Behold, the Lamb of God. Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.

John’s gospel tells us that John the Baptist was baptising at Bethany on the far side of the Jordan. When John, accompanied by two of his disciples, sees Jesus approaching he says: “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” How would the original readers of John’s gospel have understood those words? What did it mean to call Jesus the “lamb of God”?