On Wednesday, January 11, the gospel (Mark 1:29-45) from the Daily Office tells of a humble leper, who knelt in Jesus’ presence and begs, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” The leper, in his humility, understood that Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God had the divine power to heal if healing was His will. In the Christian journey, humility is an essential virtue. As we celebrate the second Sunday of Epiphany this weekend, we continue to contemplate how God sheds light on God’s movement and plans for humanity’s redemption through Jesus Christ. It takes humility to turn from oneself and be open to hear and see God spiritually. Striving for humility leads to a Christ-centered life in which we acknowledge God’s eternal goodness and power and our dependence on Him.
In this Sunday’s gospel (John1:29-42), John the Baptist directs attention toward Jesus. In humility, John the Baptist deferred to Jesus, referring to Him as the One “who ranks ahead of me…” John humbly embraced his calling of being the messenger of the One whose ministry would exceed his. Consequently, John the Baptist’s spiritual eyes were opened to receive God’s revelation, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him……the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” Filled with the power of God’s Spirit, John directs attention to Jesus as He came toward him. He confidently proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The next day John, on seeing Jesus once more, he again proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
We too are exhorted to walk humbly, and looking spiritually, we see in the image of the Lamb of God, not weakness but Jesus’ glorious power expressed in humble, sacrificial, self-giving love. We recall shadows of the Lamb of God demonstrated in God’s provision of the sacrificial lamb to save Abraham’s son, Isaac on the altar. (Genesis 22:7-13). We recall also, the first Passover in Egypt when lambs were sacrificed, and their blood was placed on doorposts as a sign of the plague of death to pass over the dwellings of the Israelites. (Exodus 12:1-13). In an inexpressibly greater way, Jesus, the Son of God, became the Lamb through whose death, whose blood on the cross, God graciously provided the path for all people to pass from sin and be redeemed for a glorious new life as children of God. And Revelation gives us the vision of the victorious Lamb who prevails as Lord of lords and King of kings (Revelation 17:14). Jesus conquers the world not in physical might but in the ironic power of humility and sacrificial self-giving love. Jesus, the Lamb, is above all powers, and He is Lord of our lives and God of our salvation.
So compelling was John the Baptist’s testimony that two of his disciples who heard him speak, left and followed Jesus. Then one disciple, Andrew, went and testified to his brother, Simon, who also became Jesus’ disciple. We too are exhorted to live a life of Christ-centered humility that our words and deeds testify to God’s saving power. Like John, we become living testimonies, that the glorious Word keeps spreading. In John’s words, “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
