The Lamb who Shows us the Way

Second Sunday Ordinary Time Year A

We are reminded of today’s Gospel reading every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Before communion we sing “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us”.”Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us”, “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.” Who is this Lamb of God, whom we invoke three times before communion? John the Baptist tells us in today’s Gospel reading. When he says “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” he points to Jesus.

What does it mean for Jesus to be the Lamb of God? Why would he be called Lamb of God, when we also know him as the Good Shepherd who cares for his flock? Can he be both lamb and the shepherd that takes care of the lambs? We are in the world of images and symbols, and what in real life is a contradiction holds together as our hearts are opened to the mystery of God’s love. There are other seeming contradictions. For example, Jesus is both the High Priest and the victim for our sins.

The image of the Lamb of God invites us to scale the heights of Jesus’ glory and also brings us down to the depths of his debasement. As Isaiah tells us about the suffering servant, whom we identify as Jesus, “He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Is 53). That is the abasement, but it is followed by the glory. Let us hear the Book of Revelation, which tells us “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered ...thousands of thousands, singing with full voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.” Many of us can almost sing this with the melody of Handel’s Messiah.

For him to take away the sins of the world he had to pay a terrible price. In another place Isaiah tells us that by his bruises we are healed. He poured himself out to death, but in this way he conquered death and sin for all of us. So when John the Baptist says “Here is the Lamb of God” this is not just a piece of religious puffery. Let us not start humming “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.” Being the Lamb of God is something terrifying. John’s prophetic words, like the two-edged sword, go to the very heart of who Jesus is and why he came into our world. They must have evoked within Jesus who heard them a deep tremor of the heart. At the beginning of his ministry he was already starting to grasp the fearsome mission the Father had laid upon his shoulders, and John’s prophetic words would have brought greater clarity to that mission. A greater clarity about the struggle before him, a struggle to the death, as evidenced in his temptations in the desert and his agony in the garden.

What would have given John the confidence to utter these prophetic words about Jesus? Of course his mission was to discover the Messiah and to point him out, and he spent many years in the desert preparing himself for his ministry. He knew his scripture, and was acquainted with the patterns of God’s presence in our world. It was already clear to him that one of the hallmarks of God’s power when He acts in the world is the outpouring of the Spirit. The one on whom the Spirit comes down and remains is the one Chosen by God. And John tells us “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and remain on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water said to me “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

So when before communion we sing “This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” let us be fully aware of the meaning of what we are singing. We are singing about the Jesus upon whom the Spirit descended and remained, empowering him for his public ministry. But we are also singing about Jesus who to save us became the Lamb led to slaughter, put to death for us and for our salvation. But above all we are singing about the Jesus who takes away sin and death from our world, who at the end is exalted by all as Universal Lord and Saviour, who receives glory and power and might and honour.

Where does all this leave us? Just as Jesus was baptized, so are we all baptized. I would be very surprised to hear that there was a dove descending upon the heads of any of us here at our baptism. But still the Holy Spirit descends upon each one of us, and we become temples in which the Holy Spirit dwells. This means that the power of the Spirit active in Jesus’ ministry is active in our own lives, or, at least, it is there as a unexploited source of energy that we could tap, enabling us to do even greater things. We are certainly not the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But as our sins are being taken away, we become aware of a call to model our behaviour on that of the Lamb of God. Like him, we find ourselves at times able to absorb evil with good, hatred with love, discord with a peaceful spirit. We learn that the power that God exercises in our lives and in our world is a gentle power, full of respect and compassion. We receive that compassion from him and we share it with others. No less can be expected of us when we sing Lamb of God and then come up to receive communion.