Bible Scholars have called this and three similar passages from this section of Isaiah (chapters 40-55), the “Songs of the Suffering Servant.”  Today’s selection is from the second Servant Song.  In the original author’s mind, the servant was probably a figure for the people of Israel, or for a faithful remnant within the people.  The Gospels clearly show that the “suffering servant” is Jesus. The early Church saw aspects of Jesus’ own life (as sacrificial lamb), and mission  (universal salvation),  foreshadowed in the Servant Songs, and the Church today refers to all of them throughout the liturgical year. Jesus was consecrated and commissioned to engage in a ministry of universal salvation. As God formed Isaiah from his mother’s womb as His prophet and a “light to the nations,” we too are called by our Baptism to be that same “Light to the nations,” revealing the Christ. Being born again of water and the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus’ mission of being the “Light of the world.” In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 40), the Psalmist is determined to give thanks not only with his lips but also with his life. The Response for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 40) gives us the answer God wants from us when He invites us to similar service: “Here I am, Lord;  I come to do Your will!”

The second reading is the beginning of Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, with heading, inside address, and salutation, all in sentence form.  The letter is for all the members of the Church in Corinth.  Corinth was a bawdy seaport in cosmopolitan Greece.  The vices of every seaport, plus the philosophical ferment of ancient Greece, were part of these peoples’ lives and gave rise, in part, to the need for this letter.  Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are “sanctified and called to be holy,” like all who call on the Name of Jesus in Faith. They are called by God and consecrated in Christ Jesus for a life of holiness and service. By virtue of their Baptism into Christ Jesus, believers become members of his Body. They are not alone—they are called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Further, that same Lord Jesus is the Lord of those other Churches as well. As people who are baptized into Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit, they, and we, share the vocation of Israel and the Church.  So we are all meant to serve as “a Light to the nations,” with Jesus, God’s  “Suffering Servant.”

While the call and consecration of John the Baptist by God commissioned him for the important ministry of becoming the precursor of Jesus, it was Jesus who was consecrated, and commissioned to bring salvation to the world. As precursor of Jesus, John gives testimony to Jesus in today’s Gospel. A testimony can be a statement of a truth about something or someone, or a public expression of a religious experience.  John the Baptist gives testimony to Jesus by pointing out that he is the Lamb of God (vv 29, 36); a man who was before me (v 30); the One on Whom the Holy Spirit remained (v 33); and the Son of God (v 34).  John’s disciples call Jesus, “Rabbi” (vs. 38).  Andrew calls him the Messiah (v 41), and Nathaniel calls Jesus Rabbi, Son of God, and King of Israel (vs. 49).  Jesus completes the Christology with his own declaration that he is the Son of Man (vs. 51).