John 1:29-34 NRSVue

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I 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.’ ³⁴And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”

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Some thoughts on this scripture

Reflection
Although he prepared the way for Jesus, John acknowledges that he did not know who to expect. As I do my best, in my way, to prepare the way for Jesus, I cannot always know just what to be ready for

Reflection
John remained active and vigilant. I pray that I may find the balance between keeping occupied in God’s service without letting my occupations overwhelm me.

Reflection
"Lamb of God" stirs biblical overtones: of the Passover lamb, and of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, led like a lamb to the slaughter, bearing our sins.

Reflection
Lord, whenever I hear of some atrocious barbarisms by one of our race, and of the injustice and pain which people suffer through others' wickedness, I remember that this is the world you entered, the burden you took on yourself. You had a strong back to carry the evil that is in the world.

Reflection
John wanted to reveal Christ to people, to make him known. This is a knowledge based on love. We can have head-knowledge, knowing all about a person but not really knowing the person.   We can list dates of birth, marriage and death, height and weight, nationality and religion. There is another knowledge - heart-knowledge when we know how others feel about what's important in life, how they relate to people and we know them from the inside. That's what revelation can mean, and what John wanted to do for Jesus. We can make a prayer that we can know Jesus from the inside and reveal a God of love and life to others.

Reflection
Jesus is beginning to teach his followers and highlights that disciples are learners. Their time with Jesus is a time of learning his wisdom. As the gospel goes on we will see that much learning is from what Jesus does as much as from what he says. Without words he teaches something unusual in this passage - that he has come for the sinner, the weak. The custom of the time was not to eat with sinners or in their house or keep their company. Watch Jesus - where he goes, with whom he associates, and from that we learn the type of person he is. In prayer watch for a while the actions of Jesus in your own silence. This is how he teaches all of us today.