2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A – January 18, 2026
Is 49:3, 5-6; 1Cor 1:1-3; John
1:29-34
Theme: Jesus is the Lamb of God who
Takes Away our Sin
A. A
Brief Exegetical Analysis of John 1:29-34
- Historical
and Literary Contexts
Our
Gospel passage is John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. It is the second of
the four stories that compose the section on the testimony of John the Baptist
about the Messiah and Jesus’ self-revelation to the first disciples (1:19-51).
The first story, John’s testimony about himself (1:19-23), immediately precedes
our text, and the two other stories, Jesus’ self-revelation to Andrew and Peter
(1:35-42) and later to Philip and Nathanael (1:43-51) follow it. The evangelist
intends to reveal Jesus’ divine identity in all these four stories.
- Form, Structure, and
Movement
Our
Gospel text is a narrative. It can be divided into two parts. The first part
(vv. 29-31) focuses on Jesus’ identification as the “Lamb of God” and
“Preexistent,” and the second part (vv. 32-34) emphasizes Jesus as the Son of
God.
- Detailed
Analysis
Vv.
29-31. Jesus plays no active role. He simply comes toward John the Baptist, who
identifies him as the Lamb of God, who takes away the world’s sin (v. 29).
There are different interpretations of the title “Lamb of God” that John the
Baptist attributes to Jesus.[1] First,
this title can allude to a powerful and victorious lamb depicted in the Book of
Revelation. The author of this book reports seeing in a vision a Lamb standing
before God’s throne (Rev 5:6) and presiding over an army of God’s holy ones
(Rev 14:1-5). Second, the “Lamb of God” title can refer to the Jewish day of
atonement called “Yom Kippur.” On that day, the Jews sacrifice an animal
and offer it at the Jerusalem temple for the sins of the people. Third, the
“Lamb of God” alludes to the Passover Lamb in the Exodus story. On the night
before the last plague, Moses, by the recommendation of God, asked each family
of Israel to slaughter a one-year-old unblemished lamb and put its blood on the
lintels and doorposts of their houses. That night, the angel of death killed
all firstborn males (human and beast) of the Egyptians but “passed over” the
Israelites because their homes were marked with the “blood of the lamb” (see
Exodus 12:1-36). Therefore, by pointing to Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” John the
Baptist predicts that Jesus will die on the cross and that his blood will take
away the sins of the world. According to biblical thought, only God takes away
or forgives sin. Hence, Jesus’ identification as the Lamb “of God” means that
Jesus comes from God. It is through him that God will take away the world’s sin.[2]
John
the Baptist also identifies Jesus as the preexistent one when he declares that
Jesus existed before him (v. 30). This develops the theme the evangelist
mentioned in the prologue, that Jesus is the Word that was with God in the
beginning (see Jn 1:1). I did not know him (v. 31a) means the divine
identity of Jesus was not known to Israel, including himself John the Baptist.
That is why the purpose of his baptism is not for repentance as is the case in
the Synoptics, but revelatory: that Jesus “might be known to Israel.” (V. 31b).
Vv.
32-34: This second part continues John the Baptist’s testimonies, emphasizing
Jesus as the Son of God. He bases his argument on events related to Jesus's
baptism, which the evangelist John did not report in his Gospel. His readers
probably knew about these events from the Synoptic Gospels. These events are
the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus after being baptized and the revelation
John the Baptist had received from God before he baptized Jesus, which says,
“On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will
baptize with the holy Spirit.” (See vv. 32-33).
- Synthesis
God
reveals himself in Jesus through John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. John
the Baptist testified that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the World, and he existed before him. The title Lamb of God can be interpreted
as the powerful and victorious lamb depicted in the book of Revelation (see
Rev. 14:1-5), or the Jewish day of atonement called “Yom Kippur,” and or
the Passover Lamb in the Exodus story (see Exodus 12:1-36). Therefore, by
pointing to Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” John the Baptist predicts that Jesus
will die on the cross and his blood will take away the sins of the world. Since
the Biblical Tradition teaches that it is God alone who can forgive sins, so,
by pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and
by emphasizing Jesus’ pre-existence, John the Baptist confirms that Jesus is
from God, and he is God. John the Baptist baptized the people to reveal Jesus’
divine identity. He uses the Spirit that descended upon Jesus after he baptized
him and the revelation he had received from God before he baptized Jesus, which
says, “On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who
will baptize with the holy Spirit,” as arguments to confirm that Jesus is the
Son of God.
B. Pastoral
Implications
- Liturgical
Context
The
feast of the Baptism of our Lord, celebrated last Sunday, marked the end of the
Christmas season and the beginning of the liturgical season known as “Ordinary
Time.” The liturgy of this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time is connected to the
Epiphany and Baptism of our Lord celebrations of the Christmas season. The
early Church identified three specific events that reveal Jesus’ divine nature,
and the modern Lectionary and liturgical calendar group them together in three
successive celebrations. The first event is the Visit of the Magi, which we
celebrated on Epiphany Sunday (Jan. 4, 2026). The second is the Baptism of the
Lord, which we commemorated last Sunday. The third event is what we celebrate
today, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, during which we read Jn 1:29–2:11,
divided into three Liturgical Years. In Year A, we read John the Baptist’s
testimony about Jesus (Jn 1:29-34); in Year B, we meditate on Jesus’
self-revelation to the first disciples (Jn 1:35-42); and in Year C, we reflect
on the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11). The common thread among these three Sunday
celebrations (Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, and the Second Sunday in Ordinary
Time) is God’s self-manifestation to us, his people, in Jesus. Focusing on
today’s liturgy, the Scripture readings speak of God’s self-revelation in the unnamed “servant of the Lord” (first reading) and in Jesus (Gospel). Like John the Baptist (Gospel) and Saint Paul (second reading), we are
called to experience this self-manifestation of God in Jesus through the
sacraments and to testify to it to our brothers and sisters.
- What
The Church Teaches Us Today
In
our first reading, it is not the “servant of the Lord” who reveals the glory of
God, but God himself who reveals his glory through the “servant of the Lord.”
This continues the Epiphany teaching we heard in the previous two Sundays’
liturgies, the magi's visitation and the Baptism of our Lord. It was not the
magi who discovered the divine identity of the Baby Jesus, but God, who
revealed himself to them through the newborn Jesus. Likewise, in the Baptism of
Jesus, it was not John the Baptist who discerned the divinity of the person he
baptized, but God himself, who revealed to him that Jesus is God’s Son.
Likewise, in today’s Gospel, John the Baptist does not reveal Jesus’ divine
identity but testifies to God’s self-revelation in Jesus.
Like
John the Baptist, Saint Paul also testified in our second reading to God’s
self-manifestation in Jesus. He calls himself “an apostle,” meaning the one who
is sent. He states that it is by God's will that he has been given this mission
to make Jesus known to the people of Corinth. Today, God continues to reveal
himself in Jesus through the sacraments, especially Confession and Eucharist.
Our Holy Mother Church exhorts us to be the John the Baptist and the Saint Paul
of our time, continuing to testify to God’s self-revelation in Jesus. To do so,
we first need to experience God’s presence in Jesus through the sacraments,
particularly Confession and Eucharist, and then minister to our brothers and
sisters so that they, too, come to experience it. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Church in
Jackson, MS &
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate
Coordinator
[1] For further interpretation of the
title “The Lamb of God,” see Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, 59.
[2] Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of
John, 59.
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