Sunday 19 January 2020: Second Sunday in Ordinary time

This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world

...John’s gospel does not mention the actual baptism of Jesus, though its reference to it is unmistakeable. ‘Behold the lamb of God’ – this title of the Saviour is so familiar to us that it comes as a surprise to learn that it is only found in the New Testament writings associated with the community for which John’s gospel was written. It is a title rich in implications. It calls to mind the Servant Song of Isaiah 53, in which God’s Servant – the one who will bring healing to God’s people by bearing their burdens – is compared to ‘a lamb led to the slaughter house’. In telling the story of the Passion, John’s gospel associates the death of Jesus with the slaughtering of the paschal lambs – a theme already anticipated by Paul: ‘Christ our paschal lamb has been sacrificed’ (1 Cor 5:7). It is through the Paschal Mystery that will end his life’s journey that the Saviour will ‘take away our sins’, and lead creation into the eternal embrace of God...

Extract by John Thornhill sm - read more at The Emmaus Series