28/16 My Monologues & Musings : “Behold! The Lamb of God “(Jn 1 : 35-42)
“The next day John was again with two of his disciples. He saw Jesus walking by. John said, "Look! The Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Rabbi means Teacher. "Come," he replied. "You will see." So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Andrew was Simon Peter's brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, "We have found the Messiah." Messiah means Christ. And he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas." Cephas means Peter (or rock).”
Dear Jesus,
When your cousin John the Baptist saw you from afar he introduced you to his disciples using the very scripturally loaded and symbolic word, “the Lamb”, right?
Remember, Isaac of Old?
His father Abraham was ready and willing to offer his son Isaac as the sacrificial lamb. Ever since the Hebrews had a religious and reverential attachment to lambs.
Dear Jesus,
As the scriptural pundits hold Isaac was only prefiguring you. Aren't they right?
How I wish to have a silent sacrificial attitude to my everyday problems!
Instead, I am used to be very grudging and grumpy even with my minimal daily inconveniences!
How meaningful it was when John the Baptist introduced you as:
“Behold! the Lamb of God.”!
Dear Jesus,
Ever since the first Passover on the eve of Exodus, the Passover Lamb had become the ever living memorial for Promised Land.
Dear Jesus,
You are our Paschal Lamb who was sacrificed on the Cross to free us from tge slavery of evil and of sinful habits.
How I wish I had the mentality of Passover Lamb willing to sacrifice my over blown ego in my daily life!
Dear Jesus,
You are also our Scapegoat Lamb.
You are the Scapegoat Lamb on whom all the sins of humanity are willingly and joyfully taken upon yourself and died on the Cross.
When John the Baptist pointed you out and said, “Look the Lamb of God”, it is this Scapegoat image and symbolism that he had on mind.
Thank you, Jesus for being the Scapegoat Lamb for the whole humanity myself included!
But the irony is I have this tendency to make others the Scapegoat Lamb for my failures!
I want to go scott free!
On the other hand,
when I am made a scapegoat
I fret and fume!
I keep shouting: it is unjust! ..
I don't deserve it..
I am being exploited…
Dear Jesus,
How did you feel being a Scapegoat Lamb?
Did you initially resent it?
Something like the agonizing hours you went through in Gethsemani.
Any how, finally you did willingly and happily accept it, right?
Dear Jesus,
My problem is that it is OK for me:
To take the blame and become:
The scapegoat lamb for those whom I love...
The scapegoat lamb for who help me..
But I don't feel like:
To be scapegoat lamb for those whom I don't like.
To be the scapegoat lamb who have have hurt me.
To be the scapegoat lamb for those ungrateful ones.
Dear Jesus,
In your case, you deliberately became the Scapegoat Lamb precisely for those who hurt you and abandon you, right?
I am one of such persons who keeps hurting you.
Yet you became the Scapegoat Lamb for me!
It is your Unconditional Love which urges you to be the Scapegoat Lamb for me.
Can I ever be grateful enough to you?
How I wish to a scapegoat lamb not only for those whom I like but also for those who hurt me and don't like me!
I guess:
By becoming a scapegoat lamb for others is the best way to express my gratitude to you!
In my own little ways I shall and I will try hard to be a scapegoat for others.
Dear Jesus,
I thankYou,
I thank the Father,
I thank the Spirit,
For Your Unsolicited gift of life for me!
For Your Uncountable blessings for me!
For Your Untold Forgiveness for me!
For Your Unlimited Patience with me!
For Your Unflinching faith in me!
For Your Unfailing Hope in me!
For Your Unconditional Love of me!
Amen
JoAchen
Thursday, 28th January, 2016
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are a sort of devotional musings and monologues and a part of my journaling of the Prodigal Priest in me as I struggle to return to the Home of our Heavenly Father. As I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours. Thank you!
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