Ordinary Time in the church’s year begins with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which celebrates his identity as the ‘beloved Son’. On this second Sunday in Ordinary Time we move from the baptism to the mission of the one baptised.
John the Baptist names Jesus as, ‘the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.’ In doing so, he links Jesus with a number of Old Testament passages about the lamb of sacrifice and the suffering servant of God.
As the first reading this Sunday says, this servant has a universal mission to gather and restore God’s people, to be the ‘light of the nations’ and to proclaim God’s salvation ‘to the ends of the earth’.
In speaking about Jesus, John also tells us about his own mission: to proclaim that someone greater than he is was coming, one who would baptise with the Holy Spirit - the Chosen One of God.
Perhaps our reflection on the identity and mission of Jesus also tells us something about who we are meant to become as his disciples.
There is a gentleness we associate with lambs. They are not regarded as aggressive creatures. They do not kill, even to eat. In a world which often praises and rewards violence and aggression, the Lamb calls us to a different way of life.