Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we were given the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, found in St. Luke's Gospel:   Also He 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 heaven, 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 previous reading in St. John's Gospel to today's, please see Tuesday's reading.

 

  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 comments that John's declaring 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, the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible adds that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time so that John could make this declaration.  Therefore it would stop anyone from thinking 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 Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  This does not indicate that Jesus received the Holy Spirit first at His Baptism.  Instead, this is a vision that John saw which revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ, the Son.

 

 In today's reading, John the Baptist brings into fullness his destiny to introduce the world to Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God.  We know that John has already indicated of himself that he is "'the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." (quoting from Isaiah 40:3).  In other words, John has already identified himself as the fulfillment of this part of the prophesy of Isaiah:  the one who heralds the coming of the Messiah, and prepares the people to receive Him.  Today his identity comes to its apex, when he presents Jesus as the Lamb of God, the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, upon whom the Spirit sits as clear indication that He is the Christ.  This clear fulfillment of the ministry and identity of John the Baptist gives us a sense of how God works in the world and through creation.  God does not work alone, but brings each of us into the entirety of the salvation story.  God works through God's ministers, the angels, through saints (holy human beings like John), prophets, and others.  And finally, God works through the Incarnation of His Son as the human being Jesus to bring us the Christ, fully divine and fully human.  There is only one Son, and that is Jesus Christ.  But just as Christ is unique in His identity in the story of salvation and of existence, so each one of us -- like John the Baptist -- may also have our own place, our own identity, to fulfill within the salvation story and in service to Christ.  John is an exemplary saint.  Only Mary the Theotokos, the Mother of God, has a similar place on the iconostasis of an Orthodox Church; she is always on Christ's right, while John is on His left.  In other words, John (and the Theotokos) so fully embrace the holiness that is possible for them, that they attain this exalted saintly stature as human beings through their lives.  They both fulfill to a maximal degree the identity that Christ offers as God shares with each of us the capacity to participate in the salvation story.  There is such a deep and complete communion given through God's act of creation that we are all invited in to participate to the greatest degree possible, and this happens by a gift of God and through faith.  In today's story, John fulfills his destiny by presenting the Lamb of God to the world, and witnessing the full truth of Christ's identity, testifying to all that He is the One upon whom the Holy Spirit rests.  This is John's exalted honor, his great place of tremendous grace, to fulfill this service.  Each one of us, then, taking John as example, should consider, throughout this Lent as we approach Resurrection, what role Christ asks of us, how we may serve.  For we, too, may embody holiness should we embrace our faith and devote ourselves to the grace He offers us, and we do this through all the practices we're given in Lent, all the ways we are invited to participate.  We can pray, we fast, we give alms, but perhaps most of all we make time for God in that secret place and in ways not spectacular but hidden from the world in our heart and in the inner room we make for contemplative prayer (Matthew 6:6).   For it is in seeking God who sees in secret, and who is in the secret place, that we find ourselves.   Let us take this secret place seriously, for Jesus has told us that it is there we find our Father, and there we must be to meet Him. 

 

 

 

 

I have seen and testified that this is the Son 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 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the testimony of John the Baptist, when the Jews 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 an 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, saying, "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!"   My study Bible comments that John's declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God hearkens to Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, who offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that Jesus came to John a second time so that John would make this declaration, stopping anyone from thinking that Christ needed baptism to wash away sins.

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."  My study Bible comments that the Spirit remained upon Him was a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism -- instead we're to understand that this vision which John saw revealed the truth, that the Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  These are the events of the second day of Christ ministry given in this beginning of John's Gospel, in which John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's own baptism of repentance, performed with water on earth.  My study Bible tells us that this parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day of creation in Genesis 1:6-8.

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).   Christ's first disciples were previously followers of John the Baptist.  Thus, John hands off and directs his own disciples to Christ.  These disciples were Andrew and Simon (also known as Peter, or Cephas as indicated in the preceding verses).  In tomorrow's lectionary reading, Jesus will call other disciples of John's, namely Philip and Nathanael (who was also known as Bartholomew).  Additionally there is called an unnamed disciple here in today's reading, who some Church Fathers say was John Zebedee, the author of our Gospel.  My study Bible notes that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (as the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, where Luke mentions two disciples in Luke 24:13, but only later names Cleopas as one of them).   This sending of two disciples by John the Baptist to Jesus is the third day given in the Gospel.  Christ gathers them as His own, and declares one of them to be the foundation of the Church (see also Matthew 16:18).  This parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land in the third day in Genesis 1:9-13, my study Bible notes.

 

 Again, in today's reading, we read of the importance of preparation in the unfolding story of salvation and the appearance in the world of Christ incarnate as Jesus.  Just as we observed in yesterday's reading and commentary, preparation was already given to these who became Jesus' first disciples through the ministry of John the Baptist.  John as the Forerunner not only prepared the people for the imminent coming of the Messiah.  His ministry also prepared these first disciples to become disciples of Christ, and in today's reading, John leads them directly to Christ, and declares to them (and to us), "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.'"  Moreover, John is the first witness to the Holy Trinity, stating, "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."  This revealing at Christ's Baptism is called Epiphany (meaning "Appearing" or "Manifesting") or Theophany (a showing forth or appearance of God), as Jesus is revealed as Son, the Holy Spirit descends, and the Father's voice identifies Him (Matthew 3:17).  The importance of this event is so central to the mission and ministry of Christ, that in the first centuries of the Church, Christs Baptism and Nativity were celebrated on the same day, January 6th.  Later on, Nativity was separated to its date of December 25th, but, for example, the Armenian Apostolic Church continues to celebrate Nativity and Baptism (Theophany) on the same original date.  So John's ministry of preparation serves an essential function in the salvation economy prepared and given to us by God.  The participation of John is part and parcel of the ministry of Christ, and essential to it.  Without John these first disciples could not have been called as they were.  Often we are tempted to think of Jesus Christ as a kind of "stand alone" figure, One who comes bringing a new testament to faith into the world, a new era.  But Jesus is not just a single figure who "does it all" from scratch, and far from it.  There is only one Son, to be sure.  But God's plan unfolding through our Scripture (and understood through the tradition of the Church as well) is anything but isolated, so to speak.  God's plan unfolds through many saints of the Church, before and after Christ, and all these were deemed somehow necessary by God to participate in bringing salvation into the world, and faith to you and to me.  They included by Jews and Gentiles, such as the three Magi.  Let us not forget that in the healing of creation, the gracious God works through human beings, a great myriad of saints known and unknown, and all are essential and indispensable to this plan.  This is part of the great wonder of God, at once ineffable and so close through God's love, an unfolding that passes through each one of us and invites -- even demands -- our participation (see Matthew 25:14-30).  Christ's call will come to each.