Friday, January 2, 2015
Before Epiphany
ST. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen
1st Reading:
1 Jn 2:29–3:6
Gospel: Jn 1:29–34
When John saw Jesus coming towards him, he said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. It is he of whom I said: A man comes after me who is already ahead of me, for he was before me. I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing to prepare for him, so that he might be revealed in Israel.”
And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him like a dove from heaven and resting on him. I myself did not know him but God who sent me to baptize told me: ‘You will see the Spirit coming down and resting on the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ …”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
We read from Today’s Gospel that when John saw Jesus coming he said, “There is the Lamb of God…” This term pulled together significant scriptural references to the Jewish experience of salvation on their way out of Egypt. Recall that when Pharaoh obstinately refused to let the Hebrews go, Yahweh decided to bring down punishment. To spare the Hebrews from the punishment Yahweh instructed Moses as follows: “Each man must take a lamb from the flock… Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses… (Exodus 12:3 ff.).
Thus when John described Jesus as the “Lamb of God” he linked Jesus to that Exodus experience where the blood of the lamb smeared on the doors of the chosen people warded off the angel of death. As the blood of the Passover lamb smeared on the doorpost warded off the destroying angel, so the blood of “Jesus the Lamb” was to be the ransom of many.
St. Luke’s account of the Last Supper strengthens the connection between Jesus and the Passover lamb. He wrote: “When the hour came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him, and he said to them, I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luke 22:16).” Described as “Lamb of God”, Jesus was the fulfillment of the salvation promised to God’s people.
But one Bible scholar suggests (J. Jeremias) that the title Lamb of God is a mistranslation of the Aramaic ‘talya’ which means both ‘lamb’ and ‘slave’, suggesting that the title should have been “The Servant of God” instead of Lamb of God. If so, then John the Baptist could have been making allusions to Isaiah 53 which describes the messiah as the suffering servant of Yahweh, with ‘no looks to attract our eyes.’ But howsoever “talya” is understood and translated, the term still points to Jesus’ supreme self sacrifice just to save humanity. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT <message /name/age/address> at i-send sa 4467.