John 1:29-34
Dear Friends,
This year we will walk with the Jesus of St. Mathew in our Sunday Gospel selections. I always look forward to a new journey that is the same but always deeper, always more inviting as we grow more in our maturity and in faith.
So what happens? Today we start out with St. John and not only St. John but seemingly the same story we had last week about Jesus’ baptism. This has got to tell us that we need to dig deeper for the message from John’s version of the baptism to how it connects to St. Matthew’s journey.
It is all about Jesus. John is very forceful in presenting Jesus as the full revelation of God. He is the Word that existed before time who became flesh.
In today’s selection Jesus is presented as the Lamb of God. This is one of many tiles John gives to Jesus such as the Light of the World the Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Life and the Resurrection and, of course, the Way, the Life and The Truth.
The message of today’s Gospel is clear and to the point. Jesus is the fullness of God’s revelation. He will lead us on the journey to salvation. We need to be faithful to his call because He has the answer to the deepest yearnings of the human heart.
As we begin the journey with St. Matthew in the troubled year of 2011 we need to know the answer to our search is in an openness to God’s call in the person of His Son who is the Lamb of God leading us to the freedom of the Gospel message of Good News. This is why the Church gives us a lead with John. His picture of Christ is strong and forceful right from the very beginning.
Just as the disciples walked the dusty roads of Galilee, we, too, have the opportunity to walk once again with the Son of God made flesh who calls us out of darkness into the light.
