The Second Sunday after the Epiphany, 19 January 2014
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-12
I Corinthans 1:1-9
St. John 1:29-42
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| Crosier from the Louvre, Paris |
Background: The Lamb of God
This title, which is introduced in Christian
literature in the Gospel of John (the Gospel reading for this Sunday) has links
to the Hebrew Scriptures in its affinity to the Paschal Lamb described in Exodus 12. What John and other writers do is to connect
the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to the Paschal lamb, offered at the
Passover, a type of the offering of Jesus.
The Lamb of God also appears in the Book of Revelation (5:1-7, 21:14), and in I Corinthians, where the
author refers directly to the Hebrew tradition of the Paschal Lamb. Most liturgical Christians will recognize
this image in the hymn that is sung during the Great
Thanksgiving, following the Fraction,
The Agnus Dei.
Isaiah 49:1-7
Listen to me, O
coastlands,
pay attention, you
peoples from far away!
The LORD called me
before I was born,
while I was in my
mother's womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a
sharp sword,
in the shadow of his
hand he hid me;
he made me a polished
arrow,
in his quiver he hid me
away.
And he said to me,
"You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will
be glorified.
"
But I said,
"I have labored in vain,
I have spent my
strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is
with the LORD
and my reward with my
God."
And now the LORD says,
who formed me in the
womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to
him,
and that Israel might
be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the
sight of the LORD,
and my God has become
my strength--
he says,
"It is too light a
thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes
of Jacob
and to restore the
survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a
light to the nations,
that my salvation may
reach to the end of the earth.
"Thus says the
LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel
and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised,
abhorred by the
nations,
the slave of rulers,
"Kings shall see
and stand up,
princes, and they shall
prostrate themselves,
because of the LORD,
who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel,
who has chosen you."
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| Chagall, Call of the Prophet Isaiah |
We are on the cusp of things here.
Cyrus the Great, who ruled Persia from 559 – 530 BCE, and who would free
the exiled people of Judah, is just coming on the scene and in the hopes of the
prophet. The over-arching question is
the fate of Jerusalem. Who will return
to her? Who will restore her glory? What will her role be? In the initial verses, which are a call to
the prophet, we see a resemblance to Jeremiah’s call (Jeremiah 1:4-10). Again the prophet is seen as a part of God’s
designed anticipated in the womb of the prophet’s mother. Just like Jeremiah, and Moses for that
matter, the prophet objects, “I have
labored in vain, I have spent my strength.”
God will have none of it. Indeed
God expands the expectation and role of the prophet – “It is
too little, (God) says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of
Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will
make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the
earth.” We are left wondering, as we do when reading the other Songs of
the Suffering Servant (Isaiah
42:1-4, 50:4-9 and 53), who is the servant? Is it the prophet? Is it the nation, or is it both? What is more important here is the exact
nature of the audience, for it is no longer just Israel, but rather – “Kings shall see…princes.” The prophet inserts a note of incipient
universalism here, for the very nature and scope of the religion of Israel has
changed. Like Jerusalem, however, both
Israel and the servant need to be restored and made ready for such a mission. In that respect, the city of Jerusalem
becomes and image and symbol of both their condition and their destiny. Having survived, God gives them as “a light to the nations.” Simeon must have been a student
of this Isaiah.
Breaking open Isaiah:
- When hearing the call to mission either from the Scriptures, or
from the pulpit, do you hear a personal call?
- In what ways are you the Lord’s servant?
- How does God support you in that task?
Psalm 40:1-12 Expectans, expectavi
I waited patiently upon
the LORD; *
he stooped to me and
heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the
desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; *
he set my feet upon a
high cliff and made my footing sure.
He put a new song in my
mouth,
a song of praise to our
God; *
many shall see, and
stand in awe,
and put their trust in
the LORD.
Happy are they who
trust in the LORD! *
they do not resort to
evil spirits or turn to false gods.
Great things are they
that you have done, O LORD my God!
how great your wonders
and your plans for us! *
there is none who can
be compared with you.
Oh, that I could make
them known and tell them! *
but they are more than
I can count.
In sacrifice and
offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears
to hear you);
Burnt-offering and
sin-offering you have not required, *
and so I said,
"Behold, I come.
In the roll of the book
it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your
will, O my God;
your law is deep in my
heart."'
I proclaimed
righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not
restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you
know.
Your righteousness have
I not hidden in my heart;
I have spoken of your
faithfulness and your deliverance;*
I have not concealed
your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
You are the LORD;
do not withhold your
compassion from me;*
let your love and your
faithfulness keep me safe for ever.
This psalm has several aspects, both of thanksgiving and of
supplication. The initial verses, our
reading for this day, encompasses the thanksgiving section. In these verses we see the psalmist in the
guise of a prophet. Indeed, the first
verses (1-3) seem to replicate, at least in tone, the call of both Jeremiah,
and the latter Isaiah (see the first reading, above). God rescues this nascent prophet from “the roiling pit” (Alter) or, in our
translation, “the desolate pit – out of
mire and clay.” This is both call
and creation language. This new human is
then set up to observe God’s victory in creation and to receive a new word to
communicate to humankind. The creation words
recall the ordering of chaos, along with other reminiscences of the ancient
creation stories. What our translation
supplies as “evil spirits and false gods”
Robert Alter translates as “the sea
monster gods and to false idols.” The
scope seems to be both wider and more particular using understanding of the
Hebrew.
So what is the message “the scroll
of the book”, that God intends for this new prophet? First, things are put into a perspective of
importance. Sacrifices and offerings are
not of primary importance. In fact, the
psalmist/prophet declares, “you desire
them not.” The same holds true for
burnt offerings and sin offerings. What
follows is written deeply in the heart of the psalmist/prophet (see Jeremiah 31:31-34). The
words that follow proclaim the new agenda that YHWH has in mind: justice,
faithfulness, righteousness, compassion, and deliverance. Such is the good news for which the psalm
gives thanks.
Breaking open Psalm 40:
- How is God’s call to you written on your heart?
- What does it say to you?
- What does God want of you?
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul, called to be an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God
that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God
always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ
Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge
of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among
you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the
revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so
that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful;
by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thus we are introduced to the initial letter to the Corinthians, as Paul
introduces himself to his readers, along with a co-worker, Sosthenes (Acts 18:17?) Paul does not enter the situation as an
interloper but rather as one “called to
be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” He is quick to observe their status in
Christ, as sanctified and called to be saints. What follows then is a thanksgiving for what
has gone on before, namely that they have heard the Gospel of Jesus and have
been enriched by it. They have received spiritual gifts, and they
are patiently awaiting the coming again.
So Paul sets the stage for this on-going conversation with the
congregation at Corinth.
Breaking open I
Corinthians:
- Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians with bravado. What gives him such courage?
- What attributes does he share with his readers?
- For what does Paul give thanks?
St. John 1:29-42
John saw Jesus coming
toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world! This is he of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks ahead
of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came
baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to
Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who
sent me to baptize 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."
The next day John again
was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he
exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard
him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them
following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to
him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you
staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw
where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four
o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him
was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to
him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). He
brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of
John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).
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| Grünewald - Isenheim Altarpiece - The Crucifixion |
The fulcrum of these
two paragraphs is the notion of the Lamb of God (see Background above). Its connections with the Hebrew canon and
especially the Torah give us a thematic background in which to place John’s
exclamations. It is not so much sacrifice,
although those elements are there, that inform the identification of the lamb
with Jesus. It is the elements of
freedom and liberation that are part and parcel of the traditions surrounding
the Paschal Lamb. These two paragraphs
emphasize what the reaction might be, having experienced freedom in Jesus. The first is John’s reference to the baptism
of Jesus, where not only Jesus, but the Baptist also perceives the anointing by
the Spirit. Such an emphasis continues
for us as a liturgical remembrance of last Sunday’s celebrations at the Baptism
of Our Lord. The issue is to be pressed
on – how do we, the baptized, embody the Spirit, who has anointed us as well.
The second emphasis is
that of the attraction of the Lamb, the temptation (if you will) to follow
Jesus. It is not just anyone that
follows Jesus in John’s Gospel but Andrew, and then the first of the apostles,
Simon. John wants us to notice this. We however should be astonished (to use a
great Lucan verb) by the question that Jesus asks of them, when they seek to
follow him. It is a question that should
give us pause as well. “What are you
looking for?” As we begin in earnest to
follow Jesus in his ministry during this Ordinary Time, it is an important
question that we need to ask of ourselves as well. What is it that we are really seeking
here? Jesus response, “Come and see” should
also pull us into this season rehearsal of Jesus’ ministry and our response to
it. What would people see if we invited
them into our prayer life, our study of the Scriptures, our sacramental
life? As Jesus indicated in his
identification and knowledge of Peter, so this same Jesus knows us as
well. Will we still follow?
Breaking open the Gospel:
- What do you recognize in Jesus?
- What attracts you to Jesus’ teaching?
- What are you looking for in Jesus?
After breaking open the
Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the
world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine
with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and
obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you
and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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