The Second Sunday After the Epiphany 2026

John 1:29-42

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

            On January 6, our Christian tradition celebrates the Epiphany. It celebrates the moment God incarnate in a baby was revealed to the world, represented by the magi who worshipped him as king. In the weeks following Epiphany, the liturgy continues this theme, presenting us with key moments that reveal Jesus’s true identity. At his baptism, a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son, the Beloved.” Today, the Gospel of John gives us another profound epiphany, this time through the powerful testimony of John the Baptist.

            The Baptist’s ministry had stirred all the people. His call to repentance was so powerful that many wondered if he himself was the Messiah. Yet, John’s greatness is found in his humility. He understood his role perfectly: he was not the light, but a witness to the light. His purpose was not to gather disciples for himself, but to point them toward another. His ministry was a prelude, and with the arrival of Jesus, he recognized that his task was complete.

            We might have expected the Messiah’s glorious manifestation to be a grand spectacle. But God’s ways are not our ways. As John the Baptist stood with two of his disciples by the Jordan River, he saw Jesus walking nearby. In this simple, unadorned moment, John gives his definitive testimony, a declaration that defines Jesus's entire mission: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (1,29).

            Why the title “The Lamb of God”? Why not King, Warrior, or High Priest?                       For John’s audience, the image of the lamb carried profound significance in their spirituality. It evoked the Passover Lamb of Exodus, whose blood saved the people from death and liberated them from slavery. So, Jesus is the lamb of a new and greater Exodus, freeing humanity from the bondage of sin. This imagery also calls to mind the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, who, “like a lamb led to the slaughter”, silently bears the sins of others to bring about their healing. Furthermore, it points out the countless sacrificial lambs offered in the Temple for the forgiveness of sins.

            Jesus is all of this and more. He is the Lamb of God who ‘takes away the sin of the world’. This is not the offering of a passive victim, but the ultimate act of willed love and divine manifestation. The Greek verb airō means both ‘to take away’ and ‘to take up’. In a profound act of solidarity, Jesus willingly takes up our sin upon Himself. He chooses to bear the full weight of our hatred, violence, selfishness, and separation from God, and by carrying it to the cross, He conquers it from within. He himself proclaims: “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). Therefore, He is the Lamb whose self-giving love is the very act that reconciles the world to God. In the book of Revelation, we see the Lamb of God standing victorious at the center of heaven’s throne, forever worthy of all power, honor, and praise.

            This is the one John the Baptist invites his disciples to follow. Having witnessed the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus, John testifies with absolute confidence: “This is the Son of God”.

            Hearing John, two of his disciples—Andrew and another, likely the author of the Gospel himself—make a profound decision. They turn and begin to follow Jesus. Seeing them, Jesus turns and asks a question that echoes through the ages: “What are you looking for?” This is not just a talk; it is a question that probes the deepest desires of the human heart. The disciples’ response is equally profound: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” The “staying” is menō, which means to abide or remain. They are not just asking for an address; they are asking, “Where do you find your life? Where do you abide? How can we share in that life with you?”

            Jesus’s answer is the continuous invitation to discipleship: “Come and see.” It is an invitation not to a doctrine, but to an experience; not to a place, but to a person. And the Gospel tells us, “They went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day”. They began to abide with the Lamb.

            Dear sisters and brothers, our world presents us with many models of leadership to follow: the violent and powerful, the wealthy, the charismatic. But the Gospel presents us with a radically different model: the humble, self-giving Lamb. To follow Him is to commit ourselves to His way of being. As followers of the Lamb, we are called to join His work of taking away the sin of the world—by confronting hatred with love, violence with peace, and selfishness with service. The first thing Andrew did after abiding with Jesus was to find his brother, Simon, and testify, “We have found the Messiah”. Our own experience of “coming and seeing” must lead us to become witnesses ourselves.

            In this season after the Epiphany, can we hear the voice of John the Baptist still pointing, still testifying across the centuries: “Behold, the Lamb of God!”? Are we willing to ask the deep questions? Are we ready to accept the invitation to “Come and see”, to discover for ourselves where Jesus abides, and to make our home with Him?

            May we have the courage to follow the Lamb and to become part of His community, which exists to love, serve, and witness to the light of the world. Amen.