Can you see Jesus in the Crowd?

Homily for the Second Sunday of Year A

by Fr. Tommy Lane

We think of Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. But yet if you met him and no one had pointed him out to you, you wouldn’t know he was Jesus. Twice in our Gospel today John the Baptist says, “I did not know him myself.” (John 1:31,33) John said, “he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove on Jesus was the signal for John. The Pharisees were listening to John speaking and they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, so John said to them, “Look there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” The Father pointed Jesus out to John, and now John pointed Jesus out to the Pharisees. Because Jesus was so normal you would not pick him out from the crowd. Part of Isaiah which we understand as prophesying Jesus reads like this:

He had no form or charm to attract us,
No beauty to win our hearts;
He was despised, the lowest of men,
A man of sorrows, familiar with suffering,
One from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze,
Despised, for whom we had no regard. (Isa 53:2-3)

Yet this man, whom you wouldn’t pick out from the crowd, was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and to whom we could understand the Father speaking these words of our first reading, “You are my servant...in whom I shall be glorified…I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isa 49:3,6).

When Jesus comes, he does not throw his weight around so we might miss his coming if we were expecting great things. I think Jesus comes in a similar way today, as a humble lamb, and because Jesus comes in so many ways today as a humble lamb, we might miss his coming unless some John the Baptist pointed out and said, “Look, there is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” One of the documents of Vatican II acted as a John the Baptist telling us that Jesus comes to us in four ways when we gather here for our Sunday Mass:

Jesus comes in the word of God in the readings, in the Eucharist, in the congregation and in the priest (Sacrosanctum Concilium 7):

  • When the readings are proclaimed, God is speaking to us. If a line from the text strikes you, we normally understand this as God speaking to you.

  • In Holy Communion, Jesus comes to you in the fullness of his body, blood, soul and divinity.

  • Jesus is present in the congregation because where two or three are gathered in his name he is present in their midst (Matt 18:20).

  • Jesus is present in the priest who offers Jesus to the Father just as Jesus offered himself to the Father on the cross.

Jesus comes to us in four ways when we gather here for our Sunday Mass: in the word of God, in the Eucharist, in the congregation and in the priest.

In which one of those four ways would we find it most difficult to see Jesus present? Is it in the Word of God in the readings because they are from a culture so different to ours; in Holy Communion because Jesus still looks like bread after the consecration; in the congregation because we know the faults and weaknesses of some people present; or in the priest because we wonder about his sincerity after scandals and because we can see his faults and weaknesses too?

When Jesus came, you would not pick him out from the crowd and he had to be pointed out by John the Baptist. When Jesus comes now in these four ways, in a certain sense, you would not pick him out and he has to be pointed out. This is how I would point out the presence of God in these four ways:

  • Although written by humans, we believe the books of the Bible are inspired and God speaks to us today through the Bible.

  • It requires faith to believe that, after the consecration, the bread is no longer bread but Jesus although still looking like bread. Jesus is present and the Eucharistic miracles confirm this—many occasions  when the bread or wine physically changed at the consecration to also look like flesh and blood.

  • If we find it difficult to love someone in the congregation, think of Jesus:

He had no form or charm to attract us,
No beauty to win our hearts;
He was despised, the lowest of men. (Isa 53:2)

  • If we find it difficult to see Jesus in the priest, perhaps what we read in the Letter to the Hebrews about Jesus the High Priest might help:

Since all the children shared the same human nature, it was essential that Jesus too shared in it…It was essential that Jesus should in this way be made completely like his brothers so that he could become a compassionate and trustworthy high priest. (Heb 2:14,17).

You would not pick Jesus out from the crowd if he were not pointed out to you. In case we miss Jesus in the crowd, Vatican II pointed out four ways in which Jesus is present when we gather for Mass: Jesus is present in the Word of God in the readings, in the Eucharist, in the congregation, and in the priest. With faith we will see Jesus present in these four ways because if we cannot pick Jesus out from the crowd, the only way we will be able to see him will be by faith.

Copyright © Fr. Tommy Lane 2002

This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.

More homilies for the Second Sunday Year A

Behold Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away our sins 2020

Baptism changes the quality of our souls forever 2011

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world 2008

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins

Can you see Jesus in the crowd?

Related Homilies: The dove at Jesus’ baptism 2018

Baptism of Our Lord

On taking away the sins of the world: homilies on the Sacrament of Reconciliation