First reading 1 John 2:29-3:6
Everyone must try to be as pure as Christ
You know that God is righteous –
then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous
has been begotten by him.
Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.
Surely everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.
Anyone who sins at all
breaks the law,
because to sin is to break the law.
Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin,
and that in him there is no sin;
anyone who lives in God does not sin,
and anyone who sins
has never seen him or known him.
Responsorial Psalm 97(98):1,3-6
Gospel John 1:29-34
‘Look: there is the Lamb of God’
Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’
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Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us
John says two times today, “I did not know Him myself.” Yet, he did recognise Jesus upon meeting Him based on what was revealed to him by God – the man on whom he sees the Spirit come down and rest is the one. And thus, John proclaims with confidence, “This is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” The reason John recognises Jesus is to point Him out and reveal Him to Israel – the One who is to abolish sin.
Can we say, “I did not know Jesus myself?” Perhaps there was a point when we did not really know Jesus, but reading this page shows that we do know Jesus. Otherwise, we would not be reading this SHALOM reflection. All glory and praise to Jesus for bringing us closer to Him each time we reflect on the daily Mass readings.
The first reading today highlights again that we are all God’s children. God has drawn us to Himself and lavished such great love upon us. The future has not yet been revealed; all we know is that when it is revealed, we shall be like God because we shall see Him as He really is. To know Jesus is to see and know God. What a privilege! It is a great privilege to know and believe in the most holy name of Jesus, which means God saves! As God’s beloved children, we follow Jesus closely, the Saviour of the world.
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on Daily Shalom by Herald Malaysia
