JESUS LAMB OF GOD
Who is Jesus for us? What is the name for us that would best fit him? The disciple of Isaiah called him the Servant of God. St Paul calls him Jesus Christ. John the Baptist points him out as the Lamb of God. Jesus is all these. It implies for us what we have to be with him: servants, saviors, if necessary victims. Let us celebrate this Eucharist with Jesus.
First Reading: Isaiah 49:3
Listen, far-flung islands,
pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”
Second Reading: Corinthians 1:1-3
I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to God’s plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to you in God’s church at Corinth, believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live. He’s their Master as well as ours!
May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father, and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours.
Gospel: John 1:29-34
The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”
John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.”
Prayer
Our God and Father,
we honor Jesus, your Son in our midst,
with wonderful names: Jesus our Lord,
Lamb of God, servant of God and people.
Let these names not merely be
empty titles of honor among us
but words full of meaning
that commit us to become like him.
Help us to live for one another
and to bear each other’s burdens,
that we may be servants with him
who is our Lord for ever and ever. Amen.
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