John 1:29-42
January 16, 2011
We’re so used to this story and the words, “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” I think when we read this passage from John about the first disciples of Jesus, we no longer notice that the disciples are really quite crazy. There is so little about their actions and responses that makes sense to me, and the author of the gospel of John feels little need to help me out with that. In contrast to other parts of the gospel, here we get a dry, reporter-like version of what turns out to be this extraordinary moment in these disciples’ lives. Elsewhere, the author is happy to say things like, “They did this because they were afraid of being expelled from the synagogue.” Here, nothing. No explanations for actions. And frankly, I really want to know what on earth motivated the disciples in this case because it all seems a little crazy.
First, you have their response to John the Baptist. These two disciples believed the most extraordinary thing based merely on the words of John the Baptist – a questionable character to say the least...locusts, funny clothes and all. The author gives us no indication of why the disciples believed John when he said Jesus was the Lamb of God. They must have really trusted John! They knew the language he was using. They had been waiting for the Lamb of God – understood that to be a metaphor for the Messiah, so they were set to follow the Lamb of God when that person appeared. But really? All it took was for John the Baptist to say, “There he is.”? I wish I had that kind of power. I’m sure none of you would move a muscle if I said, “Hey, there’s a guy walking by in our parking lot. That’s the messiah. Go with him.”
Jesus himself was doing nothing – just walking along. According to the author, there was absolutely nothing impressive about him this day. The day before, John the Baptist witnessed the spirit descending on him like a dove, but only John was there for this awe-inspiring event in this gospel. For these two disciples, this was the first glimpse…a guy walking by. This is the first Jesus appears on the scene to the masses. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t appear to even stop, let alone do anything “Messiah-like”. Regardless, our eager disciples listened to John and followed Jesus.
Which leads to the second oddity in the disciples’ behavior: They are told this is the Lamb of God and because of presumably great trust in John the Baptist, they believe it. But then, they are about to speak their first words to him – the very one they have been waiting their whole lives for, and this is what they come up with: “Hey Rabbi, where you stayin’?” Maybe they were nervous and didn’t know what to say. Maybe it was the best they could come up in a star-struck state. Maybe they didn’t really believe John in the first place and were kind of skeptically checkin’ this guy out. Again, we don’t know. But surely this question – where you stayin’? – doesn’t quite seem worthy of this moment. And Jesus’ response isn’t much better, in my humble opinion. His first words in the gospel seem no more impressive at first glance. “Come and see.”
Finally, the most odd and extraordinary thing of all: After seeing where Jesus was staying, the disciples proclaimed – “This is the one – the Messiah for whom we have all been waiting.” That must have been one impressive house! Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for generations and generations, this would be the biggest moment of any Jew’s life, and the way the author of John tells it reads like a police blotter: no emotion, no motivations, no back story, just the facts…or so it seems.
We are thrown a bone in that the reporter tells us that when they went to where Jesus was staying, they remained there with him for a while. Maybe it’s that unaccounted for time that is the key. Maybe hidden in there is the amazing thing that happened to convince them. Maybe something Jesus did that day so affected them that they just knew in their hearts who he was. Again, our reporter doesn’t say what they saw, heard, or experienced while they were there – he just tells us the time of day, as if that is supposed to explain it all.
But maybe the sparseness of the account, along with some carefully chosen words, is what makes this passage so powerful to us today…because as so often is the case in this gospel, it’s not just about the disciples. This is about us, about our response to Jesus, about the claims we make and how we do or don’t follow the Lamb of God. It’s in what the author didn’t say that we find our own invitation to Come and See – our invitation to meet Jesus and be changed by that encounter. The author seems disinterested in what the disciples might have experienced in that house that led to such an amazing claim. But maybe what looks like disinterest is really an invitation to ask ourselves, “What would have had to happen in that house that day for us to proclaim Jesus as Messiah?” Or the more relevant question: “What does it take today?”
This invitation of Jesus to the disciples, “Come and see,” as so often is the case in this gospel, has a much deeper meaning than at first glance. Since it is the first thing Jesus utters in this gospel, we can assume it had the upmost importance for author of the gospel of John. It is an invitation – the invitation – to the disciples and all who would hear to have their eyes opened to the truth – “see” is meant in the sense of having insight, understanding. Those disciples “saw” something that day that changed their lives forever – they gained insight into who Jesus was, and by extension who God was. They decided from that moment onward to follow Jesus and invite others to do the same.
We don’t know what caused their transformation. But we can ask what it takes for us to decide to follow Jesus. Before we do, though, we have to stop and take a moment to think about what it means to “follow Jesus.” Obviously this is not easily answered. You could argue that figuring out what it means to follow Jesus is the entire task of faith. But, it is a question we ask – a question the earliest church was always asking. And as we do – as we ask what it means to follow Jesus – it’s always good to remind ourselves that we are human. At best we follow Jesus in some moments. Or, we follow Jesus as best we can always. Following Jesus does not always look pretty or perfect, just as it didn’t for the disciples. But it does mean committing to something – to someone – to a new way of looking at the world.
Remembering our humanity, we also acknowledge that we ask what it means to follow Jesus from our own unique contexts - from our place in the world, which is different from the disciples’ and different from each others’. It’s what makes the question so hard at times. Following Jesus doesn’t look the same for everyone because no matter what we are doing at any given point in our lives – no matter what our job, where we are living, who we are surrounded by – we can follow Jesus. Sometimes that means changing jobs, moving, or surrounding ourselves with different people. Sometimes it means radical shifts in thought and action. Most of the time it means living where we are, but differently. Doing our jobs differently, living in our communities differently, being in relationships differently – doing these things in ways that we believe reflect Jesus as best we can.
Following Jesus is about what or who we allow to form who we are and how we do things. Is it other people’s expectations, is it cultural values and norms, is it friends and family, or is it Jesus? This passage – Come and See – offers us the chance to decide who or what we will follow – who are what we will look to for our guidance, our worldview, our direction. Andrew proclaims Jesus is the Messiah. It’s a moment of ultimate commitment – saying this is the one who will shape everything I do, even if it’s hard or requires a lot of me. Which bring us back to our question: What happened to Andrew to evoke such a commitment – such a dramatic, life-changing response? And what does it take for us to do the same?
I think sometimes we come to church for the same reasons the disciples wanted to see where Jesus was staying. We’re looking for something that tells us this Jesus guy really is the one we’re looking for. We’re looking for something that tells us how to live and who to follow. Maybe we come here hoping to find whatever the disciples found that day in the house - proof of some sort that makes us stand up and say, “Ah ha! This is it! Here is the Messiah, and I am ready to change my life entirely to follow him.”
Is what you find here enough? When you go looking for Jesus – for proof – for evidence that Jesus really is God and the one you should shape your life around – do you find it? Is what you find here, or in your prayers, or in the bible, or in sermons or music enough?
The invitation to come and see wasn’t just an invitation to the house that day. It wasn’t just to come and see where he was staying. It was to come and remain with Jesus – to be with him. Remain is a another one of those key words in the gospel of John. The gospel doesn’t end here – with Andrew’s proclamation. In fact, even though Andrew and others would immediately claim Jesus was the Messiah – they also would learn they didn’t quite understand what that meant yet for their lives. They would have moments of doubt, moments of ignorance, moments of despair. Only eight verses later Jesus would say to Andrew, “you haven’t seen anything yet. Hang on, stay with me, you’re going to see so much more.” In other words, faith is a life-long process of remaining with Jesus and constantly shaping our lives around what we learn, see, experience and find.
I think there is enough about Jesus’ life – even if we only have a partial picture in our scriptures – that is compelling. And like the disciples eventually will, we get to see the whole of that life, not just Jesus walking by one day and a funny looking guy telling us he’s the one. We see how he changed people’s lives, offered hope, brought people back into community, loved so deeply he was willing to give his life for others.
And I think this is all more than just mere inspiration. Jesus is our best guess at what God would look like if God were a person, but God continues to live and impact our lives, change us, form us through worship, through community, through study and prayer. Like the disciples, when we seek God, meet God, remain with God for a while, something in us knows that this God we meet, who we best know through Jesus, is what we want to shape our lives around.
We remember the life of Jesus, but we also see places in this world now where God is active and we want to be a part of that activity. Places where people are being served, healed, loved, restored, and brought into community. These can be little things – little moments of feeling connected to who God is and what God is up to in this world. But these little moments can impact us in profound, sustainable ways. A Franciscan sister wrote an article about what things, as she puts it, “aid my commitment to ongoing conversion.” First she talks about communion, scripture, and parental wisdom. Then she writes, “A friend has on her answering machine: “Peace, my friends. Pray for peace and agitate for peace.” “Her words,” she writes, “energize me as I live this challenge.”
What does it take for you? What increases your commitment to ongoing conversion as a follower of Jesus? When you have an idea about what that is – if it is worship, or another person who inspires you, or a particular prayer, or music, or message on an answering machine, remember the words of the gospel of John: Remain there for a while. Sit with it, immerse yourself in it, allow your encounter with the divine to wash over you, enter you, encourage you. Too often we let those moments slip away, write them off or forget them when the daily-ness of life takes over again.
For some, the events of this last week have given pause. For some, the shootings have provided a chance to stop and reflect about what it means to be a follower of the God of nonviolence, of hope, and of unity. In the massive tragedy in Tucson, some have also found inspiration to live differently with those with whom we disagree. It will be easy to move past this, forget that feeling, and go back to business as usual. Let’s remain there a while. Let’s allow the spirit of unity that we find in such moments to really change us. Let’s come out of this experience as Andrew came out of the house and proclaim: I have found the Messiah – the one I am going to follow, give my life to, shape my life around.
We are invited by the divine all that time: “Come and see what I am doing in this world. Come and dwell in me as I move in this world for peace, love and justice. Come and find in me healing and hope. Come and stay with me until you are ready to give your life over to a new way of being in this world.” What would it take? Come and see. Amen.
