Today's Gospel reading begins with John the Baptist saying, "Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." This comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, indicating the importance that the apostle, John, placed on this particular title. In our discussion on the Bible after mass, we talked about the importance of Jesus fulfilling the role of sacrifice in order to expunge the debt of sin brought by Adam and, in doing so, mirroring the roles of Isaac and Moses in the Old Testament.
The symmetry of the Bible is quite remarkable. The promises made in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New--even if not in the ways that people had come to expect. To me, that makes the New Testament even more powerful as it is able to unite what seemed like disparate stories into a unified whole that brings about the redemption of the world. Such is true in our own lives, as God does not work in the way that we might necessarily expect, but instead has a plan far beyond our understanding.
John the Baptist seemed to be surprised that his cousin was the one whom he was supposed to proclaim. However, once he saw that Jesus had the Holy Spirit dwelling within Him, he did not hesitate in making his announcement. I wish that I had that same confidence in making similar professions of my faith. It's easy enough to do in a church filled with people who hold similar beliefs, but I need to work on how I act outside of the walls of our church.
The symmetry of the Bible is quite remarkable. The promises made in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New--even if not in the ways that people had come to expect. To me, that makes the New Testament even more powerful as it is able to unite what seemed like disparate stories into a unified whole that brings about the redemption of the world. Such is true in our own lives, as God does not work in the way that we might necessarily expect, but instead has a plan far beyond our understanding.
John the Baptist seemed to be surprised that his cousin was the one whom he was supposed to proclaim. However, once he saw that Jesus had the Holy Spirit dwelling within Him, he did not hesitate in making his announcement. I wish that I had that same confidence in making similar professions of my faith. It's easy enough to do in a church filled with people who hold similar beliefs, but I need to work on how I act outside of the walls of our church.
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