The Lamb of God

“I'm telling you, I did not know him!”
“I didn’t recognize the guy!”

So says John the Baptist in today’s gospel.

He says it once then, a couple verses later,
he says it again.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t know it was him!”

__________


Now, that’s amazing.

Absolutely amazing!

And you all know it.

The reason John went out to the desert…
the reason he lived on insects…
the reason he preached until his voice turned hoarse…

the very reason he was born…

was to:

prepare the way
proclaim the Messiah
pump up the people

“Sorry, guys, I didn’t recognize him.”

But then, neither do we.

And the fact that John, upon recognizing him,
refers to him as the Lamb of God
doesn’t help us much.
If we overlook the role of animal sacrifice
in the ancient Temple of Jerusalem,
we miss the connection altogether,
that connection between Christ, the Lamb of God
and Christ, the Redeemer of humanity…
who takes the bullet to spare our life.

So, John the Baptist should have shouted:
“Look! The First Responder of God!”

Yeh, that’s right.

Makes a lot more sense.

“Look, there’s the Lamb of God”
should read:
“Look! The Firefighter of God.”

Or

“The muscular Lifeguard of God”

Or maybe

“The quick-acting Para-medic of God.”


At least that’d give us a clue as to what sort of individual
to look for.

After all,
that’s who the Lamb of God is.
That’s what the Lamb of God means:

The one who puts his life on the line
to rescue drowning people
broken people
people lost in the wilderness.

Despite all John’s theological training
and personal, spiritual discipline,
all he can say is,
“I did not recognize him. At least, not at first.”

So, what about us?

“This is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world?”

The Lamb of God.

The Savior-Pilot
maneuvering the rescue helicopter into the canyon of despair,
sweeping the search light of hope
into the deep crevice of cancer,
lowering the harness down the steep face
of the cliff called family discord.

The Lamb of God.

Like a swimmer hurling
a life-preserver across the waves of oppression.

Look! The Lamb of God!

The medic arriving with disinfectant and bandages
to swab the wounds of betrayal
and bind a splint to the spirit broken by addiction.

This is the Lamb of God.

The First Responder
who takes away the sins of the world

And blessed are we who called to His supper.