Behold the Lamb 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 1:35-42

Yesterday, we read that, on the second day covered in this beginning story of the ministry of Jesus, 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).  My study bible notes that the Lord's first disciples had been followers of John the Baptist.  They were Andrew, Simon (also known as Peter, or Cephas), Philip, Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew), and an unnamed disciple.  Some Fathers suggest the unnamed disciple was John the Evangelist, author of this Gospel, as it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name.   Today's reading can also be seen as the parallel to the third day in the Genesis creation story.  My study bible says that the declaration that Peter or Cephas is to be the foundation of the Church parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land in the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.

In the creation story of Genesis (on the third day), God says, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth."   In today's reading, we have the declaration that Simon shall be called Peter, or Cephas.  Cephas (pronouned "Keefas" in the Greek rendering) is an Aramaic word for rock.  (Petros, from which we get the English name Peter, is Greek for rock.)  The parallel here to the earth in Genesis is that we need a firm foundation for bringing forth the fruits Christ wishes of us, and Peter is declared that foundation.  He's not the first disciple to follow Jesus, that's Peter's brother Andrew.  Sometimes I like to think that Jesus' name for Peter is little bit playful, as well as entirely truthful about him.  After all, Peter is the one in the Gospels whose exuberance often undoes him.   Perhaps most spectacularly, Peter declares he would die before betraying Christ, and yet he went on to deny Him three times in the courtyard of the high priest's house on the night of Jesus' trial.  This event is so significant that it is covered in all four Gospels (Matthew 26:33-35, Mark 14:29-31, Luke 22:33-34, John 13:36-38).  And we can't help but think that there's a great message here.  After all, why would all four Evangelists report this rather incredible failure on Peter's part, if he is indeed Cephas, or Petros, the rock, and so declared by Jesus?  It's another one of those central paradoxes to our faith, and that is so significant, that it is the power of our faith itself in Christ that creates of us the people He wishes us to be.  It creates of us the fruits He wants us to bear, with His help.  When Jesus names Simon Peter, He's indeed speaking of the true person He's created Peter to be, the one whom Peter will become in faith, as disciple and apostle, and leader of the apostles.  With the bestowal of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, all lives will change.  Peter will show himself to be the rock that bears the fruit of the Church, the fruit of the faith of Christ, one who will lead the way in strength, and go to his own death as foretold also by Jesus in this Gospel (see John 21:15-19).  It's one of these essential understandings of faith to see the "weaknesses" in Peter and the truth about what faith and God's power, grace and truth, will bring out of him, make of him, for all of us.  We don't have to be the perfect human vessels we think we have to be for God's power to work through us.  It's a central paradox of faith, and stands human (or rather, "earthly") reasoning on its head.  We don't have to be Superman, or a super-hero, for our faith to work and produce its fruits.  Perhaps the most characteristic statement of this truth comes from Saint Paul, who was told, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."  (See 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.)   In tomorrow's reading, we'll get yet another hint of how human ideas of perfection are not what God looks for, not the source of the fruits we're given in this ministry.  Let us remember this central paradox of our faith, as we head through Lent.  What is it God calls us to be?  How does Christ love us?  How do we really bear the fruits of His faith?