First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5–6
Psalm Response: Psalm 40:8a, 9a
Psalm Versicles: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7–8, 8–9, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:1–3
Gospel Acclamation: John 1:14a, 12a
Gospel: John 1:29–34
- he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isa 49:6, NRSV)
- To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1Cor 1:2-3, NRSV)
- the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'(Jn 1:33, NRSV)
The NAB Lectionary reading from 1Cor 1:2 has Paul addressing those who are “called to be a holy people.” The implications of that particular calling had changed significantly from the earlier time of the Deuteronomic covenant, when the Lord had declared: “The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself,…if you…walk in his ways…all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of you” (Deut 28:9f, RSV). But the people did not “walk in his ways”, and the curses associated with that covenant (Deut 28:15-68) began to fall upon the heads of the people, including the devastation and humiliation of exile.
Into such a scene stepped the prophet Isaiah, who today we hear prophesying of God doing a new thing, to restore not only exiled Israel, but to extend the restoration of salvation “to the ends of the earth” (Isa 49:6). Of course, it is Christ whom Isaiah is prophesying about, of whom the NAB Lectionary says God will “make you a light to the nations”. The work “make” here is usually translation “give”, and the traditional English Catholic Bible, following the Latin, has: “I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles”. The traditional rendering better captures the element of gift from God, of the grace that is at the source of the light of salvation. It is precisely that grace with which Paul blesses the Corinthian believers, “called to be saints”, as he opens his letter to them in today’s second reading.
The NAB’s “holy people” translation in 1Cor 1:2 calls to mind 1 Pet 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (cf. Exod 19:6) The implication is clear enough: we as believers are actually the intended mediators of God’s salvation, the vessels of God’s fiery light. Not to be seen in the world so that “they shall be afraid of you”, but rather “that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:16). John the Baptist “came baptizing with water…that [the Lamb of God] might be made known to Israel.” But now is the time for the continued revelatory ministry to the world of him who is the light given by God, “who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” and with fire. And only those who prefer the darkness need fear the fiery light of God’s appearing.