Scripture Reading
The next day [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 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.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 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.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 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).
Meditation
I think one of the most astonishing things we see in the gospels is the way in which people follow Jesus, almost without knowing anything about him. A retired pastor from Ohio who writes a daily devotional I see in my inbox, had this to say:
In our day, following Jesus is often seen as an internal matter, involving primarily our minds, our hearts, and perhaps some behaviors. For the disciples, it meant literally changing their lives. They left their jobs and homes [and I would add, their families] and hit the road.[i]
Why? John the Baptist had something to do with that. John was a witness. John saw something, unexpected and otherworldly. John had an experience of God, the Holy Spirit, which was all about Jesus. At Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, John says, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.” In fact, God had told John that this would be the sign when he saw The One, the one he calls the Lamb of God, the one he calls the Chosen One.
So, it makes sense that John would tell his disciples about Jesus, this guy is the real deal. And they take John’s word for something you don’t see every day. When they see Jesus, and he says, “Come and see,” they do exactly that.
This is not how most of us would behave in the year of our Lord 2023. We are bred to be suspicious, we teach our children what we were taught, all about stranger danger, and those warnings carry right into adulthood. A few years ago a colleague told me about classes he was taking, designed to make him his best self. And he began a campaign that lasted several months of trying to get me to come to take the classes. The more he talked about how wonderful and life changing it was, the more suspicious I got. Pretty soon I was sure it was a cult. Maybe I’m overly cautious. Maybe I was right.
We are not socialized to just up and follow strangers, to leave our lives behind for new ones based on the promise that this person, or this class, has all the answers. Even if we have the word of someone we trust, even if we meet their guru and are drawn to them, intrigued by them, there is a part of us that reminds us: It’s just not safe. So we don’t do it.
But in the year of our Lord 30 or so, people, apparently, did do that—at least, a core group of twelve did, and then more, and then still more. What was it about Jesus? What was it that made all of them sit up and take notice, and leave everything and everyone behind? What was it that drew them in?
We hear several different titles for Jesus in this passage—four, to be precise. I think these titles are a clue as to what people saw in Jesus. I think they may help us to answer the question: why would people leave everything behind and follow him?
I’m not going to take the titles in the order they occur in the passage. I’m going to take them in order of complexity, starting with the simplest.
One: Rabbi.
When John points Jesus out to two of his disciples—in other words, people who are already following John as their spiritual leader—they approach Jesus and call him “Rabbi.” Rabbi means “Teacher,” and it’s a title of honor. In Palestine, in the year 30 of the Common Era, a person who is knowledgeable about scripture would be called “Rabbi,” and they would be considered trustworthy. John has told them enough that they want to at least check Jesus out. So, they say, “Where are you staying?” and Jesus says, Come and see. The go. They see.
Two: Messiah.
The disciples go to see where Jesus lives. The gospel-writer wants us to know this takes place at 4 in the afternoon, so I think we are supposed to understand that it’s likely the two men share a meal with Jesus. It’s likely they spend a long time talking to him. They certainly learn enough about him to arrive at a strong conclusion. One of them, Andrew, is the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew goes to find his brother and tells him, “We have found the Messiah.” “Messiah” and “Christ” are words that mean the same thing: anointed. In this case, anointed by God. To say that they have found the Messiah, in the year 30, means that the two men see a leader in Jesus. They see someone whom they believe can stand up to the occupying Roman forces—this is life and death, this is throwing off the yoke of the oppressors—something we know Jesus talked about a lot. To call Jesus Messiah is to give him the title of someone who is going to change, not only their lives, but the world they live him.
Three: Chosen One.
John the Baptist says, “I myself have seen and can testify that he—Jesus—is the Chosen One.” Remember, John baptized Jesus, and the Holy Spirit showed up, and John knew this to be a sure sign. To be the Chosen One is connected to being the Messiah—a figure predicted by scripture, the One everyone has been waiting for. Chosen One also carries echoes of Jesus being God’s Son. Remember, how this gospel opens: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We are all children of God, but scripture means for us to understand that Jesus’ relationship with God is unique. God’s Chosen One, God’s Son, comes among us, to live as we do. It means God will never leave us behind. It means God is always with us.
Four: Lamb of God.
This is the most difficult title for us to understand. That’s because most of us don’t have firsthand experience with sheep and lambs. It’s also because most of us didn’t grow up knowing the story of the Exodus from slavery as a primary text for our faith.
For years I assumed this title for Jesus had to do with sacrifices in the Temple. But that’s not what I learned this week. I learned that the Lamb here is connected to the Passover—that long night when God protects the covenant people from the angel of death. The tenth plague passes over their homes, and their children survive, because the doorposts are marked with the blood of the Passover lamb.
If Jesus is the Lamb of God, then in Jesus there is protection. And if Jesus is the Lamb of God, then we find that his power is found, not in military strength, not in war or brutality, but in vulnerability. As it says in the Episcopal order of worship, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” For the gospel of John, the blood of the Lamb of God is a garment of protection.
Why do some people in the past, and, to be fair, even today, get up and go, leave everything behind to follow Jesus? Maybe because in the Rabbi, we meet someone from whom we sense we can learn something important. Maybe because, in the Messiah, we meet someone who gives us hope for love and peace in a world of violence and chaos. Maybe because, in the Chosen One, we remember that we, too, are God’s children. And maybe because, in the Lamb of God, we find the one whose power lies, not in brutality, but in vulnerability.
We can follow Jesus. We can leave behind those things, those habits, those ways of being, that keep us from following him wholeheartedly. If we are all disciples, it means we are learners. That’s all—just learners. People who know there is ever more to discover, ever more to take in, ever more to understand about the one we call Teacher, Messiah, Chosen One, Lamb of God. We can follow Jesus, because he never ceases to invite us. The invitation is always there. “Come and see.”
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Kurt Keljo, “God Pause for Friday January 13, 2023, John 1:29-42. https://www.luthersem.edu/godpause/2023/01/13/.