Behold the Lamb of God!

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

- John 1:29-42

Yesterday we read the testimony of John the Baptist, when the leadership sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give and answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said, "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."   Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  My study bible notes that John's declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God," who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ, who is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and from death (1 Peter 1:18-19); as the Prologue of John taught, He is life itself.   This is the second day of seven reported at the beginning of John's Gospel, the start of Jesus' ministry.  St. John Chrysostom writes that Jesus came to John this second time so that John could make this declaration, and thereby stop anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins.

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."    That the Spirit remained upon Jesus is a sign that as Son He possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism.  Rather, John's vision reveals the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ.

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).  Jesus' first disciples had already been followers of John the Baptist.  They are Andrew; Simon, known as Peter, or Cephas; Philip and Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew),  who will make their appearance in tomorrow's lectionary reading; and an unnamed disciple, named by some patristic commentators as John, the author of this Gospel.  My study bible notes that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name.  (See also Luke 24:13-35, the story of the encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus, in which only one of the two disciples is named). 

Jesus' ministry begins to unfold, with a kind of handing off from John the Baptist, the last of the line of Old Testament prophets, to Jesus, upon whom the Spirit rests eternally.  The Baptist, true to his calling, and his unfailing humility, not only recognizes Jesus as the Christ, but devotes his whole loyalty to His service.  Indeed, John testifies that he came baptizing with water in order for Christ to be revealed to Israel.  In John, we see an unparalleled response to the call of true vocation and how this works -- in which every element of his ministry corresponds to the working out of faith in the world, and support for the mission of Christ.  In the eyes of the Church, the Incarnation is the supreme event not only in all of human and worldly history, but even of the entire cosmos -- all of creation, in heaven and on earth.  That God would become human in order to reconcile humanity to God, enabling us to become children of God by adoption, is the greatest action of Creator after creation itself.  John's ministry of baptism in preparation for this event does not stop with the appearance of Jesus, but rather continues to support and serve the Incarnation through the events we read about in the Gospels and this transition in which John's disciples become the first disciples of Jesus.  Through all of these characters, the story of Christ's ministry into the world plays itself out and becomes a part of the fabric of creation, with each playing his or her own necessary role for its completeness and what it offers to each of us.  But John the Baptist remains for us exemplary in his living out of humility in the love of God.   As Jesus' ministry continues to unfold, we will further read of John and his deference to Christ.  John's mission and life is rooted in service to God, and within that mission of service is his testimony about Christ, as given to us in today's reading.  John says about Christ, "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."  As the Son is revealed to John by the One who sent him to baptize, so John is also compelled to testify to the world.  Each of us, in our own lives of faith, must understand our part in this drama as well, for Christ is the Christ for each of us, and we all have testimony to make in our lives.  There are all kinds of ways in which witnessing to faith takes place, and all kinds of ways that revelation may happen for every person.  But great saints like John the Baptist remain the models for Spirit-infused life, a seamless kind of flow of mercy received by the heart and given to the world in grace and truth.  John's actions give us the image of what it is to be pure in heart; there is no duplicity here, no double purpose, no selfishness.  There is only the truth he is given and which he gives to all.