John 1 29-42

The Christian calendar moves quickly. Here we are only a few weeks after Christmas and by the end of the first chapter of  John’s Gospel we are quickly taken from “the Word made flesh”  to the baptism of Jesus to John the Baptist’s declaration that he, Jesus, is the chosen one and on to Jesus’s ministry beginning as he gathers his first disciples including Andrew and Peter.

These verses from John’s Gospel are very familiar to us with some of the words and phrases resonating in our routine practice worship such as:

“The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice that will be accepted on our behalf. Jesus’ work is for everyone not just the righteous.

“The Chosen One”, the “Messiah” (Christ)– Jesus is not just a very good man. He is divine, he is God incarnate.

However, there are some phrases and actions in this passage which seem quite mundane yet are actually very significant.

Firstly, when two of John’s disciples saw Jesus and followed him Jesus turned round and said, “What do you want”.

When they asked him where he was staying, he said: “come and you will see”.

“What do you want?”. You can put the emphasis on different words of this phrase to take it from the aggressive to the exasperated to the genuine enquiry- What are you looking for?

Are we looking for temporary fixes? Are we looking for answers to tragedies or disasters or are we longing for meaning, purpose, forgiveness, and wholeness. Jesus rarely gives direct answers and in this passage he doesn’t tell us what we should want or what we should be looking for but over the course of his ministry he points to something deep and unselfish where deeds such as compassion, love, justice and generosity are foremost.

When asked where he is staying Jesus does not simply give his address. He gives an invitation- “Come and you will see”.  To truly find out about Jesus we need to follow him. Perhaps we could combine “What do you want?” with “Come and you will see” in the following ways:

Do you want healing and wholeness? Come and you will see.

Do you want forgiveness and reconciliation? Come and you will see.

Do you want justice and change? Come and you will see.

Do you want light and clarity? Come and you will see.

Do you want life and life abundant? Come and you will see.

Jesus’ invitation takes us beyond observation and towards experience. It is a call to join him, learn from him and discover His presence in our lives.

It doesn’t end there. Jesus calls us to be his disciples and to share our experience with others. He empowers and fortifies us to do that just as he took Simon the fisherman and transformed him into Peter the Rock. Jesus saw in Simon/Peter a potential that he himself did not see. What potential does he see in us?

So, what are the key messages we can take away from this passage and apply to ourselves?

We should:

•  embrace the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.
• accept His invitation to “Come and See”.
• share our experiences with others so that they may also come and see.

Amen

John Foxon