This weekend we return to Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar. The Christmas decorations are safely packed away, the white banners and vestments are replaced with green, and we resume the “ordinary” celebration of our faith. But this weekend’s gospel reading is anything but ordinary.
In our passage from John’s gospel, we will hear a description of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry from the perspective of an eyewitness, John the Evangelist. He was there to hear John the Baptist introduce Jesus with the words: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He was drawn in and wanted to hear more, immediately knowing that it was time to leave behind what had become the ordinary routine of life to follow this extraordinary person, Jesus.
In our short gospel passage, we witness Jesus, who is without sin, get in line be baptized with everyone else. Jesus didn’t ask for special favors or sit on the sidelines. He didn’t take charge and do the baptisms himself. Instead, he got into the mud with everyone else, and was bathed in the Jordan River. Jesus inspired those whom he encountered to see themselves as blessed, as loved, as someone deserving of God’s love.
How did Jesus take away the sin of the world? He forgave it. He did it the way we take darkness away – by turning on the light. He did it by listening to other people, loving them, healing them, showing compassion and understanding. He did it the way we take hatred away – by communicating with love, by tearing down walls that divide, by not judging or excluding people. Jesus did it by showing us how we too should live, how we too could conquer sin and rise above our own narrow self-vision.
Jesus, our Lamb of God, invites us to follow him, to allow his light to lead us forward, especially when we are trapped in the darkness of doubt, sin, or despair. In the ordinary events of life, we too have the opportunity to follow Jesus, to reach beyond ourselves to find peace, the peace that only God can give.
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forevermore.