Wednesday,
Christmas Weekday
(I John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34)
Paintings and statuettes of Jesus in the manger often
have him with arms outstretched. He
seems to be welcoming the world to him. But
upon reconsideration there seems to be a better reason for picturing him
so. His arms are extended outward in
anticipation of the crucifixion he will endure.
A similar motif runs through today’s gospel.
Upon seeing Jesus, John the Baptist exclaims, “’Behold
the Lamb of God…’” He is not referring to Jesus’ meekness as if he acted like a
lamb. Rather the expression foresees Jesus
being slain so that his disciples may be freed from sin. This happens, of course, at the crucifixion on
Good Friday. Indeed, his death takes
place in this Gospel of John at exactly the same hour when the paschal lambs are
being slaughtered in the Temple. As the Israelites
in Egypt slayed a lamb to be saved from the destroying angel, Jesus’ death on
the cross saves those who believe in him.
We have every reason to rejoice during this Christmas
season. Our savior has come to redeem us
from sin. But our rejoicing must be
tempered. For one thing, over-indulging would
give counter testimony to our redemption from sin. For another, we know that Christ has come to
die on our behalf. It would be
shortsighted to separate completely the two events.
No comments:
Post a Comment