Jesus was a member of a circle of young men around John the Baptist.  Men in groups tend to be very close and marked by the rivalry to be closest to the leader. I imagine the others first thought with today’s reading was “Why Him” and their second “What does the Lamb of God mean”? These are good questions for this weekend, and we will start with the second one.

A Lamb was a powerful symbol for Jews. It connected them to the exodus. In the exodus, God led the Israelites through the desert to the promised land, but it began with the Passover meal while still in captivity in Egypt. Jews celebrate the Passover meal every year and it requires a lamb. As they were now under roman domination many Jews felt that they needed a new exodus. But they wanted a lion: a general or a king who would throw off their captors. But this would be a single victory, there would always be a need for another. Jesus, the lamb, will not improve the world, he will change existence.

Lambs were also the sacrifice of choice in the temple. It was how the covenant between God and the Jewish People was proclaimed and maintained. If made with the right intention these animal sacrifices could show that God had forgiven an individual or group. Yet the idea that a person could be sacrificed for the covenant was never explicitly held in Judaism. That Jesus – the lamb – would take away the sin of the world, would be bewildering. His listeners would know that it was connected to the covenant and forgiveness but not how.

Following Jesus can feel like riding a roller coaster.  There are ups and downs, trills and panic, excitement, and eventual relief but the image lacks one thing. We know where a roller coaster will let us off. We don’t know that about Jesus. We see in today’s Gospel that we may know where we will start but not where he will bring us.

The Magi didn’t even know that. Magi were originally Persian priests who advised the king especially by interpreting his dreams and consulting the stars. As we see Herod and his brain trust of priests and scribes took their reason for traveling to Jerusalem at face value. It was a common belief that the birth of a great person would be prefigured in the stars. Their news would have been profoundly upsetting to Herod who thought himself “King of the Jews.” He was so paranoid that he killed so many heirs that it was said to be safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. Herod feared that this King would be the long-longed-for Messiah who would displace him. His advisors told him that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem several miles from Jerusalem and sent the Magi on their way.

Continue reading “Homily – Epiphany (Fr. Smith)” →