A Light to the Nations

19 January 2020 – Second Sunday after the Epiphany

John 1:29-42

As the prologue of John’s Gospel has alerted us, John the Baptist has come as a witness to Jesus. Indeed, in John, the Baptist’s function seems not to focus on baptizing for the forgiveness of sins but on giving witness to Jesus. The Baptist calls Jesus the “Lamb of God.” . . . The image comes from the fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 53:7ff) and/or from Exodus 12’s description of the Passover lamb in Egypt. Unlike all cultic lambs before him, Jesus actually takes away our sins.

. . . [When] the Baptist again points out Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew and another disciple move from John to Jesus, whom they address as “Rabbi.” But after listening to him, they decide Jesus is the Messiah. Andrew announces the good news to his brother Peter.

No attempt should be made to reconcile this account with that of the Synoptics in which Peter, Andrew, James and John follow Jesus without any introduction. The focus here is on the Baptist’s ministry of witness. –– Joseph McHugh

Isaiah 49:1-7

The Servant reports his divine call. . . “modeled on the commission of Moses in Exodus 3:1–4:17. The same type of narrative is found also in the commissions of Gideon in Judges 6:11–24 and especially in that of Jeremiah (1:4–10).’’ (Richard Clifford, Fair Spoken and Persuading, 150) . . .

In today’s reading YAHWEH engages in an extended dialogue with the Servant. . . to persuade him to the task of being a light to the nations. The release of the Jews from their captors in Babylonia will prove to the nations that there is only one God, the God of Israel. . .

The Servant, representative of the remnant of faithful Israel, speaks to us today. His commission was to renew God’s people. . .

This is also the mission of the church. We should not be surprised that many will reject the message of salvation. Our society also has its false gods of power and money. Many will not respond warmly to the Gospel message.–– Joseph McHugh

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Ancient Greek letters began with an opening that identified sender and recipient and conveyed a one-word salutation, such as “Greetings!” Paul follows the same pattern but expands the greeting. . . repeatedly [using] the word “called.” (Paul is called to be an apostle; the Corinthian Christians are called to be holy; Christians everywhere call on the name of Jesus). These verses pick up the theme of the call of the Servant in the first reading.

. . . in place of the customary, pagan prayer for health or deliverance addressed to the gods, Paul uses a thanksgiving for all God has done in the lives of his readers and a prayer for their continued spiritual health. . . The thanksgiving serves as a table of contents for the letter. In the thanksgiving in 1 Corinthians, Paul alerts his readers that he will be discussing “speech,” “knowledge,” “gifts,” and “the day of the Lord.” –– Joseph McHugh

Joseph McHugh is a freelance writer from New Jersey, and a former weekly newspaper columnist writing on lectionary readings whose writing includes a revision of Rev. Melvin L Farrell’s Getting to Know the Bible (ACTA Publications, 2003).

Homily Service 41, no. 1 (2007): 111-120.