Second Sunday In Ordinary Time
JOHN 1:35-42 (1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19; Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20)
The mission of John the Baptizer, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and witnessing to Jesus was ongoing. He had endured an investigation by an official delegation of priests and Levites from Jerusalem. He had gathered disciples who would assist him in his baptismal ministry. As this Sunday’s gospel begins, John is standing somewhere with two of his disciples. One of these disciples remains unnamed. The other one, we are told later, is Andrew, a brother of Simon Peter. Jesus walks by. John exclaims, “Behold the Lamb of God!” Being referred to as a “lamb” is perhaps not a desirable classification for an American man of today. But in the context of the first century, what could John the Baptizer and/or John the author of this gospel mean by this title?
Of several possibilities, the most probable is as follows. An interpretation of the title “Lamb of God” current in the first century was that of a warrior king. He overcomes evil beasts, crushes them underfoot (Testament of Joseph 19:8). For the author of this literary work the evil beasts are the Romans occupying the Middle East including the Holy Land. The Baptizer’s designation of Jesus as “Lamb of God” could have involved both him and Jesus in dangerous politics with the Roman occupying power. Rome did not tolerate rebel warrior kings. The New Testament Book of Revelation picks up this concept of the Lamb of God as a warrior king. The beasts in Revelation represent the Roman Empire, Caesar Domitian and his officials, in the occupied provinces. The author of Revelation depicts the Lamb of God as Word of God, riding on a white horse, and with a sharp sword issuing from his mouth. With this sword he “will smite the nations, rule them with a rod of iron, and will trod the winepress of the fury of the wrath of Almighty God.”
This terrorizing lamb seems to fit both the ideas of the Baptizer and the school of theology from which we have the Gospel of John, the three Letters of John, and the Book of Revelation. Some of the thoughts of this school of theology are described in the above paragraph. As to the Baptiz-er’s thinking: in Matthew 11 he is in prison. He seems disappointed in the complete absence of any activity of Jesus which could be understood as leading to the expulsion of the Romans. He sends a delegation of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” In Matthew and Luke, John has a similar concept of “the one who is to come,” as he seems to have in the Gospel of John. In these two gospels “the Mighty One” will not only baptize with fire, but will gather “the wheat into the granary and burn the chaff with unquench-able fire.” Jesus had to correct this concept of a terrorizing Mighty One. Instead of a terrorizing warrior, Jesus describes himself as a teacher and a healer.
Another possibility for understanding the title “Lamb of God” in the context of the first century is taken from the last of four “Songs of the Servant of the Lord,” in the second part of Isaiah. In Isaiah 53:7 we read of this Servant of the Lord, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, …so he did not open his mouth.” This Servant/lamb is slain, “cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions of his people.” It is also possible that the author of the Gospel of John understands the title “Lamb of God,” in reference to the Passover Lamb. After his death on the cross, in John 19:36, the author describes Jesus in words taken from the regulations for the Passover Lamb , “Not a bone of him shall be broken” Exodus 12:46. In the first century, the slaying of the Passover Lamb was understood as a sacrifice.
John eventually gave his life for his mission. But before he gave his life he offered another gift – Jesus’ first disciples. After the Baptizer pointed out Jesus as Lamb of God, two of his disciples left him and followed Jesus. They ask Jesus, “Where are you staying?” His reply, “Come and see.” The author of the gospel notes that it was the tenth hour (4:00 p.m.). They stayed with him that day, and we may assume also overnight. Next comes the identity of one of these two first disciples of Jesus, “One of these two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.” What happens next is an important teaching which involves every Christian – the urge to share with others faith in Jesus. Andrew “first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah.’”
John is writing in Greek for readers whose native language is Greek. Although he wrote the Greek word Messiah as a rendering of the Hebrew noun Meshiach, either the author himself or a later editor explained, “which means Christ,” (XRISTOS). In either language the word derives from a verb meaning “to anoint.” From Old Testament background, anointing carries with it a connotation of priesthood and kingship. Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus. “Jesus looked at him….” When Jesus “looks at” someone in the Gospel of John, he sees the man’s character with all its faults and its virtues. In this case the faults were great, but Jesus sees possibilities and renames Simon accordingly, as he says, “So you are Simon son of John? You shall be called Cephas.”The author resorts to the Aramaic/Hebrew form of the name which Jesus bestowed on Simon. This calls for an explanation to Greek-speaking readers, “which means PETROS.” PETROS is the masculinized form of the Greek word for “rock.” Jesus’ work of shaping this Rock begins, a big job ahead.
