Scripture Study for

In Exodus 19:6, God announces that Israel is being formed to be “a holy nation,” a people that shows to the rest of the earth the holiness of God by its way of life. Just so, the servant in the first reading is intended to take up Israel’s role and show forth God’s glory. The servant is first charged with a mission to bring back Israel (“Jacob”)  to God, that is, to gather Israel back into faithful relationship with God. The servant will then take up the role of Israel and act as a light to the nations, drawing them to God so that they, like Israel, may receive salvation. 

Paul’s greeting to the Corinthians signals a theme of the letter,  namely the Corinthians’ holiness. He first alludes to his authority as an apostle of Christ. He will rely on this authority to address problems in the church at Corinth, all of which relate in some way to a failure on the Corinthians’ part to appreciate the implications of their life in Christ, which is to be sanctified and sanctifying. Those who call on the name of Christ are of the church of God—and Paul will remind them of what this means for their conduct, especially with each other. 

John the Baptist identifies Jesus as both “Lamb of God” and “Son of God.” The former points toward Jesus’ death on the cross, which the Evangelist will associate with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb  (Jesus dies on the “preparation day” when the lambs are slaughtered and his legs are not broken, just as the bones of the Passover lamb are not to be broken [John 19:33, 36; Exodus 12:46]). This image is combined with that of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:5–7, who,  “like a lamb led to slaughter” will take on the sins of the people. The death of Jesus as the Lamb of God will be effective because Jesus is the Son of God, on whom now, as at his baptism, the Spirit rests.