John 1:29-42 (NRSV)
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
35
The next day
John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he
watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The
two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When
Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking
for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are
you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw
where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four
o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and
followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found
his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is
translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at
him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which
is translated Peter).
Year A
Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 15, 2017
Cross~Wind
Title: Following Jesus – Why are You Here?
(based on John 1:35-42)
Prayer for Illumination
Come and see! We have found the Messiah!
He is present to us in the word read and the word proclaimed.
Come and see! The living God awaits us here in these pages.
Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts bear witness to you, O God, and to the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Come and see! We have found the Messiah!
He is present to us in the word read and the word proclaimed.
Come and see! The living God awaits us here in these pages.
Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts bear witness to you, O God, and to the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Introducing the Passage
We have a testimony by John the Baptist to Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. John the Baptist encounters divine revelation in order to see who Jesus is. In Isaiah 53:7, the suffering servant is willing to sacrifice his life for the people of God. The Passover lamb that the Jewish people eat is a sign of deliverance. I would refer to I John, where we find Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (2:2), that God sent the Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (4:10), and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1:7). John recognizes that Jesus has priority. He saw the Spirit of God come upon Jesus at baptism. This reminds us of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests (11:2, 42:1) and thereby anoints the servant to bring good news to the oppressed, to bring healing to the brokenhearted, and to release people from the prison they have made for themselves (61:1). The Spirit is empowering the Son to glorify the Father. The Spirit fills Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry. At the beginning of his gospel, John continues to make clear who Jesus is.
After a testimony like
that, we ought not to have surprise that some of the disciples of John the
Baptist begin to follow Jesus. John the Baptist points to Jesus, declares him
to him as the Lamb of God, and two of his disciples follow Jesus. Andrew was
one of them, and he will bring his brother Simon to Jesus. Jesus will
immediately give him a new name, Cephas or Peter. John is inviting us to put
ourselves in the position of these first disciples. They have made the decisive
step. We need to keep our eyes open to see Jesus for who he is and to follow
Jesus.
Introduction
"What are you looking for?”
[1]
In verse 38, we get Jesus' first words in
John's gospel. As the men begin to trail
after him, Jesus turns and asks them, "What are you looking for?" It may in fact stand as the initial question
confronting all readers of this gospel and all future disciples of Jesus
Christ.[2]
I invite
you to ponder the scene with me. Frankly, if this were a spiritual formation
time, I would invite you to close your eyes, imagine, and then write in your
journal. Please, do not close your eyes. However, if you have time, soon,
ponder this passage.
Application
The first response by the disciples
to the question by Jesus is Rabbi, where
are you staying. Let us ponder for a few moments what motivated the
disciples to ask that question.
First, could the question of the
disciples be a diversion?
After all, why did they not tell
Jesus what they wanted? They could have been honest and said, "Uh, we're
wondering if you knew where to find the nearest Starbucks? How about an ice
cappuccino?"
Truth is that it is quite possible
they - like many of us - did not know what they wanted or what they were
looking for. Perhaps they had a vague sense that they wanted what most people
want: a comfortable lifestyle, good health, children who are successful,
security for our golden years, and have some fun along the way. Almost as an
afterthought, somewhere in us, we want to help other people.
Maybe we want nothing from Jesus,
except to leave us alone. We want no challenges, no discomfort, and no
directing us away from our desires and wants.
Maybe the question of the disciples
was a diversion.
Second, could the question of the
disciples simply express caution?
I like this option. In other words,
"Where are you making your home in the world?" Jesus said to them, as
he says to us, "Come and see," and he took them to where he
was staying. Jesus showed them hospitality. He took these disciples where they
were, in order to give them an opportunity to go where he wanted them to go.
They stayed with him for a whole day, and, as it turned out, stayed with him
for the rest of their lives (vv. 38-39).
Caution is a good thing. God often
whispers and we are not always good at listening. People can say God has
spoken. Yet, we might legitimately ask, upon reflection, “Did God Say That?”[3]
We need to be careful when we think we are hearing the voice of God, and maybe
that is what the disciples were doing here.
Maybe the questions of the
disciples express caution.
Third, maybe the question of the
disciples was an expression of commitment.
Maybe they were saying, "Teacher,
let us join with you and be your students." His answer is an invitation, "Come
and see." They may have known
it would take time to know what it meant to follow.
Is that, perhaps, the reason you
came to church today? You may want to
continue your spiritual search. At one time, we were all seekers, and then some
of us have “found” that which we sought in Jesus Christ. Yet, in one sense, you
never stop being a seeker. You may be here to tend to your lifetime mission of
growing a soul.
Jesus can be difficult for us to
see, but often because we look for him in all the wrong places and in all the
wrong ways.[4]
The point is this: Disciples are
those who want to stay with Jesus, wherever that stay may be and wherever it
may take them.
Fourth, Jesus knows what you
want.
In fact, Jesus knows what you
really want, better than you do.
Among the disciples were some who
looked for healing, a fight, entertainment, an easy way into heaven, and loaves
and fishes. Among us are some who want health and wealth guaranteed, or a quick
and easy route to God and the will of God. Jesus asked a question for the ages:
"What are you looking for?" Quite honestly, you will not find
it at the mall, Wal-Mart, or your favorite on-line store. Each one of us has a
hole in the heart that only Christ can fill.
Yet, Jesus calls what he offers
"abundant life" (John 10:10). We think we want so many things.
Jesus knows we want “abundant life.” Therefore, when Jesus calls us to "Come
and see," he is talking about that abundant life. Come and see what
abundant life is all about. Come and see what a life of meaning and purpose and
service to God looks like.
I could stop here and offer an
invitation, and I will make an invitation at the close of this message.
However, I would be less than honest if I did not make a proper warning when it
comes to following Jesus.
Fifth, if you are to follow Jesus,
Jesus may lead you to challenging places.
I want to share a little history,
but not the dry rendition of facts. I want to share a history that is also a powerful
story.
Suzanne and I saw a wonderful movie
this weekend called Hidden Figures. It is a story of three people behind the
scenes working to get astronauts into space and home again. Along the way, it
showed what race relations were like in Virginia and federal government
institutions in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Thankfully, the country has
come a long way. However, we need to remember that journey had a high cost. Many
Christian leaders were willing to go to challenging places.
When Jesus asked Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. to "come and see," King had no idea that the place Jesus
wanted him to see was the inside of a Birmingham jail. The jail was not a particularly
charming or comfortable place to lodge when he checked in during April of 1963.
King was part of the civil rights protests staged in that city. Police
commissioner "Bull" Connor pledged to incarcerate every African
American who challenged segregation. On Good Friday afternoon, King was among
54 marchers whom the police arrested and threw in jail for violating an
injunction against "parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and
picketing." Authorities forbade them to engage in "conduct customarily
known as 'kneel-ins' in churches." They singled out King, denying him the
chance to make phone calls or talk to his lawyers. He had no mattress or linen.
He slept on metal slats. Yet, Martin Luther King Jr. was staying with Jesus. He
wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." It might surprise us now
that he wrote the letter to liberal, white clergy who were urging people to
withdraw from the demonstrations, which they called "unwise and
untimely." In his letter, he stressed that it was always time to do the
right thing. The white moderate might be more of an obstacle than is the KKK. They
devote themselves to order more than to justice. They try to set the timetable for
the freedom of others. Those who have never experienced the oppressive force of
segregation find it easy to say to those who do that they should wait.[5]
Back in 1963, who was really
staying with Jesus?
Monday we
shall celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day all across our land and people will
tell and re-tell the story of his life and work. I urge you to read his justly
famous, “I
Have a Dream” speech. In particular, read it to your children and
grandchildren. The audio is available.
Tom Long
completes the Martin Luther King Jr. story in a story of which we need to hear
more. I like this story because it reminds us that transformation and
reconciliation can happen. He happened to be in Alabama on the 25th anniversary
of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. The man who was the mayor of Selma,
Alabama in 1965 was the mayor 25 years later. He was standing on the platform
at the anniversary. Beside him was George Wallace in a wheelchair. Behind him
were people who had marched, now aging and graying. He looked at the crowd and
said, "Twenty-five years ago Governor Wallace and I were wrong. We were
wrong. We thought this was outside agitation - we did not know that it was the
coming of justice."
Conclusion
Jesus invites us to "come
and see" what he is up to, and he promises that if we stay with him,
we will have an even more awesome and life changing experience.
If we stay with Jesus, it may lead
to some wonderful places. Yet, it may also lead the Birmingham jail.
Undoubtedly, there will be times when Jesus may lead you to places you would
not normally go, such as a natural disaster, a ministry among AIDS patients, a
demonstration, and a mission trip. We are talking about risk-taking mission and
service here. Jesus may lead you to a classroom, a community, the home of a
neighbor, a hospital. Whatever.
I hope you get my point. Jesus is a
traveling man. We need to keep traveling with him, wherever he wants to take
us.
When Jesus finally asks you by
name, "What are you looking for?" maybe the best you can say
is: Jesus, where will you be staying tonight?
I have shared with you that the
most important decision I made was to invite Jesus into my life. I was only 10.
I had to keep inviting Jesus to come into more and more of my life. Have you
invited Jesus into your life? Have you kept making sure Jesus has more and more
of your life?
Introducing the passage
We have a testimony by John the Baptist to Jesus. Jesus is
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. John the Baptist
encounters divine revelation in order to see who Jesus is. In Isaiah 53:7, the
suffering servant is willing to sacrifice his life for the people of God. The
Passover lamb that the Jewish people eat is a sign of deliverance. I would
refer to I John, where we find Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of
the world (2:2), that God sent the Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins
(4:10), and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1:7). John recognizes
that Jesus has priority. He saw the Spirit of God come upon Jesus at baptism.
This reminds us of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah, on whom the Spirit of the
Lord rests (11:2, 42:1) and thereby anoints the servant to bring good news to
the oppressed, to bring healing to the brokenhearted, and to release people
from the prison they have made for themselves (61:1). The Spirit is empowering
the Son to glorify the Father. The Spirit fills Jesus at the beginning of his
public ministry. At the beginning of his gospel, John continues to make clear
who Jesus is.
After a testimony like that, we ought not to have
surprise that some of the disciples of John the Baptist begin to follow Jesus.
John the Baptist points to Jesus, declares him to him as the Lamb of God, and
two of his disciples follow Jesus. Andrew was one of them, and he will bring
his brother Simon to Jesus. Jesus will immediately give him a new name, Cephas
or Peter. John is inviting us to put ourselves in the position of these first
disciples. They have made the decisive step. We need to keep our eyes open to
see Jesus for who he is and to follow Jesus.
John 1:29-34 is the testimony of John the Baptist
concerning Jesus. We find a similar account in Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 3:13-17,
and Luke 3:21-22.
29 The next day he [The
focus of this passage is not Jesus, but rather, the witnessing faith of John
the Baptist.] saw Jesus coming
toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world! [Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the only
expiatory offering for sin was the goat. The title could refer to the Paschal
lamb, a sign of deliverance for the Jewish people, offered on the eve of
Passover and eaten on the first night of this holy day with bitter herbs and
matzo. A second possible reference is to Isaiah 53:7 and the suffering servant,
one willing to sacrifice for the people of God. Third, Jewish apocalyptic could
refer to the conquering lamb who will destroy evil in the world, a background
that would fit the message of John the Baptist. In some ways, if we go to the
letters of John, the image of the suffering servant and the Passover may best
explain what John means.
I John 2:2 and he is the
atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of
the whole world.
I John 4:10 In this is
love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
atoning sacrifice for our sins.
I John 1:7 but if we walk
in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
I John 5:6 This is the one
who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the
water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit
is the truth.]
30 This is he of whom I
said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ [If
we think of what John the Baptist might mean, he was undoubtedly thinking of
Elijah, who was “before” him by some 900 years. However, if we think of John the
writer of this gospel, he is thinking of the preexistent Logos of the prologue.
John the writer is placing profound Christology on the lips of the John the
Baptist.]31 I myself
did not know him; [but he will know him because he gains special insight
into the divinity of Jesus.] but I
came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to
Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [The imagery goes back to
Isaiah.
Isaiah 9:2 The people who
walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep
darkness-- on them light has shined.
Isaiah 11:2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and the fear of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1 Here is my
servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my
spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
Isaiah 61:1 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the
oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
Pannenberg
will stress that we have here the Spirit already has a part in the mutual
glorification of the Father and the Son, for the Son glorifies the Father in
the power of the Spirit.[6]] 33 I myself did not know him, but
the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the
Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34
And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
[Pannenberg will also stress that the pre-Easter Jesus is filled
with the Spirit.[7]
He also points out that the distinction John the Baptist makes between baptism
with water and the Spirit is one that Christian baptism makes outdated. John
testifies that this one, Jesus, is the Son of God. We could call this the
theological bombshell, in which readers are to make no mistake as to who Jesus
is.[8]
Crucial here is the realization that the movement from ignorance to testimony
is not merely an intellectual journey. Rather, it is part of coming to terms
with divine revelation. We can take or leave divine revelation, but never
produce it ourselves.]
John 1:35-42 has two disciples of John the Baptist and
Simon Peter coming to Jesus.
35 The next
day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he
watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The
two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [In
essence, Jesus has his first two disciples due to the witness of John the
Baptist.]38 When Jesus
turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” [Such
a question may well confront all future followers of
Jesus.] They said to him, “Rabbi”
(which translated means Teacher), (a favorite term in John
for Jesus) “where are you
staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw
where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four
o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and
followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found
his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated
Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said,
“You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated
Peter). [Jesus knows him and chooses him. Further, we see here
a model for discipleship. Readers of this text are called upon to keep their
eyes open, be ready to bear witness to their experiences of Jesus’ holiness,
and follow when Jesus beckons, “Come and see” (v. 39). Disciples are meant to
be actively mindful and mindfully active when it comes to anticipating and then
responding to the initiatives of God in Christ.]
[Karl Barth discusses Jesus as the “true witness” to
God, but Jesus then calls people to witness in the world with him. Of course,
we find no “calling” of Jesus. We do find a calling of the first disciples. In
discussing the New Testament basis for his notion of witness, he thinks this
passage is the place to begin. He notes that the phrase, “follow me,” so
prominent in the Synoptic calls stories, is not present here. John turns to
Andrew first, moving the Eastern branch of Christianity to celebrate him as the
first one called. He notes that Jesus does not call the first disciples
verbally in verses 35-51. Rather, he says that that as soon as they saw Jesus,
they spontaneously followed him. In the passage before us, what we see are
disciples of John the Baptist who met Jesus in company with John and attached
themselves to Jesus when they heard him refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
Simon comes when Andrew said that we have found the Messiah. Throughout the
passage, they have taken the decisive step themselves with an astonishing
freedom and necessity. They have no task or mission. He wonders if the passage
is even a calling at all. For John, it clearly is. Yet, in this coming of the
disciples to Jesus, the decisive acting Subject both in His own sight and
theirs is Jesus Himself. Therefore, Jesus is the one doing the calling, even if
we find no verbal calling in his presentation. The priority of Jesus is the
presupposition of the entire passage. He finds the passage “a strangely
original statement” which we need alongside that of the Synoptic Gospels. What
the Johannine account intends to say is that the encounter of these people with
the man Jesus is strong enough to bring into effect their relationship of
discipleship to Jesus as something already resolved concerning them. He calls
them as they become aware of the existence of Jesus and of the determination of
their own existence for discipleship. He speaks, calls, and summons by the
presence of Jesus. What Jesus calls them to is a highly practical recognition
of the existence of Jesus and commitment to it. In the confession of Andrew,
Philip, and Nathaniel, they have accepted their task and are already engaged in
discharging it.
[1] Why are you sitting here in church this morning? What possibly possessed you to climb out of
your warm bed on a dim, cold, quiet Sunday morning, and come to church ...
again?! Christmas is over,
remember? The tree is down, the
ornaments put away. There is no big holy day scheduled for this Sunday. Yet there you sit. I see you.
Why? What are you looking
for?
Jesus asks this question of
the two men who seemed to be following him. To this query, they answer in
effect: "Uh, well, depends. Where are you staying?" (1:38).
Typical in this Gospel: Jesus asking a question that cuts to the core of
spiritual life, and the response from people is physical. In this case, they
are worried about accommodations. As they see Jesus walking by, and John
pointing him out, they can see that he is a traveling man. When you travel,
accommodations are important, so they have a legitimate concern.
[2] Each of the gospels has their accounts of Jesus taking the initiative
and calling the first disciples. As John relates the story in this passage, it
provides a model for discipleship. The passage calls upon readers to keep their
ears open to the witness concerning Jesus, follow when Jesus beckons, and be
ready to bear witness to their experiences of Jesus “Come and see” (v.
39). A follower of Jesus responds to the initiatives they hear from God. The call
they hear will come through the testimony of other people, but they will hear
it as pointing them to Christ. They will make a move from ignorance of what God
was doing in Christ to witnessing to what God was doing in Christ. This will
not be simply an intellectual journey. They will need to spend time with Christ
in order to discern the ways of God in his life.
[3] Bill Hybels says, “I can’t tell you how many jobs
have been lost, educations have been foregone, marriages have been destroyed,
bank accounts have been blown, all because someone felt sanctioned by God to
take a particular action.”
[4] We want to see Jesus, but our preconceived notions
blind us. One thing that bothers me about Christian political organizations,
whether “right” or “left,” is that both seem to presume so much about Jesus.
They know how Jesus would vote, how Jesus would balance the budget, and on and
on. Ultimately, the Jesus we see is all too often the Jesus we make in our own
image.
[5] I must make two honest confessions to you, my
Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few
years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost
reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block is
not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white
moderate who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice, who prefers a negative
peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence
of justice, who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek,
but I can't agree with your methods of direct action," who
paternalistically believes that he can set the timetable for another man's
freedom.
[6]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 626.
[7]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 6.
[8]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 260.
