Each year on this Sunday the Gospel reading comes from John and focuses on the manifestation of Jesus, or the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God.
In the Gospel reading John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus approaching, proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This is the “man” of whom John had foretold his coming…the one who is better than John and existed before John. (It is interesting that John says, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” because, if you recall, John was born about 6 months before Jesus which would mean John came before Jesus in birth…on earth…but Jesus is “the Word of God” who has always been with God and so in creation Jesus was there before anything else) John was told by God to look for the one on whom the spirit descended and remained and he would know Him to be the Son of God.
The Gospel describes the Spirit of God descending on Jesus and the Spirit gives Jesus power and strength so that he may do the will of God by proclaiming the Good News (Gospel), free people from sins and demons, heal the sick, the blind and the lame and be a light to the whole world. This same spirit is spoken of in the reading from Isaiah where we again read from the servant songs of Isaiah. Isaiah talks about the Lord who formed him as a servant from the womb, made him glorious in God’s sight, gave him strength. God raises Isaiah to an even higher position when he says, “It is too little for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
We, too, received these great gifts from God when we are baptized. We receive the Spirit and we have the strength of God to help us fulfill His will. As Isaiah says, “…my God is now my strength.” God does not commission His servants without also giving them gifts to help them achieve His purpose. Our purpose is to be “…a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” People who are blind, are prisoners and live in the darkness are people who have not, or cannot, see the Glory of God and the salvation of the One He sent, Christ Jesus. We are obliged to share the good news of Jesus, the lamb of God, with everyone because His sacrifice is for ALL people.
Why do we refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God? Jesus is the sacrifice God made for US to take away our sins. Our sins are what cause us to be separated from God. The sacrifice of Jesus, who was free of sin, on the cross made all future animal sacrifice for the sake of our sins obsolete. Never again would we sacrifice a lamb to atone for our sins because God gave us the sacrificial lamb, Jesus, that would take away all the sin of the world. When we refer to being “washed in the blood of the lamb” we are saying that our sins were washed away by the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus. Man was meant to be Holy, like the angels. Because of the original sin in the Garden of Eden we were banished from our Holy life and made to live a mortal life on Earth. For us to return to God we must be Holy, to be Holy we must be completely free of sin. Without the sacrifice of the Lamb of God we would not be able to return to God. The only way back to God is through the Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This IS the Gospel of the Lord and we are meant to proclaim it, live it and love it.
The Psalm this week is Psalm 40: Here Am I, Lord
Peace in Christ Jesus