2nd Sunday of Epiphany 2026

Sermon: 2nd Sunday of Epiphany 2026

Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7, John 1:29-42

Grace, Peace, and Mercy from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we celebrate the season of Epiphany, we are faced with the aftermath of the encounter with God in Jesus Christ. Epiphany means revelation or manifestation, God manifests Himself to all the world in Jesus Christ. When God reveals Himself to us, we can’t expect to remain the same. Everything now is basked in the light of that encounter with Jesus. We can say yes or no to Him, and nevertheless, whatever our answer, Jesus’ demand and promise will remain forever a decisive mark in the pathway of our life. For even when we stray away from Him, we realize that our path circles around the center of gravity that is Jesus. In this thought, I’m reminded of medieval labyrinths, in which there was no way of getting lost. For no matter how far the path would lead us away from the center, there was only one path and one destination: Christ Himself. Every turn we take is oriented towards Him, if we persist in this labyrinthian journey we call life.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of the impact of the Epiphany through the testimony of John the Baptist and his disciples. How they are faced with the encounter of the One they have been waiting for. The Scripture says

that John saw Him approaching and said “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”. And then again alongside his disciples: “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”. This “look, here it is!” is what all of us Christians are called to cry out, it is the words of evangelism. This Jesus that we encounter is the One that will change the world forever! In Him is grace, and new life. And such grand truths are not meant to be kept for ourselves for consumption, they are meant to be shared with others! If other people come to us to quench their thirst, we point them to where there is water. I remember when I first arrived in Hingham, everyone in the congregation shared their recommendations for the best places in town: some said Cheever’s Tavern, others Strawberry Fair, Hingham Stars, and many others! Because something good is meant to be shared! Here we have the same model for evangelism: I know where you can find what you need! My own thirst is quenched because I have drunk from the living water that comes from Jesus Christ. My hunger is satiated in the true food and drink that is in Christ Jesus. Every week, we can say, I receive something good from the Good Lord that sustains me and holds me all my life long. A Word of countercultural and radical hope, the grace to begin again, the love of the beloved community gathered in His Name, all these things that make up the most essential things in human life.

Thus encountering Jesus leads us to ask three important questions that spring up in today’s Gospel: (1) Who is Jesus? (2) What are you looking for? (3) Where is Jesus staying? These questions prompt us that after witnessing the revelation of God in Jesus, a path opens up that we were not aware of before. It all begins by recognizing, who is Jesus? John recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God. Not everyone was equipped to see that, but John opened the way for his disciples to recognize who Jesus was. To recognize Jesus as the Lamb of God, it was the prophetic vision that Jesus was the innocent one who would take up the sins of the world, a calling back to the Exodus story by which the blood of the lamb was the sign by which death would not touch the door of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt. In the same way, in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, by His body and blood, He would become the sign by which the power of death would pass over us, the One who would break our slavery to sin. It is no wonder why Jesus’ presence and identity would provoke a reaction in the people around Him. His presence was the longed for liberation of their lives, a sign of new life. Throughout Christian history, we hear the stories of ordinary people hearing one day of who Jesus is, and hearing that for the first time completely changed their outlook and path of life.

However, when we encounter Jesus, we do not come as empty vessels. The human heart is full of desires that are the driving forces of life. When encountering those that approached Jesus, He asked them: What are you looking for? Indeed, when we come into church, this is an important question that Jesus asks us: what are we looking for when we come to Him? When we recognize His person? What are our deepest longings, and how do we square them with God’s presence here? There are as many reasons as there are people when it comes to why we approach Jesus. But one thing is certain. In our human heart there is a place that is meant for God alone. It is the place in our hearts where so many desires seek to usurp its place, but only God can rightfully be present there. We can try to fill it with the different relationships in our lives, but in the end, God seeks us as well. We all get from Him that feeling of awe and wonder at the fact that we mean more than just another creature on this planet. It is the reason that we should never stop believing in the dignity of every human being. It is the reason why our love must be greater than our hatred. Because in each heart, God is calling, and if there is something we all share, is that we are all called by God. What do we truly look for? We look for Him that calls us since the beginning. So Jesus asks us this question because He wants to make clear to us, we are in need of each

other. We need Him, and through Him all things fall into place. Our search for Him must be because love seeks out Love. Success in life, material gain, power, happiness, these things we might seek from God, but they are not the central thing. These things are simply accidental to true value of knowing ourselves truly loved, forgiven, and free to live our lives fully in God.

And so the last question: Where is Jesus staying? Where does He makes an appearance in our lives? It is the question of John’s disciples, where do you stay so that we might follow you there? And Jesus wants to invite us there where He abides. Jesus wants us to visit Him where He goes. “Come and See” He says to us. Come and See the people He sends us to love. Come and See the community He is building, Come and See the liberation from humanity’s slavery to sin. To meet Jesus is not an abstract exercise, it is an experience of the here and now. We meet Jesus in the needy, in the love of our family and neighbors, in the sick and dying, in the crosses that this world sets up, in the surprising joys of everyday life, in every life-giving transcendent moment. Jesus invites us to see the power of the Gospel, of God made flesh that came to live among us and love us through thick and thin. God invites us to the depths of our lives, not its surface. God invites us to witness the new world where we are made free.

The world is full of distractions. But Jesus’ invitation, I can tell you from experience, is to open your eyes with a new attention. Ever since Jesus has captivated my attention, I can’t help but notice how my prayers have become focused not just for myself, but for others, especially the suffering ones of this world. I feel called to an existence of solidarity. And so as I’ve experienced, I’m sure that all of you know that Jesus has inspired new loves within you, within you there are stirrings of love and compassion you never though you could have if it wasn’t because Jesus touched upon your lives. You behold Him here, and thus we can’t help but see the world through Him that has called us together.

Jesus is the light of our lives, he reveals the way of true life. So walk in His light. Let us shed His light upon the darkness of uncertainty in front of us. I know that today, there is an anxiety that has taken over many parts of the world. The nations are in uproar. Everything seems in a state of flux. The Light of Epiphany that shines on us today is to assure us of the one unchanging truth, the one we can behold and trust completely, and that is Jesus the Messiah. In Him, through His example, through His commandment, through His grace, the fog of war ceases, and we can see the road ahead more clearly. Let us take up His invitation again and again, beloved, for the future in the eyes of faith is Christlike, and no one can

take that away. God has redeemed the world, we are in His hands, our mission is to proclaim and live out this future reality in our present moment. Like John proclaimed, we proclaim: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”. So let us pray: