Behold!

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time   

Behold the Lamb of God

Last week we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, where we heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. If you recall, I spoke to you about what happened after Jesus’ baptism, of how he was so invaded by the Holy Spirit that he was driven out into the world to fulfill his mission. Today we hear from St. John what happened next.

John does not say that Jesus was baptized. All we hear today is that Jesus was walking along the banks of the Jordan and John saw him and exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” That’s a curious statement, isn’t it? Why didn’t John say something like, “Hey, there’s my cousin Jesus! Look everybody, that’s the one I’ve been telling you about. He’s the messiah you’ve been waiting for!” Instead, John uses some strange reference to the Lamb of God.

But John’s disciples knew exactly what he was talking about. They had an image and understanding of who the Lamb of God is just as we do today. We hear constant references to the Lamb of God during every Mass; we know that it refers to the role of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb who died on the cross to take away our sins, but to the Jews of Jesus’ day the Lamb of God meant something different.

We think of lambs as being submissive creatures who are easily led about. We even use the term derisively. Don’t be a sheep, don’t follow blindly, think for yourself. Sheep are weak, sheep are docile, sheep are creatures to be used by the strong. But to the Jews, the Lamb of God was someone strong. Their image of the Lamb of God went back to the prophet Isaiah, who prophesized about the coming messiah, “Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth.”

To the Jews, the silent strength of the Lamb was to overcome the evil of the world. Even though the Lamb had the ability to overpower the kingdoms of the world he would choose not to. Instead, he would meekly submit to the will of his father and his death would be the vehicle used to bring salvation to the world.

Another image the Jews had of the Lamb of God was that of a powerful liberator. During the third century BC, the Jewish liberator Judas Maccabeus, Judas the Hammer, led a rebellion against the Greeks that established the free rule in Judea for over a hundred years. Judas’ symbol was the lamb and he was called the Lamb of God. These two references, in Isaiah and in Maccabees, were to a strong leader who would free Israel from oppression and restore her to her rightful place among the nations. To John’s disciples, the Lamb of God meant the messiah. This lamb is not a docile victim. This lamb is a hammer. This lamb is an active victim.

The role of the lamb was central to Jewish worship and their understanding of their relationship with God. Lambs were used as the primary sacrifice to God in the temple. But not just any lamb. It had to be a pure white lamb, unblemished, with no spot or imperfection, preferably the first born. The lamb had to be given and sacrificed with no reservation; you had to give it willingly and not under duress.

The lamb was slaughtered on the altar of the temple and its blood was collected into bowls, to be sprinkled on the altar and on the people as a sign that their sins were forgiven.  The symbolism of the lamb’s blood was very powerful. The life force of the lamb was in its blood, and when that blood was poured out and sprinkled on the people they shared in its power.

Can you see how John the Evangelist and Jesus’ disciples would view the image of Jesus as the Lamb of God? They would look back at Jesus’ life, teachings, and actions and see so many signs pointing to the Lamb of God. Jesus was the first born son, without blemish, perfect, who willingly gave himself up to be sacrificed for the people’s sins on the cross. St. John even places the time of Jesus’ death on the day before the Passover at the hour when all the lambs were slaughtered in the temple. Jesus blood was shed on the cross in sight of the temple and sprinkled on all mankind for the forgiveness of sins.

The Lamb entered Christian tradition not bleating but roaring. The author of the Book of Revelation uses the term in reference to Christ twenty-nine times in twenty-two chapters. We shall speak of Jesus as the Lamb five times in today's Liturgy. See if you can spot each one. Recall the number of canvases, frescoes, stained glass windows, and vestments on which you have seen the Lamb drawn. It is among the most popular symbols in Christendom. 

And the images of shedding blood and baptism are so closely linked in the scriptures and in the life of the church. Jesus himself exclaimed to his disciples when they asked him for positions of honor in the kingdom of heaven, "You don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" St. Paul told the Romans, “Don’t you know that when you were baptized you were baptized into his death?” Dying to self and sin is what baptism is all about. Can you see how and why John the Baptist would call Jesus the Lamb of God at the time of his baptism?

Immediately following this passage from John’s gospel is the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. You could say that John the Baptist was one of the first disciples himself. He himself had been searching for the messiah and had been having a hard time identifying him. When John finally received his sign from heaven that Jesus was the one, the first thing he did was point Jesus out to his own disciples, and told them to follow him instead.

John was a man searching for the messiah and when he found him, he gave him away to others. He was not in it for himself but told his disciples to leave him to follow Jesus. John knew that Jesus had to increase and he had to fade away. As soon as John gave away all his disciples to Jesus he was arrested, imprisoned and then killed. That was John’s role in the plan of salvation, and in a way, it is our role also. We may not be called to suffer as John did, but we too must die to self and give Jesus away to others.

How many times are you the herald of Jesus to others who are desperately searching for Him?

How many times have you been searching in the wilderness for God and found him only when someone else pointed him out to you?

How many times do you ask for something from God and don’t recognize that your prayers have been answered until someone else points it out to you?

And when you find Jesus, do you hoard him or do you give him away like John did?

Have you found your own personal Jesus and want to keep him to yourself? Jesus is just too big for us to keep all to ourselves.

Can you see Jesus in others, especially in those who suffer?

How many times have you seen someone poor and downtrodden and exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

John’s disciples probably took a look at Jesus and said, him? They followed Jesus because they trusted John. How many times have people trusted God because of you and your discipleship?

Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God. Have you?