Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2, Cycle B
In the texts selected for this day, the Epiphany themes of the omniscience of the Lord God and of the Johannine Jesus is proclaimed, along with the guidelines that in response to God we must be open to the revelation of God, especially in terms of our sense of hearing and of sight. This will define for us the message that we should proclaim and the guidelines for life that we should share in our sermon or homily for this occasion.
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
The Word of the Lord was said to have been rare during the latter days of the life of Eli. There was no frequent vision. The senses of hearing and of sight were not open to the messages from God. In this text, however, a fresh start is made. The senses of the boy Samuel are alerted when a call and a message come to him from the Lord. This text raises the question also for us whether we today are open to hear and to see new messages from God, as well as the messages that have come to us from God in the past.
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
The psalmist marvels at the profound knowledge that God possesses about every thought that the psalmist has ever had or will have. Even when the psalmist was in embryonic form, the Lord God was organizing every detail of the development of the psalmist. Since nothing is hidden from the sight and knowledge that God has, the psalmist must be open to God in every way. Therefore, the psalmist, and we together with the psalmist, must praise God forever.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
In this text also not only the senses of hearing and of sight but the entire body is emphasized. The body with all of its senses is meant for the Lord. The body is said to be joined to the Lord. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within each person. The body was purchased at a very high price. The body is not private property to be used for selfish purposes. We are expected to glorify God in our body. As a temple of the Holy Spirit, the body is the primary place in which revelations of God the Holy Spirit occur. The believer is directed by Paul to do nothing that might hinder the activity of the Holy Spirit of God.
John 1:43-51
Here John the Baptizer is depicted as directing the attention of two of his own disciples (one of whom in 1:40 is identified as Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter) to Jesus, who is said to be the “Lamb of God.” The disciples follow Jesus and respond affirmatively to his invitation to them to “Come and see.” They are portrayed as open, therefore, to God’s new revelation in Jesus, providing a model for us also to follow Jesus and to be open to God’s new revelation in him.
John 1:43-51 includes a heavy concentration of Christological material. Within these few verses a multitude of Christological titles are applied to Jesus. Jesus is presented as possessing supernatural knowledge, of having seen Nathaniel while Nathaniel had been out of the sight of the other people who were standing with Jesus at that time. Confronted with this supernatural knowledge that Jesus obviously possessed, Nathaniel immediately responds by attributing to Jesus the titles of “the Son of God” and “the king of Israel.” Not only does the Johannine Jesus raise no objections to these titles; he also tells Nathaniel that compared to this supernatural knowledge Nathaniel has as yet seen hardly anything at all! Soon he will see far greater things than these. Then the Johannine Jesus tells Nathaniel that he will see the heavens opened (a symbol of God’s self-revelation) and will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Where the psalmist had used poetry in depicting the omniscience of the Lord God, the Johannine writers used narrative.
Certainly, therefore, we should all be perceptive and receptive, especially during this Epiphany Season, to God’s self-revelation, including new self-revelation to us where we are.
