness concerning his own status and his witness to Jesus. In the Fourth Gospel, there is no account of the actual baptism of Jesus by John, as there is in the other three gospels. Yet this reading tells of what happened there. John calls Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, as if one great sin were involved in the many sins. Jesus is described as the Lamb led to the slaughter of Isaiah (53:7), and as the Passover Lamb offered up each year. By his death he will take away the sin of the world. In this Epiphany, the Baptist manifests Jesus to the world, detailing also the essential detail of his baptism at the Jordan: the Spirit coming down on Jesus and remaining on him. He stresses this point by repeating it, an emphasis in keeping with that of the other three Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. This same Spirit will be given as a gift to the Church by Jesus.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC