2nd Sunday in the Ordinary Time [B]

January 14, 2024

John 1:35-42

At the beginning of John’s Gospel, we encounter three acts of naming. Firstly, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he called Him ‘The Lamb of God’. Then, after staying for a day with Jesus, Andrew called Him the ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ [meaning: the anointed one]. Lastly, after Jesus encountered Simon, Andrew’s brother, He named him ‘Cephas’ in Aramaic, or ‘Petros’ in Greek [meaning: rock]. Why the act of naming is important in the Gospel?

We recall that the act of naming fundamentally belongs to God. God is omnipotent, and so, with every name God uttered, that name became a reality, from nothing to something. “God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And, there was light.” Every time God named and created something, the ever-greater goodness took place. On the final day, God named ‘the seventh day’ as ‘holy.’ Holiness is when a name becomes a reality and that reality reaches its fullness and perfection according to God’s plan.

The Holy Spirit inspired John the Baptist to name Jesus as the Lamb of God. This brings forth the reality that Jesus would be ‘slaughtered’ and ‘consumed’ to save His people from the slavery of sin, like the Passover lamb that was slaughtered and eaten to protect the Israelites from death and liberate them from slavery in Egypt. The Holy Spirit also inspired Andrew to name Jesus as the Messiah. This reveals the reality that Jesus is the promised Anointed one who would fulfill the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, especially as the King of the New Israel. Jesus’ name is holy because precisely in His name, God’s redemption plan reached its full reality. After all, He is the Word that was made flesh (see John 1:14).

When Jesus called Simon and gave him a new name, ‘Cephas,’ the new reality came into existence. Simon would become the rock where Jesus’ Church rested. Obviously, Simon was impulsive, short-tempered, and even cowardly. Yet, since Jesus named him, the name was part of Jesus’ divine plan. Jesus knew Simon was weak; Jesus allowed Simon to falter, yet Jesus also transformed and empowered him. The name that Jesus had planted at their first encounter finally became a full reality when Simon offered his life as a martyr of Christ in the city of Rome.

We believe that we exist not because of random chance, utterly unplanned, but because of God’s divine plan. We are in the world not only because of biological processes but because God gives us a name, from nothingness to reality. Indeed, God allows us to experience suffering and even failures, yet this is also part of His plan to make us holy.

Holiness is when the names God gave us become more and more reality. How? Like Simon, we do our best to follow His will in our lives, be more patient in suffering, and avoid anything that strays from Him.

Rome

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP