Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit

 

 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."

 

- John 1:29-34 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, from Luke's Gospel.   It is a parable that sets the tone for Lent.  Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to haven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  For the verses in John's Gospel just prior to today's see Tuesday's reading and commentary.

 

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."  This is the second day of seven given in John's Gospel, in this story of the begining of Christ's public ministry.  My study Bible comments here 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).  It notes that Christ is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, and He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible further cites St. John Chrysostom as teaching that Jesus came to John this second time in order for John to 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."  My study Bible asks us to note that the text tells us the Spirit remained upon Him.  It remarks that we are to understand this as a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism; rather this vision that John saw revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  In this second day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's own baptism of repentance, which was performed with water on earth.  This parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 6:1-8.  

In our previous reading and commentary from John's Gospel (on Tuesday), we noted how John the Baptist acts from faith.  We must differentiate faith from knowing with certainty, or with proofs.  John the Baptist, in today's reading, declares about Jesus, whom He has just pronounced the Lamb of God, "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."  This was a revelation to John in the right moment in time, the moment God chose for the revelation of Jesus to John, and for John to reveal to his disciples (from among whom will come the first disciples of Jesus).  It is highly significant that we understand how much faith plays a role in all that we do and all that we know.  John has been baptizing in his ministry of repentance all along, in expectation of the Messiah, but without knowing precisely who the Messiah is.  Here, the Messiah is revealed also as the Lamb of God.  Again, the language is so important here, because what has been revealed to John the Baptist is Jesus as the Lamb which will be the ultimate sacrifice, the one sacrifice for all of us to come, for all time.  He is that Paschal lamb, which would be shared in the Eucharist for the life of the Church, and which unites the whole community of the people of God, including those who were to come from among the Gentiles.  This is how we understand Jesus as the Lamb of God.  In the ancient world, sacrifice was common to virtually all religions.  In the sacrifice, a meal was prepared to share among whichever god (God) was worshiped and with the people of that deity.  For the Jews, we can read from the Old Testament, the entire system of sacrifice and temple worship was about uniting the people and making community -- with God and in righteousness.  So it was also a reflection of the other, pagan religions and their own varied gods.  Even though distinct from the Jews, the sacrifice system had this similar concept of a communal meal.  With Christ as the Lamb of God, we are to understand, with every Eucharist, that this is our communal meal, and He Himself is the One sacrifice that unites and feeds the community.  This concept of sacrifice is similar to the idea of inviting a friend over, or preparing a meal for family:  one gives and another receives, but the whole purpose is for community, for peace, for friendship, for love.  Our Eucharist continues to embody this understanding.  But without faith, this cannot exist.  Without faith, John the Baptist could not engage in his ministry of baptism in preparation for the Messiah whom he did not know until it was revealed to him by the same One who sent him to baptize with water.  John the Baptist is a towering figure, widely revered as a holy man in his own time, but who bridges the Old and the New Testaments, linking the old covenant with the new.  But all of that happens only through faith.  And so it is that we must also view our own lives in faith, for this remains very important and of the essence to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.  We don't live by proofs or certainty, but by something else that leads us just as John the Baptist was also led.  In this we join in community with all the "great cloud of witnesses," with the saints and faithful who are uncountable who've come before us, with those who also worship with us in heaven, who live to God.  We join in this great community also through the Lamb of God, just as John the Baptist was joined by faith in the story of salvation.  Let us rest in that faith, take heart in it, and know that faith also means unknowing.  It means we follow even what we cannot fully know nor comprehend, for no one can fully know nor comprehend God save God.  We live in an age that somehow demands certainty and proofs, photos and links, can call almost anything disinformation through logical fallacy or omission, and in which we have all new technology through which to scatter doubts and fears -- and just as potent "certainties."  But we live by faith; we live by faith in something that has proven itself over and over again through the human experience of God's love and redemptive power at work in our lives and through the faith of those who've come before us, those who witness to us daily through their own prayers and righteous lives because of the love of God.  If there is any sort of certainty that we can pick for ourselves, let us choose to be certain that faith may lead us to love and to the righteousness that makes beauty, adds luster to life even in the darkest of circumstances, redeems us from what is desperate and even without hope.  It is there we take heart and our forward direction, because after all, what does the world offer that is preferable to that which we have seen and known?  In Hebrews 11:1, St. Paul writes that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  He adds, "For by it the elders obtained a good testimony."  And this is where we start today, with the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.  For by it we have obtained the good testimony of John the Baptist that Christ is the Lamb and Son of God, a testimony in which so many have joined.