SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2026)
Readings:
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-10
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34
We seamlessly slide into the Ordinary time of year, with Isaiah once again leading the way in our first reading, and another gospel view (from John) of Jesus’ baptism by John. If there is a mood change, it is brought to us in the cuteness of a little lamb, for that lamb, like the lambs of old in Exodus, will be killed (sacrificed), but not to avoid the wrath of a Pharaoh. No, the ‘Lamb of God’ will be sacrificed on a cross to “take away the sin of the world.” John’s gospel has the Baptist just appear on the scene; there is no prelude about his origin like Luke gives us, just the acknowledgement by his presence that in John the Baptist we have an important figure in Christian history. The one identified by John the Baptist, is the one who is foretold in the first reading from Isaiah. Jesus will be the suffering “servant,” through whom God will show “His glory,” and through whom Israel will have the opportunity to be brought back to God, from whom they have so often strayed. The “Lamb of God,” recognized by the Baptist, will be a “light to the nations, that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
John the Baptizer is portrayed by the evangelist John as a person who is keenly, yet humbly, aware that he has been chosen by God for a specific task. John alludes to what he has already told his listeners, that “a man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before him.” John is not so much speaking of age here. He is speaking in the terms set out in John’s beautiful Prologue to his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Indeed, it is fitting that the first place that the Baptist is mentioned is in the Prologue, and it is very specific about him and his mission: “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light (Is 49:6), so that all might believe through him. He (the Baptist) was not the light, but came to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” As important a role that the Baptist plays, there is no illusions of grandeur. There are hints of last week’s gospel from Matthew, where John “tried to prevent Jesus” from being baptized by him, stating with all humility, “I need to be baptized by you.”
Also, it is with the greatest amount of humility that John admits that “I did not know him,” yet he knew that Jesus was “the reason why [John] came baptizing with water,” for it was the Baptist’s mission to make Jesus “known to Israel.” Very much in keeping with the Prologue, John can dramatically say: “Now I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God.”
John the Baptist is a role model for every Christian. His humility, his sense of purpose, and, for those who know the whole story, his willingness to surrender everything, even his life, that he might give witness to Jesus, God’s Son. John was a righteous man who spoke truth to power, and for some (Herod, Salome), the truth stung bitterly. The Baptist is the fulfillment of today’s psalm and its response: [the Lord] put a new song onto my mouth, a hymn to our God. Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, ‘Behold I come.” As portrayed by the evangelist, John was filled with a sense of purpose, and he was determined to fulfill what he came to believe what God’s will was for him. As he baptized countless people in the Jordan River, he must have wondered often: “Is this the one who is to come?” He was patient and confident that when the time was right, God would reveal His Son to him, for as the psalm says “to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” He could easily have spoken with all the truthfulness he could muster: “I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.” Whether he was standing in the River Jordan, or standing in the court of King Herod – he spoke God’s truth boldly and without pause.
We too have been chosen by God to fulfill a purpose, a purpose that likely will be revealed to us only after leaving this world of trial. As Christians, we also should have a sense of purpose, for by choosing to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we have agreed to build up the kingdom inaugurated by our Lord, Jesus Christ. All things, which by their very nature interfere with the building up of that kingdom, are things we need to challenge. Like John the Baptizer, we are meant to speak truth to power, and it is often a truth that the powerful will to like. And so when God seeks personnel to help spread the kingdom of God in this needy world, may we answer with today’s psalm response: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
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