Jn.1:35-42
In today’ Gospel, we find more unraveling of the events surrounding the public ministry of Jesus. St. John the Baptist, seeing Jesus at a distance, calls him “The Lamb of God” which is a term packed with a lot of meanings for Israelites. We find immediately two of the disciples of John going after Jesus and inquiring where he lives. The response of Jesus is quick: “Come and See.” Once they experience personally the life of Jesus and come to know who He is, their excitement knows no bounds. Immediately, one of them, Andrews, sees his brother, Simon, and tells him, without any doubt or vagueness in his words : “We have found the Messiah.”
The word for Lamb, used in the address of John the Baptist, in Greek is Amnos that refers exclusively to lambs that are meant for sacrifices at the Temple. What John implies is that Jesus would sacrifice his life for the deliverance of the people from the bondage to sin. It is that title that moves the disciples of John to abandon him and to go in search of Jesus. Jesus is the Savior, the Redeemer.
The passage from the Gospel is an invitation to each one of us to accept Jesus as the Savior of our lives, the One who has died for us to make us the children of God. Jesus is the one who gives us the courage to face the hardships and challenges of life and help us to face opposition or hostility. He will secure us peace and joy.
This is the Good News that we have to share with others. Jesus will never abandon us and that he will always be with us.
That is why Andrews wants to share it with his brother. We too have to invite people to come and see Jesus and experience the presence of his strength and support in their lives.
How comforting it is to know that however far we move from Him, he will never abandon us and that he will come in search of us. He is there to forgive our sins and to offer us the warmth of his love. As Archbishop Quinn, the former Archbishop of San Francisco has once said, the Catholic Church is not a museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners. Jesus is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
As Andrews has told Peter, we too have to tell our friends that we have found the Christ. The world needs our witness. Families break down and there is a lot of hostility among people. Many experience a lot of stress in their lives. They are looking for the Savior. We who have known the Savior and experienced His love and forgiveness have to share them with others.
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