Today's readings are here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011512.cfm
In today's Gospel, Andrew find his brother, Simon Peter and tells him that he and the other disciples have found the Messiah. At this point in their lives, their understanding of the Messiah was largely political in that they expected him to free Israel from Rome by gathering the Jewish army and leading a revolution. They thought the Messiah would be a king but mostly in a political way.
Jesus is the Messiah/King, and he came to lead a revolution but not a political one. Rather, he came to overcome our greatest enemies: sin and death.
Consider this. None of us wants to die, and some of us may be terrified of death. But our King went through the jaws of death and came out alive on the other side. In the Resurrection, Christ revealed that he is stronger than death. In the Resurrection, Christ defeated death. In the Resurrection, Christ put death to death. Now, we who die in his friendship do not have to experience spiritual death (the separation of the soul from God) forever in hell; and we only have to experience physical death (the separation of the soul from the body) temporarily, because Christ will resurrect our bodies and reunite them to our souls when he returns in glory at the end of time.
A King who has done this for us must really love us. As such, he deserves our total obedience to his teachings. May he strengthen us to follow him in gratitude for such deliverance all the days of our life.
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