On this 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear from John’s version of the baptism of Jesus in which John the Baptist relates his reaction to his encounter with Jesus. John the Baptist tells his disciples that Jesus is the reason for his ministry of baptism. It was the mission of John the Baptist to prepare the way for the world to encounter Jesus and be transformed by that encounter. John relates how the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus as Jesus rose from the waters of the Jordan. Following this accounting, John the Baptist willingly diminishes and fades away, so that the salvific mission of Jesus may grow.
In this wonderful pericope from the prophet, Isaiah, we can see the words spoken about the prophet projected onto the person of Jesus who will come.
The LORD said to me: You are
my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my
servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a
light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the
earth. (Isaiah 49:3, 5-6, NAB)
Jesus is the glorious servant of God, who made God his strength. Though Jesus’ earthly ministry was isolated to his Jewish brothers and sisters, it took his ascension into heaven for his light to reach all the nations. Jesus planted his divine light in the hearts of his disciples, and it was his disciples that carried the light of Jesus to the ends of the Earth. The light of Jesus has been passed on from heart to heart to the present.
We are reminded on this 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, that the light of Christ we carry in our hearts was given to us from Jesus at our baptism. Christ’s divine light grew in us through the love, the example and the instruction of our parents, our friends, and our community. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to carry the light that God has given us and spread that light to all we encounter.
