Wednesday,
Christmas Weekday
(I John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34)
It is not uncommon in Shakespearean drama to have the
main character talked about before he is presented on stage. This happens in Hamlet when the main character’s friends flirt with his father’s silent
ghost and then say that Hamlet will make it 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.’” He means that Jesus’ sacrificial
death will free humanity from the bondage of sin. Then John refers to the younger Jesus as “’(A)
man … who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” The peculiar
statement refers to Jesus’ preexistence as God’s eternal Son. Finally, the Baptist relates how he saw the
Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus like a dove.
This incident is meant to indicate that Jesus 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 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
always resemble the song of the angels over Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the
highest…”
