The Lamb of God on the throne (see John 1: 36) … a stained glass window in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
The 40-day season of Christmas continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February). Today is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (Epiphany II, 18 January 2026), with readings that continue to focus on the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist, one of the three great Epiphany themes, alongside the Visit of the Magi and the Wedding at Cana.
Later this morning, I hope to be involved in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, singing with the choir and leading the intercessions.
Today is also the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU), from 18 to 25 January. This ecumenical celebration provides an opportunity to focus our prayers on Christian unity and to know that we are joining with international brothers and sisters in Christ. This year’s theme is ‘One Body, One Spirit’ -- from Ephesians 4: 1-13 – which was prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches.
The opening Ecumenical Service for the week in Milton Keynes is in Saint James Church, New Bradwell, at 6 pm. The preacher is Doral Hayes of Churches Together in England, and music is from One Voice, the MK Christian Community Choir. The Hope for the World Concert in Christ the Cornerstone Church, also this evening, is raising funds for two local charities, Camphill MK and Bridgebuilder Trust.
Meanwhile, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘This is the Lamb of God’ … Saint John the Baptist (left) with Christ in the centre depicted as the Good Shepherd and the Virgin Mary (right) … a window in Saint Mary’s Church, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
John 1: 29-42 (NRSVA):
29 The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32 And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but 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.” 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39 He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
The Lamb of God depicted in a stained-glass window in Charleville, Co Cork (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflections
Saint John’s Gospel has no story of the first Christmas, no child in the crib, and no Visit of the Magi. The manifestation of the Incarnate Christ in Saint John’s Gospel is revealed with the witness of Saint John the Baptist to Christ as the Lamb of God, the one who ‘existed before me,’ and as ‘the Son of God’ or ‘God’s Chosen One.’
In the Fourth Gospel, Christ first walks onto the stage, like the principal character in a Greek drama, as Saint John the Baptist is baptising in the River Jordan and talking about what is to be. And, in good dramatic style, letting us know what to expect as the drama unfolds on this stage, Saint John the Baptist uses three ways to describe Christ.
He is:
• ‘The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1: 29 and 36);
• ‘A man … who was before me’ (John 1: 30);
• ‘The Son of God’ (John 1: 34).
That manifestation of the Christ in Saint John’s Gospel will close with the witness of the Beloved Disciple – the other John – to the Paschal Lamb dying on the Cross on the eve of Passover.
His description of Christ as the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ presents Christ as the Servant of God described by the Prophet Isaiah as being led without complaint like a lamb before the shearers, a man who ‘bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors’ (see Isaiah 53: 7-12).
With the benefit of hindsight, this is also as a reference to the Lamb sacrificed at the Passover – in Saint John’s Gospel, the crucifixion takes place at the same time as the Passover.
But the Lamb of God is taking away not just my sin, not just our sin, not just the sin of many, of Christians, or those we judge as transgressors, those we still have a grudge against – not even the sin of the world, but the sin of the κόσμος (
cosmos), which means not merely planet earth, but the whole created order.
Secondly, Saint John the Baptist describes Christ (verse 30) as the one who ‘existed before me’ (RSV) or who ‘was before me’ (NRSV), which reflects a recurring theme in Johannine literature of the pre-existence of the Word.
Thirdly, he describes him as ‘the Son of God’ or ‘God’s Chosen One’ (verse 34). This is the first time in this Gospel that Christ is given the messianic title of ‘the Son of God.’ This title, ‘The Son of God’ is another reference to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.
We then move on in this reading to find the disciples of Saint John the Baptist turning to follow Christ. So this reading links the baptism of Christ with the call of the Disciples, links seeing and believing, being and doing, baptism and discipleship.
The first two disciples are called to follow Jesus (verse 37) in word and action, ‘Come and see’ (verse 39). In Saint John’s Gospel, ‘seeing,’ in the true sense, means believing. Think of the later insistence by Saint Thomas that he cannot believe unless he also sees (see John 20: 24-29). And to come and see is to abide in Christ. Those first disciples come, see and stay (verse 39).
But who do the disciples say Christ is?
They have three very different descriptions from those given by Saint John the Baptist. They describe him as:
• Rabbi or Teacher (verse 38)
• the one to see and follow (verse (verse 39)
• the Messiah or the anointed one (verse 41)
Who is Christ for you?
This is a question each and every one of us must ask ourselves anew time and time again.
He must be more than a good rabbi or teacher, because the expectations of a good religious leader or a good teacher change over time.
Who is the Messiah for you?
Again, many people at the time had false expectations of the Messiah.
But who is Christ for you?
George Fox, the founding Quaker, challenged his contemporaries: ‘You may say Christ saith this, and the apostles say this, but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of the Light and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?”
Who is Christ for you?
Is he a personal saviour?
One who comforts you?
Or is he more than that for you?
Who do you say Christ is?
It is a question that challenges Saint Peter later in Saint Matthew’s Gospel (see Matthew 16: 15, which is part of the reading on 22 August 2026, the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 16: 13-20).
Not who do others say he is, but who do you say Christ is?
There is a difference in translations that speak of the ‘sins of the world’ and the ‘sin of the world.’
The word in this Gospel reading (see verse 29) is the singular sin of the
cosmos (ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου). The word indicates being without a share in something, in this case God’s intention or design … missing the mark.
So often the world has missed the mark in terms of shaping up to Gods plan and intention for the whole creation, the whole
cosmos.
Christmas has passed, and the Epiphany season concludes with the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Candlemas, in two weeks’ time (2 February 2026).
Today’s Gospel reading is a reminder at Epiphany time that Christ has come, not just as a cuddly baby at Christmas, not just to give me personal comfort, not just to give me a personal revelation, but to confront the whole created order, and to reconcile the whole created order to God’s plan.
I find it is a beautiful presentation in this Gospel that the beginning of Christ’s ministry is set out over six days. And on the seventh day of that new beginning we have a sabbath – God rests; Christ goes to the wedding at Cana, the third of the Epiphany moments. And there we have a sign, a sacrament, a token of the complete transformation of the created order, a sacramental or symbolic token of the heavenly banquet (John 2: 1-12; see John 2: 1-11, the Gospel reading on Sunday 1 February 2026, Epiphany IV).
Who is Christ for you? He confronts the evils of the world; he suffers with us; he invites you and me to come and see; he calls us into the new Creation; he makes us equal in the Kingdom of God; and we are guests at his banquet. He is God among us.
As Saint John the Baptist says, ‘I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God’ (John 1: 34)
Robert Spence (1871-1964), ‘Woe to the Bloody City of Lichfield,’ depicts George Fox preaching barefooted in the snow in Lichfield in 1651 … George Fox challenged his followers to say who Christ is for them (Lichfield Museum)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 18 January 2026, Epiphany II):
The theme this week (18-24 January 2026) in
Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Freedom Theologies’ (pp 20-21). This theme is introduced today with Reflections from Dr Thandi Gamedze, poet, theologian, and senior researcher at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice:
‘Growing up in South Africa, I was surrounded by the Church, but I didn’t know the full story of its role in our history. For decades, the voices of Black South Africans who resisted apartheid were often silenced or forgotten, even within faith communities. One of the most powerful examples is the
Kairos Document, written in 1985 during a State of Emergency. It boldly confronted the Church’s complicity with apartheid and called people of faith to stand for justice. Reading it was like discovering a hidden heartbeat of courage and hope.
‘These stories inspired me to create Freedom Theologies: South Africa, a card game that brings these untold stories to life. Players explore moments like the Peace March of 1989 or the Christian Institute Agape meals, swapping stories and mapping them on timelines to see how the movement grew.
‘The game grew out of a simple idea: learning can be participatory and fun, but still deeply meaningful. These stories of everyday prophetic theologies and actions are really important because all of us have different roles to play in this work of ‘world making’. Whether that happens through art, or a march, or even something as simple as a weekly meal. That’s what the Cape Director of the Christian Institute did. The meals he hosted were more than food. It was a lively space where people connected, prayed, and planned together, fuelling the fight against apartheid with shared spirit and action. We could do with more of that.’
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 18 January 2026) invites us to pray as we read and meditate on John 1: 29-42.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of glory,
you nourish us with your Word
who is the bread of life:
fill us with your Holy Spirit
that through us the light of your glory
may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Eternal Lord,
our beginning and our end:
bring us with the whole creation
to your glory, hidden through past ages
and made known
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
The Lamb of God … a surviving detail in Saint Senanus Church, Foynes, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
http://nrsvbibles.org
