Readings:
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34
Last Sunday, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we saw John the Baptist confronted with a Messiah very different from the one he had announced. John had prepared the people for a powerful judge, one who would come with fire and authority, and his preaching stirred urgency and even fear. But when Jesus appears, He comes quietly, standing in line with sinners and asking to be baptized. Despite his initial resistance, John understands that the Messiah has not come to stand above sinners but among them, not first to judge but to save through solidarity. Having accepted this new way in which God chooses to bring salvation, he can now cry out with clarity and conviction in today’s Gospel: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).
This title encapsulates the whole history of salvation. In Genesis, the lamb appears at a decisive moment. When Isaac asks his father Abraham, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” (Gen 22:7), the answer is given not in words but in action: “God himself will provide the lamb” (Gen 22:8). A son is spared, and a promise is planted deep in history—that God Himself will one day provide the sacrifice. What is spared in Genesis is fulfilled on Calvary, where the Father “did not spare his own Son” (Rom 8:32), who freely becomes the Lamb for us all. In Exodus, the lamb moves from promise to action. The Passover lamb is sacrificed; its blood saves the people from death (cf. Ex 12:7, 13), and its flesh is eaten to give strength for the journey (cf. Ex 12:8–11). From the beginning, salvation is not only deliverance; it is nourishment. The people live because they are fed by the lamb. All of this reaches its clearest expression in Isaiah. The Suffering Servant is described as “like a lamb led to the slaughter, and a sheep before its shearers is silent” (Is 53:7). He “bore the sins of many” (Is 53:12), was “wounded for our transgressions” (Is 53:5), and carried what did not belong to Him in order to heal those who could not heal themselves. When John says, “who takes away the sin of the world,” he is echoing Isaiah: the Lamb does not merely cancel sin; He carries it and removes it through love. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed as the true Passover Lamb. He dies on the cross at the very hour when the lambs are being sacrificed (cf. Jn 19:14, 31–36). “Not a bone of him shall be broken” (Jn 19:36; cf. Ex 12:46). The Lamb promised in Genesis, sacrificed in Exodus and foretold by Isaiah now gives His life completely.
This is not distant theology. It becomes a present reality at every celebration of the Eucharist. In fact, before Communion, the people of God invoke the Lamb three times: “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.” We ask for mercy and peace because we recognize who He is and who we are. Then the priest lifts up the Host and repeats the words first spoken by John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb” (cf. Jn 1:29; Rev 19:9).
During the Eucharist, the Lamb who was slain stands at the center (cf. Rev 5:6). Around Him are those who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). Revelation also tells us who these people are: “the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev 14:4). This vision of Christ as the Lamb and of believers as those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, stands in sharp contrast to the way power is often understood and displayed in the world today, and sometimes even among some Christians.
There is a constant temptation to misunderstand Christ and Christendom as forms of domination, cultural control, or political strength. Power is often justified in the name of security, identity, or even religion. Yet the Lamb of God reveals a completely different logic. He conquers not by force but by self-giving love; not by violence but by sacrifice; not by imposing Himself, but by being given and received.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking to the diplomatic corps in January 2026, warned against this distortion. He denounced a growing reliance on force and reminded the world that peace is holy. War is not holy. True peace is built on dialogue, respect for human dignity, and moral truth. Peace is “unarmed and disarming” (Message for the LIX World Day of Peace). It is the peace granted by the Lamb.
This helps us understand another painful reality of our time. While Christianity is sometimes spoken of as if it were a position of power, the truth is that more Christians are persecuted today than at any other moment in history. In many parts of the world, believers are marginalized, imprisoned, or killed, not because they dominate society, but because they refuse to abandon the way of the Lamb. In many countries, religious freedom is increasingly threatened, and believers suffer precisely because they reject violence and coercion. This is exactly what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples: “I am sending you like lambs among wolves” (Lk 10:3).
Jesus did not promise His followers safety through power. He promised them His presence through fidelity. To follow the Lamb wherever He goes means accepting vulnerability, misunderstanding, and sometimes persecution. It means trusting that the power of God is revealed not in survival at all costs, but in love that remains faithful even under pressure.
And this brings us back to John the Baptist. John’s mission was never to draw attention to himself, but to point beyond himself and indicate the Lamb. Once he recognized Jesus, he simply pointed and said, “Behold.” Is that also true of us? When people look at our lives, do they see Christ, or do they see us? Nourished by the Lamb we receive, do we actually indicate the Lamb to others? Do we follow the Lamb wherever He goes, and are we allowing ourselves to be shaped into His likeness? Are we willing to decrease so that He may increase (cf. Jn 3:30), so that our lives, like John’s finger, quietly point toward Christ and help the world recognize the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?
Enzo del Brocco, CP, PhD