John 1: 29-34 (Sunday, January 20, 2008)

Three imageries are used in today’s gospel to describe Jesus Christ. These imageries are:
- Jesus the Lamb of God
- Jesus the bearer of the Holy Spirit
- Jesus the Son of God.

The imagery of the Lamb of God is one that we see strongly in the Old Testament. This imagery connotes salvation, forgiveness of sin and restoration. In Exodus 12, when God wanted to save the people of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, he asked them to kill a lamb and mark their door posts with the blood. When the Angel of death sees the blood marked on their doors, he will pass over the house. Through the blood of the lamb, the people were saved from the destruction that was carried out by the angel of death. In the same way, through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, we would be saved not only from death but also by the power of the evil one that hovers around the world seeking to destroy us. It is the mark of the blood of the Lamb that would save us from the calamities and the principalities of the devil. In the book of Revelation 14, we are told that the Lamb of God standing upon the mount of Zion was the one that conquered the beasts. Today, we are being harassed by the beast in many ways. When you begin to sink in your faith and you no longer believe in God – it is the work of the beast; when you have lost all hope in Christ and in the life he has given to you – it is the work of the beast; when religion falls from your list of priorities – it is the work of the beast. You need the Lamb of God to conquer the beast manifesting in your life.

The Lamb of God is the one that takes away the sins of the world. In the Mass we pray daily: “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.” The priest also raising the host, repeats the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, happy are those who are called to his supper.” In these words, we are conscious of the mission of Jesus – that of atoning for our sins and restoring our relationship with the Father. In Deuteronomy 29, we learn that the people of Israel sacrificed the lamb every day in atonement for their sins. The sacrifice o Jesus Christ is a perfect sacrifice that is done once and for all in atonement of sin. He is the sacrificial lamb that dies once and for all to restore us into proper relationship with the Father. This sacrifice is salvific and it assures us of a place in heaven.

Another imagery that was used in today’s gospel is that of the bearer of the Holy Spirit. At his baptism, Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit and when he baptizes us, he no longer baptizes us with water only for the forgiveness of our sins, but he also baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit symbolizes power, through the spirit, we are illumined and transformed. We know that he is the bearer of the Spirit because again and again in the scriptures, he promises us that he will send us his Holy Spirit, the paraclete and this spirit will give us power, it will teach us all we need to know and it make us bold to preach the message of salvation. St. Paul tells us that the spirit we have received, is not that of timidity but one that emboldens us to preach the message of Christ. It is significant that Jesus Christ uses the word paraclete when he promises us the Spirit. Paraclete means that the spirit is our guide, our consoler and our defender. The Spirit will guide us into the future. It will show us the way of the Lord, how to follow the will of God. We can move into the future without any fear because we know the Holy Spirit is with us. He is with us as the consoler. During those troubled and difficult times, the Spirit is there to console us. The Spirit is there to defend us against our enemies; it is our defense when we are challenged in our faith; the Spirit comes to our rescue when the beast tries to harass and intimidate us.

Jesus Christ is the son of God. His being God’s son automatically enrolls us all as members of the family of God. Through our baptism, we come to share in his sonship. John 1:12 tells us that, for all that believe, he has given them the power to become sons and daughters of God. What a special privilege we share by being members of Christ’s body. For the very reason that we are sons and daughters of God, we are guaranteed a place in God’s kingdom.

This year, as we celebrate the year of victory in family life. I want to encourage us to bring Jesus to our families. Let us give him a prime place in our homes. Let us make him truly the head of our household. When we do, through his blood, he will conquer the power of evil and sin in our homes; he will fill our home with his Spirit and our children will learn to walk in the ways of the Lord and we will be able to work into the future without any fears; he will make us truly a domestic church.