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)

 

 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 1:29-42 

 

Yesterday, we were given the first day of seven in the ministry of Christ.  It began with 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 comments that John's declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God is a recollection of Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb; He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time in order for John to make this declaration; thereby it stops anyone from thinking that Christ needed baptism to wash away sins.  

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 remarks on the passage telling us that the Spirit remained upon Him.  It notes that this is a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism.  This vision that John saw revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ.  This concludes the second day given in John's Gospel, in which John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's baptism of repentance, which was performed with water and on earth.  It parallels the separation of water above from water below on the second day of creation is Genesis 1:6-8.

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).  Here we learn that Christ's first disciples had been first followers of John the Baptist.  These first two chosen as disciples of Christ are Andrew, and his brother Simon, also known as Peter or Cephas.  (Both Peter and Cephas mean A Stone, or Rock; Peter comes from the Greek Petros/Πετρος and Cephas is Aramaic in origin).  Here is the third day we're given in this Gospel, in which John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ and Christ gathers them as His own -- one of whom He here declares to be the foundation of the Church (see Matthew 16:18).  This third day in the Gospel parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day of creation in Genesis 1:9-13.  Let us note that there is a third person, unnamed, who has heard John the Baptist speak about Christ, and he is considered to be John, the author of the Gospel. 

As John's Gospel tells us the story, Jesus takes on His first disciples.  As noted above, there are actually two disciples who hear John the Baptist's  pronouncement, "Behold the Lamb of God!"   One is Andrew, and the other is not named.  These two disciples then follow Jesus and spend the day with Him.  This second, unnamed disciple is present to tell us that Andrew then went to find his brother Simon.  And then we hear something extraordinary.  Simon is brought to Jesus.  But then we're told, now when Jesus look at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).  In Matthew's Gospel, for example, Jesus tells Simon that he shall be called Peter in response to Peter's confession of faith, made on behalf of all the disciples:  "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (see Matthew 16:16-18).  But here, we have John the Evangelist's early witness (the one who does not speak of himself as the second disciple with Andrew).  John is telling us something very important about Jesus, and that is His ability, as a divine Person, to see into a person and know something about an outcome far away in time.  Jesus can see what we might call Peter's telos, or "end."  That Greek word means end, but in the sense of the fullness of a journey, completion.  We know all the hoops and pitfalls and stumbling blocks Peter will come to, for the New Testament tells us about many of them, but Christ sees the fullness of the outcome of Peter's life, and crowns him, "Rock" (or Peter, as derived from the Greek of the Gospels).  Christ's vision of Peter as he truly is, or will become, is a signal of His divinity given to us by John the Evangelist and disciple as witness.  He has insight into Peter that only Christ can have, for it is Christ who is the guardian and creator of the true image of who we are, and who we can grow into through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.  As yesterday marked the Feast of the Transfiguration (Metamorphosis in Greek) for many denominations of the Church, this is a good example of what is understood as theosis.  That is, the process whereby a person, through participation in the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ, and through the grace of the Spirit, becomes transformed, transfigured into this image that only Christ can teach us about ourselves.  It is through spiritual experience that this happens -- that trying, difficult, stumbling, insightful, and exalting process that we see unfold in Peter throughout the New Testament and into the life of the early Church.  A classic statement regarding the understanding of Jesus Christ as God Incarnate is given by St. Athanasius and others:  God became man so that man could become a god (or "like god").  This is the power of faith, and the vision of Christ for Peter as Rock, that powerful rock of faith in his confession that would become the foundation of the Church, is our example of that statement.  Peter will grow to conform to the image that Christ has of who he is, and this is true of the process of faith (to work the works of God, as John's Gospel will tell us) for each of us.  Each one has a role to play, just like the anonymous witness in today's passage who would go on to give us this Gospel.  Let us be attentive to our faith in our daily life, and Christ's seeds giving birth within us to the life He offers, as He sees us.

 

 

 

 

Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit

 

 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."

 

- John 1:29-34 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, from Luke's Gospel.   It is a parable that sets the tone for Lent.  Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to haven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  For the verses in John's Gospel just prior to today's see Tuesday's reading and commentary.

 

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."  This is the second day of seven given in John's Gospel, in this story of the begining of Christ's public ministry.  My study Bible comments here that John's declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  It notes that Christ is the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, and He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible further cites St. John Chrysostom as teaching that Jesus came to John this second time in order for John to make this declaration, and thereby stop anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins. 

 

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 asks us to note that the text tells us the Spirit remained upon Him.  It remarks that we are to understand this as a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism; rather this vision that John saw revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  In this second day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's own baptism of repentance, which was performed with water on earth.  This parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 6:1-8.  

In our previous reading and commentary from John's Gospel (on Tuesday), we noted how John the Baptist acts from faith.  We must differentiate faith from knowing with certainty, or with proofs.  John the Baptist, in today's reading, declares about Jesus, whom He has just pronounced the Lamb of God, "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."  This was a revelation to John in the right moment in time, the moment God chose for the revelation of Jesus to John, and for John to reveal to his disciples (from among whom will come the first disciples of Jesus).  It is highly significant that we understand how much faith plays a role in all that we do and all that we know.  John has been baptizing in his ministry of repentance all along, in expectation of the Messiah, but without knowing precisely who the Messiah is.  Here, the Messiah is revealed also as the Lamb of God.  Again, the language is so important here, because what has been revealed to John the Baptist is Jesus as the Lamb which will be the ultimate sacrifice, the one sacrifice for all of us to come, for all time.  He is that Paschal lamb, which would be shared in the Eucharist for the life of the Church, and which unites the whole community of the people of God, including those who were to come from among the Gentiles.  This is how we understand Jesus as the Lamb of God.  In the ancient world, sacrifice was common to virtually all religions.  In the sacrifice, a meal was prepared to share among whichever god (God) was worshiped and with the people of that deity.  For the Jews, we can read from the Old Testament, the entire system of sacrifice and temple worship was about uniting the people and making community -- with God and in righteousness.  So it was also a reflection of the other, pagan religions and their own varied gods.  Even though distinct from the Jews, the sacrifice system had this similar concept of a communal meal.  With Christ as the Lamb of God, we are to understand, with every Eucharist, that this is our communal meal, and He Himself is the One sacrifice that unites and feeds the community.  This concept of sacrifice is similar to the idea of inviting a friend over, or preparing a meal for family:  one gives and another receives, but the whole purpose is for community, for peace, for friendship, for love.  Our Eucharist continues to embody this understanding.  But without faith, this cannot exist.  Without faith, John the Baptist could not engage in his ministry of baptism in preparation for the Messiah whom he did not know until it was revealed to him by the same One who sent him to baptize with water.  John the Baptist is a towering figure, widely revered as a holy man in his own time, but who bridges the Old and the New Testaments, linking the old covenant with the new.  But all of that happens only through faith.  And so it is that we must also view our own lives in faith, for this remains very important and of the essence to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.  We don't live by proofs or certainty, but by something else that leads us just as John the Baptist was also led.  In this we join in community with all the "great cloud of witnesses," with the saints and faithful who are uncountable who've come before us, with those who also worship with us in heaven, who live to God.  We join in this great community also through the Lamb of God, just as John the Baptist was joined by faith in the story of salvation.  Let us rest in that faith, take heart in it, and know that faith also means unknowing.  It means we follow even what we cannot fully know nor comprehend, for no one can fully know nor comprehend God save God.  We live in an age that somehow demands certainty and proofs, photos and links, can call almost anything disinformation through logical fallacy or omission, and in which we have all new technology through which to scatter doubts and fears -- and just as potent "certainties."  But we live by faith; we live by faith in something that has proven itself over and over again through the human experience of God's love and redemptive power at work in our lives and through the faith of those who've come before us, those who witness to us daily through their own prayers and righteous lives because of the love of God.  If there is any sort of certainty that we can pick for ourselves, let us choose to be certain that faith may lead us to love and to the righteousness that makes beauty, adds luster to life even in the darkest of circumstances, redeems us from what is desperate and even without hope.  It is there we take heart and our forward direction, because after all, what does the world offer that is preferable to that which we have seen and known?  In Hebrews 11:1, St. Paul writes that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  He adds, "For by it the elders obtained a good testimony."  And this is where we start today, with the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.  For by it we have obtained the good testimony of John the Baptist that Christ is the Lamb and Son of God, a testimony in which so many have joined.

 

 

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)

 

 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 1:29-42 

 

Yesterday we read 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."  This is the second day given in John's Gospel, in a parallel to the creation story in Genesis.  John the baptist declares here that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than his own baptism of repentance, performed with earthly water alone.  We should note in this context that when Jesus discusses Christian baptism with Nicodemus in chapter 3, the words translated as "born again" literally mean "born from above" in the Greek text (John 3:1-8).   My study Bible suggests this parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 1:6-8.   My study Bible also comments that John's declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls 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, and offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible also cites St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that Jesus came to John the Baptist this second time in order for John to make this declaration, thereby stopping anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins.  Note also that the Spirit remained upon Him; this is considered in tradition a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  In other words, He did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism.  Instead, this vision which John saw revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  

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).  Christ's first disciples were already followers of John the Baptist.  They were Andrew; Simon (also known as Peter, or Cephas); Philip and Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew; see verses 43-45); and an unnamed disciple here in today's passage, who some patristic commentaries say was John the Evangelist, author of this Gospel.  It was a common literary device, my study Bible says, for a writer not to give his own name (see Luke 24:13).  This is the third day given in John's Gospel, in which John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ whom Christ gathers to be His own, declaring Simon (Peter) Cephas, meaning A Stone, and revealing him to be the foundation of the Church (see Matthew 16:18).  My study Bible says that this parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land in the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.

In yesterday's reading and commentary we remarked upon the understanding that it is in being face to face with Christ that we find our true identity, true self.  St. John the Baptist shows himself (again in yesterday's reading, above) as one who is supremely humble before Christ, and thereby apprehends entirely his place in salvation history as prophet, and last in the lineage of the Old Testament prophets, herald of the Christ.  In today's reading, we are given a taste of the same phenomenon regarding identity, when Jesus names Simon Cephas, or A Stone.  The name "Peter" is also derived from the Greek version of this name, Petros, meaning Stone.  As we read in the Gospels, Peter is practically anything but a stable stone to begin with.  He is frequently carried away by his emotions.  He challenges Christ's prophecy of His death by denying that this was even conceivable, and in so doing is "rewarded" with a remarkable rebuke from Jesus ("Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" - Matthew 16:23).  He fails to stay awake and pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" - Matthew 26:40-41).  Of course we all know about his denial that he was a disciple of Christ three times before a servant girl, while Jesus was on trial inside the home of the Chief Priest (see Matthew 26:69-76), deeply humiliating and disappointing himself.  But it is Peter who confesses Jesus to be Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16), and it is upon this rock of faith that Christ says He will build His Church.  Of course, Peter would go on to be a great leader and spokesperson among the apostles, leading the Church in its birth and infancy, and dying a death of martyrdom, also prophesied by Christ in this Gospel (John 21:15-19).  So, in today's reading, when we read, 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), it is clear that this is a revelation of identity that no one else knows:   not Peter, not his brother Andrew, nor none of the disciples.  It is an identity that would not surface in its fullness until much, much later, and would be revealed through Peter's life subsequent to Pentecost, and in its fullness only in the duration of Peter's life.  But nevertheless it is yet another demonstration about identity found only in our relationship to Christ.  The Lord is called the "heart-knower" (Acts 1:24), rendered a single word in Greek:  καρδιογνώστης/kardiognostes.  For those who would follow Him, it is in the relationship -- specifically in a life of prayer and also participation in the other sacraments and worship of the Church -- that we come to find ourselves, to know ourselves, as it is Christ who truly reveals the heart.  We may seek to imitate and adopt all kinds of things and images we learn from the world around us, but the depths of the heart are found there, in a prayerful life, and in the realities of the struggle for faith and truth we will find in such a life with Christ.  

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 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 the testimony of John, when the religious leaders 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."   The Gospel gives us another day ("the next day" or the second day of this beginning week of Jesus' ministry, paralleling the creation story of Genesis.)  This second day specifically parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 1:6-8.  My study bible explains that John's declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ, who is the true Paschal (or Passover) Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from both darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time so that John could make this declaration, thus stopping anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins. 

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 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."  That the Spirit remained upon Him teaches us that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  He did not receive the Holy Spirit at baptism.  Instead, we are to understand that the vision that John saw revealed the truth of Christ -- that the Holy Spirit had always rested upon Him.  Thus, this is called Epiphany (in the East) or Theophany; it is a manifestation or showing forth of God the Trinity.

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).  The Gospel gives us the third day in these verses, in which John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ, whom Jesus gathers to be His own.  One of them, Simon, is immediately given a name which declares him to be the foundation of the Church (see also Matthew 16:18).  This third day of John's Gospel parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.  Jesus' first disciples were first followers of John the Baptist; these would grow to include not only Andrew and Simon, or Cephas, mentioned here, but also in tomorrow's reading will expand to include Philip and Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew).  There is in addition an unnamed disciple in today's reading (one of the two of his disciples with whom John stood), who according to some patristic writers is John, the author of this Gospel.  It was, in Christ's time, a common literary device for a writer not to give his own name (see Luke 24:13-18, in which only one disciple is named of the two traveling the road to Emmaus). 

As John's Gospel unfolds the story of this beginning of Jesus' ministry, we can take a perspective on how great things grow.  That is, we see the unfolding of these events day by day.  There is no great declaration to the world that an Empire has begun, or some great event that shakes the foundations of material power.  Instead, the Christ is revealed by the one who prepared the way for Him, but not to the great powers of the world and its rulers.  Jesus begins gathering disciples one by one, from John who is the witness to the Spirit and the voice of the Father who declares Christ the Son.  It starts in God's time, and on God's terms.  Almost all of the events of Jesus' life start "small," so to speak.  Even the feeding of five thousand in the wilderness begins with simply a few provisions at hand (Matthew 14:13-21).  If we could but look at how God unfolds God's plans in the world, we may be given insight as to our own lives and our own plans, and how things work on levels we don't know.  Our lives are not about spectacular declarations and devices.  Instead, we live with God in mind, with prayer, and with an investment in time that allows what is worth having, being, and doing to unfold through God's purposes.  We don't know the blessings that may be infinite which are contained in one person we meet, one happenstance or chance calling in life.  Out of the relatively small things we think are present to us, we may receive uncountable blessings if used in the proper way, at the proper time, and for the right purposes.  We simply can't discount what is possible with God.  What is striking about today's reading is its "smallness" and "privateness."    There is nothing grandiose here, even in an age of grandiosity, in a place in which Herod the Great had set the tone for building of Empire.  Everything is done in humility, a quality for which John the Baptist is exemplary as a saintly figure.  The Baptist does not reveal Christ to the religious leadership nor to the state rulers.  This is a vision given to him about which he later testifies; the most immediate revelation is simply to two of his disciples that this is the Lamb of God.  All things unfold from there.  If we are to take this story seriously, we are to understand that God does not work the way we work, and that we can but leave things to God's hands, and ask that we participate with our own lives in that continual unfolding as God works within us.

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."

- John 1:29-34

In Monday's reading, we read 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."  That John the Baptist declares Jesus the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God," says my study bible.  In Isaiah the Servant dies for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Pascal (Passover) Lamb.  He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  St. Chrysostom comments that Jesus came to John the Baptist this second time in order for John to make this declaration, and so stop anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away His sins.

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 descending and remained upon Him was a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  Christ did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptist.  Instead, this vision which John saw reveals the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ.

So much of the Gospels concern question of identity.  The authorities from Jerusalem always seem to ask Jesus, "Who are You?"  They come from Jerusalem (in Monday's reading) to ask John the Baptist the same question.  The "worldly" authorities of the faith continually demand signs of proof of identities for these figures of the Gospels.  But in today's reading, we're given another sign of authority and identity.  John the Baptist testifies, "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.'"   This is a different kind of identifying, a way of clarifying who someone truly is.  The Holy Spirit makes the identity clear, descending and resting upon Jesus.  This evocative of King David.  In 1 Samuel 16:1-12, the Prophet Samuel is called by God to find the new king who will replace Saul as king of Israel.  After meeting all the sons of Jesse, Samuel had still not found the one.  But there was the youngest, who was tending sheep.  Jesse sent for David, and the text tells us, "Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!"  The anointing of David is an anointing of oil blessed by the Spirit.  Christ's anointing comes with the descent of the Spirit and directly remaining upon Him, a kind of choosing and declaring exactly who He is.  Just as Samuel is told whom he must anoint, so John the Baptist, the last and greatest of Old Testament prophets, is told and led to the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah (meaning "Anointed One").  All is in defiance of worldly expectation, just as with King David.  In the story of the choosing of David as king, the Lord says to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  Over and over, the work of the holy throughout Scripture tells us the same:  man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  And this is the question that is posed before us, over and over again.  How do we know what is holy?   How can we see as God sees, or what God wants us to see?  This is the real question, and John's Gospel is meant to help us answer that question.  We should also note that this is the second day given in John's Gospel, which corresponds to the second day of Creation in Genesis.  John the Baptist declares that Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, which is greater than John's own baptism with water for repentance, performed with water on earth.  It parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 1:6-8.  Again, we are asked, how do we know what is holy?  Christ Himself is here to answer.  And John the Baptist gives his testimony.

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."

- John 1:29-34

On Monday we began to read 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 Bathabara 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 tells us that John's declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of His people  (see Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ is the true Paschal (or Passover) Lamb.  He offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study bible refers us to the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who taught that Jesus came to John this second time in order for John to make this declaration and thus stop anyone from thinking that Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins.

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 notes that as the Spirit remained upon Him, this is a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  He did not receive the Holy Spirit at His Baptism, but rather, this is a vision in which it was revealed to John the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested on Christ.  This is the second day we're given in John's Gospel.  (Monday's reading gave us the first.)  That the Baptist declares Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit means it's a greater baptism than his own of repentance, performed with water on earth.  My study bible suggests this parallels the separation of water above from the water below on the second day in Genesis 1:6-8.

Once again we return to themes of the Creation story from Genesis as paralleled in John's Gospel.  It's the birth of Jesus' mission into the world, His ministry.  In today's reading, He is revealed as the Christ, the one on whom the Holy Spirit rests.  To baptize with the Spirit is a greater gift than we can imagine, because to touch the world with the Spirit is to bring the world back to God, to rectify, to allow all things to find purpose and meaning -- mirroring back the Creation and all of its promise.  This is what we find on this "second day" in Jesus' ministry.  And we note, as always, the central importance of human beings and of all of creation to this story and this possibility.  Everything is involved.  John the Baptist, the great prophet, must be present to receive this vision.  He must have disciples present, those who come from all around Israel in order to prepare for the coming of the Lord, those who seek.  And the elements of the world must also be involved here.  Water from the earth is used in John's baptism to repentance but must also play a role in the baptism that is to come, in which the world's waters are blessed for this "greater baptism."  In the Eastern Church, the traditional view of this day of Jesus' baptism is just that:  Christ doesn't need the baptism of repentance, but instead His baptism blesses the waters of the world for all the rest of us, so that we may receive the Christian baptism He will in turn offer in His Church.  That the Spirit rested upon Christ is so significant and so interesting.  Later on in John's Gospel, Jesus will explain to Nicodemus:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from, and where it goes:   so is every one that is born of the Spirit"  (John 3:8).  In Jesus' explanation, we have a picture of the Spirit mysteriously moving like the wind, to His own purposes; but here on this "second day" the Baptist reveals that the Spirit rests permanently on Christ.  Let us remember that He is the One to whom we go for what we need, for the grace and truth of which we wish to receive -- and "grace for grace" as we read in the Prologue to this Gospel.  There is a reason why we must remember this central figure to our faith, and why we seek to participate "of Him and through Him and to Him" - Romans 11:36.  In Him rests what we wish for, what we pray for; grace and truth are His to give.  Let us look to the light as we go toward the great Paschal Resurrection through Lent.  He is the Lamb of God.