January 19^th 2020. Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: John 1, 29-34

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: John 1, 29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.”

Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . John’s Gospel says something surprising: we are told that the testimony of John the Baptist is necessary for each one of us if we are to have correct faith in Christ. What does the Baptist say? He points to Jesus and says, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. This is a crucial testimony concerning the identity of Jesus. However, the translation “takes away” is not so good. The original Greek really says “takes upon himself the sins of the world”. Jesus takes our sins upon himself. This is so essential. Humanity is not able to deal with sin. Psychology and counselling can only do so much. They cannot remove the guilt of sin. What Jesus does is forgive us and bear the weight of our sins completely. My sinful and toxic past is thus transformed! What was once a history of error and weakness now becomes a history of how much God has loved me and shown his mercy towards me despite my faults!

The Gospel passage tells us that we must accept John’s testimony regarding Christ if we are to have true faith

St John's prologue proclaims wonderful things about Christ, and also speaks of John the Baptist: “A man came who was sent by God: his name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, so that everyone might believe through him " (Jn 1,6). Generally, we think that John's testimony only concerns the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. But the fourth evangelist, who does not usually give useless information, says something very significant about the Baptist: “He came ... so that everyone might believe through him”. Everyone means everyone, including you and me! In order to believe, we need to accept his testimony. We cannot believe if we do not accept those things that the Gospel of this Sunday proclaims for us to hear. So let's look carefully at the things he tells us. John begins by saying that Jesus is "the lamb of God". The main ritual of the Jewish faith revolved around the sacrifice of a lamb whose blood, placed on the doorposts of the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, was stronger than the angel of the death that passed over. This is the real meaning of who Jesus is. He is the one that brings a true liberation, not simply freedom from a specific oppressor, such as Pharaoh, but from a more extensive enemy of all humanity.

Jesus doesn’t just remove our sins, he takes them upon himself

To explain what he said, the Baptist adds "the one who takes away the sin of the world!" The Church takes this phrase seriously, so much so that in each individual Eucharist the celebrant repeats it at the moment that he holds up the body of the Lord before communion. It is no harm to note that the phrase "take away" is a poor translation of the Greek verb that does not simply mean "take away", but "take upon himself ". Sins are not simply removed by Christ. What happens is more profound. He completely accepts them onto himself.

Humanity cannot deal with sin. Psychology and counselling can only do so much. God’s forgiveness transforms my sinful past into the memory of how much I have been loved, despite my weaknesses.

Sin is something that humanity by itself cannot manage. People are obliged to carry the weight of their mistakes on their shoulders. You can remove stains on a dress and you can purify a material, but removing guilt from a person's conscience is a superhuman activity. Psychology, for example, tries to manage the effects of sin, but it cannot bring forgiveness. Guilt is extremely difficult for the human heart to deal with. There are those who naively say: “God no longer remembers your sins, don't worry!” The problem is that I remember them. That can be a form of torture and there are no rational solutions. However, when someone has the power to forgive my mistakes, then they become no longer the memory of how much I have gone astray, but of how much I have been loved. John the Baptist is saying: “Look! Here is the one who takes upon himself the sin of the world. Here is the only one who can deal with my toxic history. Here is the one who illuminates my past by transforming it into a story of mercy. Here is the one who loves me without parentheses, even my sins.