IInd Sunday in Ordinary Time- Cycle A

IS 49: 3, 5-6;: I COR 1: 1-3;Gosple: JN 1: 29-34

In the city of Werden, in Germany, there stands a Catholic Church with a lamb carved out of stone and placed on its roof. Centuries ago a worker was once up on the roof of that church in order to repair it. His safety belt snapped and he fell. The area below was filled with large-size rocks. As luck would have it, a lamb was having its lunch on grass growing between the rocks. The craftsman fell on the poor lamb. The lamb was slain… but the man lived. So the craftsman did the decent thing. He sculpted a lamb and, in gratitude, situated it on the roof.
Today we come together at this Liturgy to remember and salute another Lamb. Each of us owes Him much. As a matter of fact, we owe Him our spiritual lives because he saved us from the eternally fatal fall from grace.

John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the Jews as the “Lamb of God. Lamb of God is the most meaningful title given to Jesus in the Bible. It is used 29 times in the book of Revelation. It sums up the love, sacrifice and the triumph of Christ. John’s introduction probably brought five pictures of the “lamb” to the minds of his Jewish listeners.
1.The Lamb of Atonement (Lev. 16: 20-22). A lamb was brought to the Temple on the Day of Atonement, once a year. Placing his hands over its head, the high priest transferred all the sins of his people on it. It was then sent into the forest to be killed by some wild animal. 2) The Lamb of Daily Atonement (Ex. 29: 38-42; Numbers 28: 1-8). This was the lamb sacrificed on the “Black Altar” of the Temple every morning and evening to atone for the sins of the Jews. 3) The Paschal Lamb (Ex. 12: 11ss.). This was the lamb whose blood saved the first born of the Jewish families in Egypt from the ‘Angel of destruction.’ The Jews commemorated this event every year on the Passover Feast by eating the roasted flesh of the Paschal Lamb in each family. 4) The Lamb of the Prophets. The prophets portrayed one lamb who, by his sacrifice, would redeem his people: “The gentle lamb led to the slaughter house” (Jer. 11: 19), “like a lamb to the slaughter” (Is 53:7). Both refer to the sufferings and sacrifice of Christ. 5) The Lamb of the Conquerors. This was the image of the horned lamb on the Jewish flag at the time of Maccabean liberation war, used as a sign of conquering majesty and power. The great Jewish conquerors like Samuel, David and Solomon were described by the ancient Jewish historians as “horned lambs.”
Adam and Eve walked out on God, and the human race became lost and fell under the power of the devil. We couldn't save ourselves, so Jesus came to rescue us. As a true man and true God, he was able to end mankind's rebellion against God and reestablish our communion with God.
It is hard to understand, but it's true. There once was a boy who spent many hours building a model sail boat. When he put it in the local river, however, it moved away from him quickly. He chased it along the bank, but the strong wind and current carried the boat away. The heartbroken boy knew how hard he would have to work to build another sailboat. Downriver, a man found the beautiful boat, took it to town, and sold it to a toy store. Later, the boy was walking through town and noticed the boat in the store window. He explained the situation, but the shopkeeper didn't believe him and said that the only way to get the boat back was to buy it. The boy wanted it back so much that he did exactly that. Then he looked at the boat and said, "Little boat, now you're twice mine: I made you and I bought you." That's what God did for us - we are twice his. He created us and bought us back when we were lost, but instead of paying cash, he paid with his blood - the blood of the Lamb of God.

By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve and offered us His righteousness. When we trust Christ for our salvation, essentially we are making a trade. By faith, we trade our sin and its accompanying death penalty for His righteousness and life.
In theological terms, this is called "substitutionary atonement." Christ died on the cross as our substitute. Without Him, we would suffer the death penalty for our own sins.... The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness"(Heb.9:22). For God to forgive our sins, His judgment had to be satisfied and that required the shedding of blood.
Some object, "Shedding blood seems so barbaric. Is it really necessary? Why doesn't God simply forgive us?" Because God is holy, He must judge sin. Would a just and righteous judge let evil go unpunished? At the cross, God poured out His judgment on His Son, satisfying His wrath and making it possible for Him to forgive us. That's why Jesus shed His blood for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world....
God unleashed His wrath on His Son so that we might be spared that awful fate. This is the central message of the cross and the reason for our hope: God forsook His Son so that He might never forsake us. God assures us, "'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you”. (Heb.13:5)
By offering ourselves on our crosses, we can do the same thing. When we offer our daily sufferings to God in prayer, they become channels of grace for the conversion and sanctification of the world. Pope Benedict XVI invited all Catholics to renew this ancient devotion of offering up our sufferings in union with Christ's. Many people in the world don't pray, don't believe, don't confess their sins, are continuing in their rebellion against God...We can be a bridge between them and God by offering up our sufferings through prayer, by being Lambs with the Lamb.

In the Eucharist, at "the breaking of the bread" we proclaim what the Baptist said in song or word. Our traditional fraction anthem is the Agnus Dei – “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us/grant us peace.” In this prayer we give expression to our deepest understanding of the identity and purpose of Jesus Christ as our Lamb and Lord. By his life of love and sacrifice we believe and affirm that he is the one who came and continues to come into a broken world to take our sins upon himself. Today, let's pray those words from the very depths of our hearts, appreciating in a fresh way all their beauty and meaning.