The Second Sunday after Epiphany ----- 15 January 2017

John 1:29-42

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 ). 

They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see."

·        The two men who followed after Jesus after the words of John make a simple enough request: “Where are you staying?” As with many things in the Scripture, there are a number of meanings here.

·        To ask where someone is staying is simple enough. How can we know where we are going unless we know our destination? Exactly why this would matter to these disciples of John is not something we can see right up front. It may be obvious to us that they were asking more than Jesus’ address.

·        The question carries the message of asking “What are you about?” The translation falls sort. The original language carries a meaning of “Where do you remain? Where can we find you? How can we be part of what you’re doing?”

·        If John the Baptizer has call this man the “Lamb of God”, even that phrase carries a depth of meaning. Calling Jesus the “Lamb of God” invokes references to the sacrificial lamb of the Passover, something very familiar to all Jewish people. The Passover Lamb is sacrifice, food, and sign to the people. The pure lamb is sacrifices as praise to God. It is eaten to sustain the people on their Exodus journey. The blood of the lamb marks the door posts of the people’s houses as a sign of fidelity to the covenant in the face of the destroying angel. That’s a lot of weight for a small phrase to carry!

·        This title must have made the two men curious about the one John called the Lamb of God. They had to see what he was about… and what made him the Lamb of God.

·        When they asked “Where do you stay?” or “Where do you remain?”, Jesus answer is interesting: “Come and see.” Again the answer carries more than an invitation to tea and cookies and a tour of the house. He’s saying “Come and know! Come and hear! Come and experience what I’m about! Come and be part of what I’m about!”

·        That approach appears to have worked for Jesus. Andrew, one of the two who came and saw, soon went to his brother, Simon, and brought him to Jesus. Jesus not only welcomed Simon but made him a new person by giving him a new name – Cephas, which we translate as Peter. Both names are a variation of “Rock” in Aramaic or Greek. We all know how this name fits in to the Gospel story.

·        Come and see. Jesus’ invitation has been taken by many congregations as their basic was of receiving new members. Programs inside and signs outside are both fine in their own ways, but the personal invitation of a congregation member to another person can and quite often does make the difference.

·        “Come and see” is the best answer to the question Jesus asked of the two who followed after him – “What are you looking for?” That phrase might be better said as “What are you seeking?” That carries a more personal tone and expresses a deeper longing and desire than the first question, which could be a more simple and common search for a lost item. “Seeking” carries a sense of a lifetime search.

·        What is it we are seeking? Now, that’s a question of a lifetime! Seeking to acquire “stuff” or to attain to honours and glory may seem to satisfy, but only for a time. Things break and fail. Honour and glory fades and is forgotten… and that’s a lesson that societies never seem to learn. All that endures and abides never seems to be desirable until wisdom is learned through seeking, age, or tragedy.

·        In this, Come and see remains the central message of the Gospel of John and our call as Christians.

·        If you wish to be filled with the bread that satisfies and the water that give life, come and see Jesus. If you are seeking the meaning of love, come and see Jesus. If you are seeking the way, the truth, and the life, come and see Jesus. If you want to enter into life everlasting, come and see Jesus. If you wish to know God, come and see Jesus.

·        And keep coming and seeing until you are no longer a spectator but are part of the Story. (N.T. Wright) When we come and see, the story of Jesus becomes our story and Jesus’ story is extended through us.

·        What are we seeking? Each one of us has to answer that question for themselves; no one else can answer it. Finding the answer is a life-long process and to “Come and see” is to both find the way and find the answers.

·        A long time ago, a Christian teacher from North Africa, Augustine wrote “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” The seeking comes from how we are made; the finding is all within the grace of God.

·        The invitation is there: “Come and see.” That is also the only way to find what we are truly looking for.

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?" He said to them, "Come and see."