Gospel (Jn 1,29-34) - At that time, John, seeing Jesus coming towards him, said: «Behold the Lamb of God, he who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one of whom I said: "After me comes a man who is ahead of me, because he was before me." I did not know him, but I came to baptize with water, so that he might be revealed to Israel." John testified, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and remaining upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me: "He on whom you will see the Spirit descend and remain, it is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit." And I saw and testified that this is the Son of God."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Gospel continues to accompany our steps to follow Jesus. John the Baptist presents Jesus to the people around him as the Lamb of God. And he immediately adds what had already been anticipated, that is, that in Jesus he pre-existed before him. The Baptist's statement "I did not know him" might seem unlikely, given that they are presented in the Gospels as relatives and peers. In any case, John did not know the true face of Jesus: that of the Messiah, savior. He met him when, on the day of his baptism, he saw "the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and remaining upon him". The characterization of Jesus as the Lamb of God who "takes away" the sins of the world is surprising. The verb “togliere” translates the Latin tollere which actually means “to take upon oneself”. It is the meaning of the lamb that in Ancient Israel was sacrificed in expiation for the sins of all the people. Yes, to take away our sins, Jesus takes them upon himself. The image of the Lamb must be placed in the passage from Isaiah, that of the "suffering servant" who patiently takes upon himself the sins of the people. The question that this passage suggests to us is how the Baptist was able to grasp this image and present it to the crowd around him. We could say that frequenting the prophets, Isaiah in particular, pushed the Baptist to see the fulfillment of the prophecy in Jesus. For each of us there is a moment in life when that Lord whom we knew superficially is recognized as our savior. All this is the fruit of an interior journey made of listening to Scripture, of community and personal prayer, of love towards the poor. Whoever perseveres on this path will be able, with the eyes of the heart, to recognize Jesus as the Lord of his life and, like the Baptist, point him out to men.