Today’s scripture opens with a focus on Isaiah’s “servant,” the light to the nations. The Gospel then moves to John the Baptist and his testimony about Jesus whose light comes to rest on us, both as faith community and as individual witnesses to the light of Christ.
Isaiah is dominant in our liturgical readings as we begin our new year. He proclaims God's promise: "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth." Next week we will discover the promise fulfilled: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone."
John the Baptist also has a prominent place during these weeks. In last week's reading, John protested his unworthiness at the baptism of Jesus. This week he boldly proclaims: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Finally, next week, we will see John arrested - his mission fulfilled.
Although Luke and Matthew have a voice from heaven affirming Jesus as “the beloved Son,” today’s epiphany is different. It comes through the human voice of the Baptist.
John was a forthright, outspoken prophet, but he was also quite vulnerable. The Baptist’s voice gives rich testimony to Jesus’ identity. He tells us that Jesus is the Lamb of God who “takes away the sin of the world," the one upon whom the Spirit came and has remained. Our attention has now turned to human witnesses, those who are lights in the world, who speak and act out of their own faith experience and from their own weakness and vulnerability.
It is difficult for us to be "lights" in our broken world. There is no voice from heaven, no visible parting of the heavens, no appearance of a dove. All we have is the example of the Baptist, whose life of forgiveness, compassion, and perseverance show the fingerprint of God’s transforming Spirit. Like John, our witness to Christ exposes our own vulnerability, our own need to have our sin be taken away.
There is plenty of darkness around us and it touches all of us. Yet, into this darkness comes the promise of Light.
In a world that is increasingly more fragmented and torn apart, giving ourselves over into His hands, learning to "see" Christ as the Baptist saw Him, to find God in our daily lives and to truly live as a witness to Him is no easy feat. It is only when we acknowledge the touch of the Spirit, testify to it and allow it to transform our lives that the words of Isaiah can become a concrete reality in this world. Only then can we carry "the Light" to the nations and proclaim "Behold the Lamb of God."
