The Lamb of God

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! 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 is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said: "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

- John 1:29-34, 35-42

In yesterday's reading, we were introduced to John the Baptist, and his role as Forerunner -- the one prophesied by Isaiah to announce to the world the presence of the Christ. John quoted Isaiah, in speaking about himself in answer to questions from priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees. He said, "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD, "'as the prophet Isaiah said."

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! 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 is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." Today's reading introduces us to the person of Jesus, the Logos or Christ, the Messiah incarnate as human being. My study bible points out that "John's naming Jesus publicly as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's 'Servant of God' who dies for the transgressions of his people (Is. 53:4-12). Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Pet. 1:18, 19)." John the Baptist introduces us, as well as his own disciples, to Jesus. In this way, the Gospel of John unfolds, introducing us to the characters that make up this story, and that give us the fabric of faith to which we are being invited and introduced. It is important that we understand relationship and community in this context; as believers, our journey of faith is one of relatedness. John the Baptist teaches us what he knows, and gives us his perspective in his own journey of faith: He knows the Christ is preferred before him, and was before him. He tells us, "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." He was given the understanding that his baptism was in preparation for this revelation, to prepare the people for Him. Jesus appears in the gospel as He appeared to John, the One who is in fulfillment of the understanding he was given, the anticipation for which he was baptizing the people. It is faith that gives us our relatedness, our capacity for recognition, and for understanding.

And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Again, John the Baptist bears witness to his own experience of faith. In this case, to the revelation of Jesus as Christ. "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'" Jesus' identity is revealed to the Baptist, and we read through John Zebedee's gospel, the testimony of the Baptist. In this testimony, we are privileged to read the experience of faith, as it led John, the Forerunner.

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Again, the Baptist uses the phrase from Isaiah. It is important that we understand the significance of the Lamb as image. In the tradition of the Law, the lamb as perfect sacrifice was identified with the people, with worshipers. Christ here is named in a particular way; as John's gospel has unfolded to us, we understand He is Creator, Logos, and yet He comes to participate not only with us, but as us. He will be the Lamb of God who stands for all us before God.

The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said: "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone). Here we see relatedness in many forms, and once again, how it works through faith. Jesus' first disciples come through John the Baptist, and are originally John's followers. The first mentioned is Andrew, and, somewhat mysteriously, another unnamed disciple. This is probably the author of this gospel himself, as it was traditional not to name oneself. Their first question is to ask, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Let us think of the relatedness of hospitality, of strangers who come together and are united by something other than blood or other forms of kinship. It is suggestive of the words we read in the beginning of John's gospel: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." These first followers in turn find and bring others; here is mentioned Andrew's brother Simon, whom Jesus "recognizes" and names Cephas or Peter in English (from the Greek, Petros), meaning A Stone. In Christ's recognition of Peter we also find the deepening nature of relatedness, and of faith. Much later on, Jesus' glance toward Peter will tell us so much more of understanding and recognition.

We find in the opening of John's gospel so much that is interesting in terms of the illustration of our faith, and its unfolding in relationship. Something deep within us leads to deeper understanding, and to recognition, and in turn we are recognized. Jesus "names" Peter as a form of recognition, of Creator to creature but more -- as Teacher to disciple, and yet even as friend to friend, brother to brother. Christ is the knower-of-hearts, the One who knows us more deeply than we know ourselves. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter will indeed show himself to be that rock, but until that time we will meet a Peter with that capacity, and yet so much of the exuberant and emotional, who will rely on himself for his own strength, when it is in the capacity for faith that his true identity as Rock will show. Peter is like all of us -- may we be named by Christ for who we can be in Him, in faith, in the Spirit, in relationship to God and to one another. May you be blessed with that recognition, and the relatedness that faith can bring. It will always bring new revelation, an unfolding. John's gospel introduces us to that faith, to the brothers, the friends. May it unfold for you, as well, as a continual journey. Christ is the Lamb of God through whom it all unfolds, for each of us, and who brings us to one another.