2nd Sunday “A”

Getting to know myself, getting to know Jesus is a process

    We began our church year with the season of Advent our preparation

for Christmas.  We then celebrated Christmas and the feasts which

followed: Holy Family, Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus.  At this point

we turn to ordinary time.  We hear the account of the Baptism of Jesus

according to St. John.  For several Sundays we will be hearing of the Good

News according to Matthew.  Then we will begin the season of Lent.

    This Sunday’s Gospel is answering the question:  John who do you say

that Jesus is?  John gives a variety of answers to that question.  But

in the Gospel account according to John, on the day previous people were

coming to John and asking him:  Who are you?  Quien eres?

    John begins to answer the question: who are you by responding in a

negative manner, who he is not.  He is not the Christ or Messiah, he is

not Elijah, he is not the prophet to come.  Then he states:  “I am the

voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the

Lord.”  A first point of reflection for us this Sunday would be to ask

ourselves the question: who are you? It is too easy for us to have one

perception of ourselves that is untrue. Self knowledge is not easy.  We

cling to certain perceptions of ourselves that are false.  This is deadly

because the beginning of transformation is true self knowledge. In

our lives too we may have had to find out who we were not before

arriving at who we are.

    But the emphasis of today’s Gospel is on who John says that Jesus

is.  He states first that he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin

of the world.  The term the Lamb of God has different meanings in the

scriptures.  Isaiah spoke of the suffering servant being led to the

slaughter as a Lamb. (Is. 53:7,10)  Some would see in Jesus’ life, and

especially his being led to die, a fulfillment of this type.

    We are familiar with the Pascal Lamb. (Ex. 12)  The Jewish people

were to slaughter a lamb and sprinkle the door post with its blood and

the destroying angel would pass over their homes.  By Jesus blood we are

saved.

    In the book of Revelation there is another Lamb. (Rev. 5?7; 17,14) 

This is the victorious apocalyptic Lamb who would destroy evil in the

world.  In the background of the title Lamb of God we come to a fuller

understanding of who Jesus is.

    Secondly John says, After me is to come a man who ranks ahead of me

because he was before me.  John knows of the pre?existence of Jesus.  He