Posts
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
Yesterday, we read about the testimony of John the Baptist: Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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." My study bible points out that John's naming of Jesus publicly as the "Lamb of God" is a reminder of Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Is. 53:4-12). It says, "Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19). Let's note also that the text tells us this is "the next day." From the Prologue and its notions of the timeless nature of God, the action in this Gospel switches to the events of successive days. Let us note also the emphasis on revelation ("that He should be revealed to Israel"), the mystical nature of God intervening, appearing within the time of human beings.
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." My study bible says that the Spirit remained upon Jesus "because Christ possesses the Holy Spirit in His fullness." Again, the eternal, the mystical, appears within the times of human beings. This is revelation, an event called Epiphany or Theophany in the Eastern Church -- an appearance of God. Here it is God the Trinity; the revelation of Spirit, and Son, and in the other Gospels, the voice of the Father. So far, John's Gospel has shown us a consistent pointing to the work of the Spirit, the "fullness" of grace and truth which is given to us through these events.
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). My study bible points out that Jesus' first disciples had been followers of John the Baptist. Here we read about Andrew, an unnamed disciple who is "one of the two who heard John speak" (considered likely to have been the author of this Gospel), and Andrew's brother Simon. Cephas is equivalent to Petros in the Greek (making its way into English as "Peter"), which means "rock." In tomorrow's reading, there will be more disciples introduced to Jesus.
Let us consider relationships and relatedness in this Gospel. So far, we have been introduced to brothers who both become disciples, Andrew and Simon Peter. The unnamed disciple here is considered to be John, the author of this Gospel, who was an Apostle along with his brother, James. John the Baptist we know as a cousin of Jesus. But I think the really important inference here isn't about families and bloodlines. Rather, it's the relatedness that is created through the Spirit; in some sense the Gospel tells us that, really, it is relatedness to God, to Christ, that is the ultimate purpose of any form of relatedness we know or understand. We have an in the beginning which begins this Gospel, and the brothers who come as disciples, who are awaiting the Christ, the Messiah, the "Anointed One" of Israel. All of this is action pointing to the Spirit, to the work of God in the world. If we look at the other Book which gives us in the beginning and a narrative of brothers, it is Genesis, where two brothers tell us quite a different story (also, by the way, a part of today's lectionary reading). So, from the perspective of this third reading we have encountered of John's Gospel, we are consistently pointed to the work of God in the world, the Spirit who works within us and amongst us, revealing God, giving us glimpses of the reality of God, intersecting and appearing in the events of man, forming relationships and relatedness, whose action is the product of God's love. And it's there we go for our real understanding of love, and the truth to relatedness which points to a Way -- a particular sense of what love is, what it does, what it is for, how it guides our way of being in the world, relating to God and to one another. All of this is the gift of Christ, is exemplified in the life of Christ, in the effects of God's hand in the world. When we look at the family relationships in the Scripture, we don't get a picture of "family values" as defined simply by blood and flesh. This family is not defined by "I, me and mine." On the contrary, "family values" are defined by the teachings of true family, the love of God, the love of Christ who pulls everyone toward Himself, the sense of relatedness that is defined through this love that cares for "the widow and the stranger" and pulls us into relationships defined by grace and truth. The psalms tell us He sets the solitary in families. When John the Evangelist, writing as disciple, as Apostle and one of the Twelve, tells us that "of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace," this is what he's referring to. In his Epistle, he is the one who will also teach that God is love. Let us remember the work of God in the world, and everything this Gospel points us toward.
