“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” I venture to say that is perhaps one of the most widely spoken lines of scripture since the celebrant of every Mass speaks that line moments before distributing communion. Actually, he says “sins” while John the Baptist said “sin.” The singular word is used to describe the broken state the world finds itself in: poverty, injustice, war, hatred, dishonesty, killings, greed, sexual perversions, humanity’s resistance to God, while sins in the plural are our personal wrongdoings and misdeeds.
The expression, Lamb of God, appears only in John’s gospel. For him, lamb meant not only a young sheep, but also a boy, a servant, or a son. It functioned much the same way that the word kid does today. When John the Baptist called his cousin the “Lamb of God,” he is calling him something like “God’s kid.” Since Jesus often called God, “Abba, father,” that makes sense. In one brief statement, John the Baptist is telling anyone who would listen, that here is the one, the only one sent by God who can transform our broken world.
Keep in mind that God originally made the world in a state of grace, seeing that it was good, but through Adam and Eve, that world fell into sin. By dying on the cross, Jesus took away sin yet the results of sin still remain. Picture a broken crystal vase. It can be repaired but it will never look the same. God knew the world needed someone to take away the sin of the world if it was to survive, so he sent his “kid,” his beloved son, to share with us the good news and offer us the means, the antidote to take away the sins of the world.
Sadly, in his selfishness and self-centeredness, man has done a poor job ever since in taking care of God’s creation. Instead of glorifying God, man has used creation to satisfy his own selfish needs. Even we at times have been more concerned with our selfishness than seeing our world as a means of glorifying God. As long as we are selfish and self-centered, true love cannot exist. For true love to exist, sin must go. Sin and love cannot coexist. Jesus gives only one commandment in John’s gospel. “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” He illustrated that commandment in countless ways, serving others from healing the sick to washing his apostles’ feet.
Sadly, Jesus’ advice has fallen on deaf ears. A Catholic priest teaching a history course at Columbia University was recently stunned to discover that none of his students were even familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
He observed, “They have no knowledge, no practice, no anything. It’s not that they’re antagonistic to religion…often times it just has no meaning to them.” He noted that many of the younger generation, known as “Nones,” do not have a religious affiliation. They don’t actively question or reject God; rather they are apathetic. If they are asked, “Is religion an important part of your identity?” only slightly more than a third would say so.
When people become indifferent toward religion, it is no wonder that they downplay or deny the reality of sin. By doing that, they then downplay or deny their own need for Jesus Christ. After all, we assume that if we have no sins that need forgiving, we have no need for Jesus Christ. Fr. Kilian McDonnell, one of my seminary professors, years ago wrote, “Many people do not recognize Christ because they do not recognize themselves as sinners. No man will celebrate the mystery of Christ in joy if he does not first recognize in sorrow that he is a sinner who needs a savior.”
Our focus, he notes, needs to be on Christ.
All of us are fragile human beings. All of us fall victim to temptations and sin at various stages of our lives. All of us stand in need in Christ’s forgiveness. All of us stand in need of Christ’s salvation.
Instead of downplaying our sinfulness or denying that we are sinners, we should admit it and seek out Jesus, “the Lamb of God,” who takes away the sin of the world. Not only that, Christ is counting on us to share that good news with others. Hopefully, today’s psalm speaks for you. “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.” Sadly, our culture demonstrates often that many don’t do God’s will. Silence is tacit acceptance of the sin in our midst. In its final line we heard, “Now you know that I will not be silent, I’ll always sing your praise.” Will you?
Like the Church in Corinth, we are called to be holy. That is the Lord’s will and the first step toward being holy is never forgetting that the Lamb of God is showing us the way to holiness by taking away our sins, leading us to salvation.
As possessors of the same Spirit, we need to speak as Jesus taught us. As they brought this message to the world around them, early Christians saw themselves as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.” This remains our mission today.
John the Baptist was an extraordinary man. Our lives can also be extraordinary if we dare to speak as he did, sharing the Good News that Jesus comes to takes away the sin of the world, offering us the antidote for addressing the ills of God’s creation. As we venture into ordinary time, may we have the courage, like John the Baptist, to reveal Christ to the world, proclaiming by what we say and do, “Look, there is the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin.”