Baptism

01-15-2023Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

As we the Church begin Ordinary Time, we reflect upon the Baptism of Jesus, and its significance in our own lives and communities. The Gospel of John does not narrate the Baptism like the other Gospels. Instead, John the Baptist gives testimony, emphasizing that Jesus has received the Holy Spirit. Jesus will go on to baptize with this same Spirit, as he did immediately after his resurrection (John 20). What might this mean for us, who share in this same Baptism? Today's reading from Isaiah suggests that we are to be a “light to the nations,” a people proclaiming and sharing God's love. Paul's greeting to the church in Corinth reminds us that we are simultaneously God's sanctified people and yet continually called to become holy. Baptism begins our journey, where we know the Spirit dwells within, and the same Spirit summons us to full maturity in Christ.

Lamb of God

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist names Jesus as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This name “Lamb of God" is rich in meaning, and can be interpreted in various ways. From the Old Testament, it evokes the lamb of Passover, linked to God's rescue of the Hebrew people from Egypt. It is also an image of God's faithful servant, as in Isaiah 53 as a “lamb led to slaughter.”

We can notice that here Jesus is the Lamb “of God.” He is God's own Lamb, belonging to God. Jesus is not a cultic sacrifice to God, or a demand from God. John is presenting a traditional image in a new way. The Lamb “takes away” our sin, both exposing the reality of our sin to us (which we often hide from ourselves), and also forgiving us our sin. This same Lamb is filled with the Holy Spirit, and shares this Spirit to heal our troubled hearts.

Light to the Nations

Today's first reading is taken from the second of four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah. This Song was written around the time that the people of Israel were near release from their exile in Babylon. Israel, and also the author, had been traumatized by their separation from Jerusalem and their seeming abandonment by God. At this time of great vulnerability and despair, God gives them consolation and affirmation. God gives the exiles a vote of confidence and an expansion of vision. God will heal their hearts, and give them new energy to be “a light to the nations.” Their purpose is not just survival, but to be the means by which God will bring the whole ) world into communion and harmony with God. For us today, when sometimes our parishes and communities face challenge of shrinkage and survival, perhaps God may similarly energize us, and remind us of the dignity and breadth of our mission.