2nd Week in Ordinary Time (Year A) : Sunday 15th January 2023

God lovingly saves the people of Israel. Yet God’s love is amazingly generous. God desires that all people in the world taste salvation. The Lord says, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth” (Is. 49:6).

Isaiah writes these words about 700 years before the birth of Jesus. The world waited centuries for a Saviour. Now the light has come — Jesus.

The way Jesus saves, however, is surprising. John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29). Why a lamb? When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God sent an angel to kill all the region’s firstborns. However, if a lamb’s blood was on the door of a house, everyone within was spared death (Ex.12:13). The sacrificed lambs saved lives.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus’ willing sacrifice of Himself on the cross has saved our lives. His blood has washed away our sins. He has freed us from the punishment and slavery that come with sin. The Lamb’s death has given us eternal life.

We are saved not by brute force but by vulnerability, self-sacrifice and deep love.

Jesus, thank You for salvation. Help me to imitate Your love, to give of my time and self today.