If you’re anything like me, the longer you wait for something, the higher your expectations are. If I wait for something a long time, my expectations are way up here and when I finally get whatever it is that I’ve been waiting for, reality inevitably ends up being way down here. Our disappointment and frustration are often measured in the distance between our expectations up here and reality down here, aren’t they?
Well, now, that the Christmas Season is officially over, chances are those Christmas gifts for which we were waiting and had high expectations have lost their luster and it turns out that they weren’t as life-changing as we expected they would be. We find ourselves saying, “My God, there’s got to be more.”
This long-awaited more was what John the Baptist concerned himself with. In today’s Gospel reading, instead of John finding this long-awaited more, this long-awaited more found him. Unlike whatever presents we unwrapped under the Christmas tree, this long-awaited more, the long-awaited Messiah and Savior, ended up being even better than what John the Baptist could have ever imagined or expected.
The expectations John the Baptist had for this long-awaited Messiah and Savior, are revealed in what John says in today’s Gospel reading when he sees Jesus coming toward him. John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Nowadays, it’s common for someone to warm up the crowd or to introduce the speaker or performer before the main attraction walks on the stage. Well, this is kind of what John the Baptist was doing. For John and Jewish people who shared his expectations for the savior, this moment was the culmination of a marathon search for the savior God promised. Here, John is giving the best introduction ever, announcing the long-awaited savior is walking on the scene about to start his public ministry. When John the Baptist says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” he is announcing the type of Messiah he has been waiting for and the expectations he has for what this long-awaited savior will do.
As John calls Jesus the “Lamb of God,” this first and foremost is revealing that Jesus is the new savior John the Baptist expected. According to Catholic theologian Dr. Brant Pitre, the understanding of John and most common Jews at the time was that this Messiah was going to be a new savior of God’s people, like a new Moses saving God’s people with a new Passover. You remember this original Passover story – the killing of the lamb, the lamb’s blood being put on the doorposts in Egypt, the eating of the lamb’s flesh, and the angel of death passing over the Israelites saving the lives of their first-born sons. This is what happened with the original Moses and the original Passover.
When John calls Jesus the “Lamb of God,” he is talking about the expectation that the new Savior would be a new Moses who would bring about a new Passover. We see Jesus fulfill this expectation right before he is arrested and crucified. It is then, on the Passover, at the Last Supper, that Jesus replaces the lamb with himself as the new sacrifice, becoming the new lamb at this new Passover. This is when Jesus’ body and blood are offered to save all who let the doorposts of our bodies, our mouths, be marked with his blood and eat his flesh.
As you know, the story of the original Moses did not end with the Passover. After this original Passover, Moses knew the pressure was on to still feed the need of God’s people with life-saving food. So, as Moses led God’s people on the Exodus out of Egypt, freeing them from being the slaves of Pharaoh, they found themselves on a trek through the Sanai desert desperately in need of food. It was then, God communicated through Moses that God would provide bread from heaven to his people. This is what God did with the manna from heaven. This manna was their food on their journey to the promised land.
Now, let’s fast forward to the time of John the Baptist. John, his followers and many of the Jewish people at the time were also trusting that the crumb of grace they needed would come down from heaven. Just as Jesus is even better than Moses, the Savior in the Old Testament, and just as Jesus’ body and blood are even better than the paschal lamb in the Old Testament, so to the new bread from heaven Jesus provides is even better than the manna from heaven in the Old Testament. That’s because, here, Jesus provides the supernatural bread from heaven with the Eucharist, which is his body, blood, soul, and divinity.
This is where we, like John the Baptist did, encounter the long-awaited savior, who turns out to be even better than expected. We, like John, are reminded that the God we believe in is not just some deity way up and out there, distant, separate, big, and often angry. No, instead, God came to be known to John and comes to each of us as personal and loving.
So, this is not just about John the Baptist and his expectations for the savior 2,000 years ago as much as it is about you and
In a few moments, Jesus will be making his presence known with us here today and the words we will say before we encounter him are the same words John said 2,000 years ago to announce the presence of our savior. After the sign of peace, we will sing the words “Lamb of God.” Then, Fr. Jeremy, will announce the presence of our savior here with us today when he says the same words John said, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
Friends, just as John believed in the deep meaning of each and every one of these words he spoke, we also need to believe in the power these transformational words have for our lives here today. Then, in the same way that John talked about his unworthiness, we will acknowledge our own unworthiness. This is because as we prepare to receive our savior’s body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist, we are reminding ourselves that, thanks to God, we are not measured by the good we do as much as we are by the grace we expect and accept.
So, while the original Moses led his people to the promised land, the new Moses, Jesus
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A – January 19, 2020
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Is 49:3, 5-6
Psalm: Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
Reading 2: 1 Cor 1:1-3
Gospel: Jn 1:29-34
Really nice Homily!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback and for letting me know about Dr. Brant Pitre, Jay.