(I John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34)
It is not uncommon in a Shakespearean drama to have the
main character talked about before he is presented on stage. In the first scene of Hamlet, for example, the protagonist’s friends flirt with his
father’s ghost and then say that he will make the ghost speak. In the Gospel of John, the most dramatic of
the four, Jesus is likewise not present in the initial scene but is referenced
by John the Baptist. Today’s passage
relates this opening scene.
John the Baptist first describes Jesus as “’…the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world,’” that is the one whose sacrificial death
will free humanity from the bondage of sin.
Then he uses a paradox -- “’A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me’” – which refers Jesus’ preexistence as God’s
eternal Son. Finally, the Baptist
relates how he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus like a dove to indicate
that he has the definitive power to bestow full life on a diseased people. It is a very brief scene that telescopes all
that Jesus will accomplish in the rest of the gospel.
As Christmas carols worthy of the name incessantly remind
us, Jesus came to save us from the folly of our sins and the annihilation of
death. John the Baptist gives the same
message here at the beginning of John’s gospel but without the soothing images
of a babe at his mother’s side. Yet our
response should approximate the song of the angels over Bethlehem: “Glory to
God in the highest…”
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