Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Bishop of Lake Charles
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
January 16, 2011
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
“Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) announces John the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus personally. John the Baptist has already given testimony to himself by saying, “I am not the Messiah” (John 1:20). Having said this about himself, John the Baptist the next day sees Jesus coming toward him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The words have been enshrined for centuries in our Catholic Mass, proclaimed by the priest celebrant as he lifts the host before Holy Communion.
Years ago, when I was younger and a seminarian and later just ordained, the present English translation of our Missal appeared in print. We have been using it now for over four decades. Those words of John’s testimony to Jesus that I had always seen translated “Behold the Lamb of God” became and still remain in the Missal, “This is the Lamb of God.” The liturgists and seminary professors told us as seminarians and young priests that the reason we would use “this is” instead of “behold” was because no one used “behold” in everyday speaking. It was, we were told, archaic, which, of course, it is not. I am pleased to report that in the new translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, to become our standard approved text effective in Advent of this year, “behold” is returned to its proper place. I say “pleased” because “behold” not only more accurately translates the original Greek (ίδέ) but also conveys the sense of what John the Baptist is saying in the Gospel and what the priest says at Mass.
“Behold” is an imperative form of a verb in English whose use dates back to the 11th Century (cf. OED). An imperative verb, both in English and in Greek, it implies an action command. A parent tells a child, “Go, tell your father.” An officer orders a soldier, “Fire.” A teacher announces to a student, “Open your book.” In the case of behold, we are dealing with seeing or looking. What both John the Baptist and the priest say is, “Open your eyes. Look. Grasp with all your attention.” “This is the Lamb of God,” while perfectly grammatical, is neither an accurate translation nor conveyer of the sense of what is being asked of us.
John the Baptist is making a proclamation. So is the priest at Mass. He is saying, “Look up, capture this moment, because we have before us the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This is not just any ordinary proclamation. It is a profession of faith, an articulation of the deepest faith in the person of Jesus Christ, who as redeemer offers Himself up as a perfect sacrifice for our sins and is set before us as the centerpiece of our Eucharistic meal, the Paschal Lamb.
Lambs were a sacrificial animal for the Jews. During the week of Passover, when Jesus was crucified, lambs became even more important for religious ritual because they were the main course in the Passover meal. On the day of preparation for the Passover, the Jews brought their Passover lambs to be slaughtered by the priests of the Temple. This was done at noon. It is no accident that the Gospel of St. John mentions that Pilate condemns Jesus to crucifixion at noon on the preparation day for Passover (John 19:14). And, when Pilate does so, he announces to the crowd, “Behold, your king!” (John 19:14). There it is, that word “behold” again. A word used by John the Baptist in an earlier chapter to evoke faith is now sarcastically used by Pilate in derision. The contrast could not be more obvious. The choice of words is most deliberate. “This is your king” would not have passed muster any more than “This is the Lamb of God” conveys the significance of what is being asked of us.
The Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us, “… persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Life is very much a race. They are many obstacles placed before us—some of our own making, many the invention of others. To see with the eyes of faith, we must keep focused on Jesus Christ. For this reason, not alone but importantly, the sacraments of the Church allow us to see in the visible world the real and true signs of a world to come. We see Jesus before us, present in sacrament. It is to this reality that “behold” calls us, an invitation not merely to look but to believe, to embrace, and to partake. We should never hear those words in the same way again: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”