Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 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 saying?"  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 teh 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 what is the testimony of John the Baptist, 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."  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."  Here is day two of Christ's ministry, as given by the Gospel of John.  The Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, a fact that makes Christ's baptism greater than John's own baptism repentance, which John performed with water on earth.  My study bible suggests that this parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day of creation in Genesis 1:6-8.  My study bible also notes that John the Baptist declares Jesus to be the Lamb of God, recalling Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Paschal (or Passover) Lamb, my study bible says, who offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study bible also notes that St. John Chrysostom teaches that Jesus came to John this second time so that John would make this declaration and thereby stop anyone from thinking Jesus needed baptism in order to wash away sins.  Furthermore, it is noted that the Holy Spirit, according to John's testimony, remained upon Him, a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  In other words, the Spirit was not received by Christ at His Baptism.  Rather, this is the vision of John that revealed the truth about Christ, that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Him.

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 saying?"  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 teh 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).  These verses give us events that occurred on the third day of the ministry of Christ.  John the Baptist sends two disciples to Jesus, whom Christ gathers to be His own, one of whom He declares to be the foundation of the Church (see Matthew 16:18).  This is a parallel to the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.  The events of this third day of Christ's ministry show us that His first disciples were previously followers of John the Baptist.  They are Andrew, Simon (also known as Peter, or Cephas -- the Aramaic equivalent of the Greek Petros/Peter, or "Stone"), and Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew (who will be introduced in tomorrow's reading).  There is, as well, an unnamed disciple here in these verses, who has been in the history of the Church widely considered to be John, the author of this Gospel.  My study bible notes that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Luke 24:13, in which Luke also does not give his name).  The tenth hour is about four o'clock in the afternoon.

Jesus gathers together His first disciples.  It's interesting that they come together and spend time together.  The text doesn't tell us that Jesus taught them certain things, or immediately began expounding on lessons or commandments, just that they came to see where He was staying (following His invitation/command to "Come and see"), and that they stayed with Him for the rest of the day.   I think this is an important understanding of the fellowship of Christ.  They are not drawn to Him only because of John the Baptist's testimony, although of course that is the highest significance, and they are not drawn to Him because He performs some great and astonishing sign.  Jesus does reveal that He knows Peter in an intimate way, even a prophetic way, but the disciples have no way of knowing whether or not this prophetic naming of Peter is true.  It seems to me that the fellowship described here of simply remaining together is one that the modern world frequently fails to understand.  There is no real mission or purpose here already, in the sense of some stated desire or goal or aim.  But these disciples of John have been led by the Baptist's testimony -- and most importantly, by the gracious invitation of Christ -- to simply spend some time and remain with Him.  It is a kind of fellowship that has to do with more than the mere tangibles of function or of expediency.  This is fellowship of a different kind, one which is working on a level that asks something of the heart to be involved, and the soul, and the spirit.   It is a link formed by Christ with an intimate knowing.  Jesus' entire leadership style will be one in which His own life and persona will form as much of a teaching and bond as anything else.  They will continue to simply spend time with Him, to dwell and live with Him.   We are given His great sermons for the crowds, we are given all the teachings that come up in the course of the discipleship and apostleship of these men.  We are given the corrections He names for them, the things He warns them about, the instructions He gives them.  But all along there is something else that is foundational here, and that is simply the fellowship of belonging and a kind of intimate and personal togetherness, if you will, that -- even in addition to John the Baptist's declaration that Jesus is the Lamb of God -- has something compelling about it.  It is, in one sense, the way that friends may meet and come together, and find that somehow time spent with one another has a compelling value they can't name.  Indeed, it is in John's Gospel that Jesus will declare to the disciples that "I have called you friends" (John 15:15).  For today, let us consider the depth and basis of Christ's fellowship and friendship.  There is an intimate knowing that is part of the connection between all of them, that extends from Christ to form this fellowship and will later be extended in the most intimate ways possible to all of us through the Eucharist.  This fellowship is not merely a set of abstract ideas or prophecies or ideas we follow and pledge ourselves to believe.  There is more; there is simply the joy of belonging, a transcendent sense of love and being known.  Let us consider the ways in which our faith deepens our sense of ourselves through Christ who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, and who calls us by our true names, whereby we know we are His sheep.