“Come and See” - Reflections on John 1: 19-42
by The Rev. Sandra Nixon
Have you ever had an experience of seeing someone for the first time, and just knowing that this person was special, and would go on to great things?
I think of child prodigies - just saw photo yesterday of a 7yr old Yo-Yo Ma, the American cellist, playing for then-US President JFK. There are just some people, whose incredible talent or charisma or intellect - or spiritual aura - is immediately compelling and you know they are destined to impact the world in a profound way.
I wonder sometimes - how John the Baptist knew so instantly, so completely, that Jesus was “the one” - the one he had been preaching about, the one who he kept telling people he was the messenger for: the one who was coming after him, who would be more powerful, the one who would baptize by the spirit rather than water; the one he was not worthy to even untie the sandals of.
Because there doesn’t seem to be any hesitation, any questioning by John. According to gospel writer John, right after John the Baptist sees the holy spirit, in the form of a dove, descend from heaven and rest on Jesus, we hear that he is taking any opportunity - any time he’s out and about in town, and sees Jesus, or walks by him - to immediately proclaim Jesus as the Lamb of God.
So that moment of revelation, for John, about Jesus - must have been a profound one.
John himself had charisma - he was already a personality. He was a preacher and baptizer - he even had his own followers. So much so that he was getting questioned by the religious authorities of his day about his ministry.
Who are you?
That’s where our scripture reading today starts off. Gospel writer John tells us that John gets a visit from some priests and levites from Jerusalem, who come to question him about his unsanctioned religious activities.
When they they start by asking him who he is, John tells them he’s not the Messiah - which means, of course, that it was being speculated that maybe this wild man baptizing people by the river might be the long-awaited Messiah.
So then they ask him of he is - or thinks he is - Elijah - the great prophet Elijah - and he also refutes that. So they keep pressing - “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
And it seems that, despite his growing fame, John’s mantra always seemed to be: “It’s not about me.” Gospel writer John, in the opening to gospel, a few verses earlier, says that John came to “testify to the light”. What John the Baptist tells his inquisitors is:
…as the prophet Isaiah said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
So after asking who he thinks he is, and getting that answer, the priests and levites then ask John what he thinks he’s doing, calling people down to the river and baptizing them. And so John then goes into his explanation of how he baptizes with water, but the one he’s preparing the way for will baptize with the holy spirit.
“This is the Chosen One”
Last week, we heard Matthew’s story of Jesus’ baptism. In the story:
the Heavens open;
the Spirit descends like a dove;
a voice from heaven declares: This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
All three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke include the baptism of Jesus in which these signs from heaven proclaim Jesus’ status as God’s Son.
In John’s version, it’s a little different: it’s actually John the Baptist who sees the sign of the dove, and there’s no mention of anyone hearing a heavenly voice - instead, it’s John who testifies to Jesus.
“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
Later, even when his own followers come to him, complaining that Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more people than he is (John 3:25ff; cf. 4:1-2), we will see that John continues to point to Jesus and affirm both his ministry and his special identity.
So just a day after being questioned by the authorities about his identity, we hear about how John runs into Jesus again and immediately makes this loud declaration about Jesus being the chosen one, the Lamb of God. And then he recounts how he saw the spirit descend on Jesus and that’s how he knew Jesus was “the One”, the one he was to prepare the way for.
The following day - the third day, if you will - John again runs into Jesus. This time, we’re told, he’s with a couple of his disciples, his followers. you have to remember, especially when reading the NT, that in his own time, and in the lifetimes of the writers of the Bible, Jesus was a complete unknown outside of his circle of followers. So the perspective of a First Century Judean - such as Andrew or Simon towards Jesus - would likely have been:
Just exactly who is this guy from that tiny, remote, nowheresville hamlet - Nazareth was it? And isn’t it said that no one even knows who his real father is?
So, imagine being one of those disciples. Imagine having the questions above, and then hearing John the Baptist say, "There is the Lamb of God."
Now, the two men obviously have quite a bit of respect for John the Baptist; they were his friends & followers - and were no doubt interested to understand the one John was pointing to as greater than himself.
Still, notice that when the disciples first approach Jesus, they use the much safer - and lower - status term of "Teacher" to address him. To call him “Rabbi” or Teacher, shows respect, but isn’t even close to the "Son of God or Chosen One.” So, they’re curious, wanting to see who this man is, moving in the direction of belief, but still hedging their bets a bit.
What are you looking for?
And it’s Jesus who notices them following him, and he turns to them, and asks:
What are you looking for?
Jesus' question---the first one in John's gospel: What are you looking for?
One of the great spiritual questions. One that provokes searching and seeking, and the possibility of something being revealed.. themes which run through much of John’s gospel.
And so, here in John’s gospel, Jesus’ ministry begins not with a powerful command to silence a demon, as in Mark; nor with a sermon to the crowds who have gathered on a mountain, as in Matthew; but rather, it begins with a powerful question: “What are you looking for?”
Now, usually in the gospels it’s Jesus who responds to a question with another question, but interestingly, here it is the future disciples who do it. Jesus asks “What are you looking for?” and they respond with their own question, which is usually translated for us as: “Where are you staying?”
Where are you staying?
Now the question isn’t about where Jesus is spending the night. The word “staying” is actually the greek verb “meno” which means “to abide, remain, be steadfast in or dwell within”. The sense is one of permanence or stability. Here in John’s gospel this word gets used a few times, and the idea of abiding with and in - with and in Christ - becomes another theme for John.
So when the disciples ask this of Jesus, they’re really wanting to know from Jesus:
What is the source of your spiritual depth and power? In what do you abide and how can we dwell in that too? And we’re told by John that the two men remain with Jesus for the rest of the day.
And so - we have the two questions (so far) in this story:
1. Jesus’ question: What are you looking for? What do you want?
2. The disciples’ question: In what - or in whom - do you abide? What is your grounding, your wellspring?
This is the Jesus we follow: Jesus the Great Attender, who paid attention to people---who they really were---and as a master teacher used great questions to lead them to the deepest answers of all---their true identity and his true identity.
And, rather unexpectedly perhaps, for Jesus, he doesn’t reply with another question. But, as is quite typical of Jesus, he does answer with an enigmatic reply: “Come and see”. Not, “follow me” as in the other gospels, but “Come and see.”
And yet, at least for John, seeing seems to be wrapped up in the act of following. Almost as though one must “come and see” in order to be able to truly follow.
Remember, it’s John the Baptist himself, who, through messengers, asks: “Are you the one, or should we look for someone else?” And the reply, paying close attention to seeing: “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
Who is choosing whom?
A key question that comes up for me when I read this passage is: Who is choosing whom? Usually talk about Jesus choosing his disciples, here he not only doesn’t choose them, he doesn’t even call them to follow. Instead the invitation is simply to come and see.
More questions:
What is seeing? Is seeing believing? Does that depend on the depth of our seeing and how we are seeing?
Perhaps the way we see is by following. Perhaps it’s only by following that we truly can see the way Jesus wants us to see, and find what he knows we’re looking for.
We hear that those first disciples spent the afternoon that day with Jesus and “saw where he was staying” and that the next day, Andrew found his brother Simon Peter and told him “We have found the Messiah” (the Chosen One).
When those men and others decided to “follow” Jesus, to “come and see”, where did they go? What did they see?
What happened that afternoon with Jesus?
Sometimes I picture them all going back to Jesus’ room and sitting around dipping bread and listening to him talk. But I wonder: when John tells us they “saw where he was staying” and then the next day the are ready to devote their lives to him, what did they see? Where did they go? What did Jesus actually show them?
The invitation to “come and see” where Christ dwells doesn’t always mean cozy afternoons spent listening to Jesus teach by the lakeshore. Because Christ not only dwells in loving community - when followers gather and hear the word and sing songs of praise. Christ dwells with those on the margins, the suffering and forgotten.
Perhaps where they ended up with Jesus that say was in one of the places we see him throughout the gospels: in the home of a leper, offering healing; at the town square, putting a stop to the stoning of a woman; at the tomb of a friend; around a table with tax collectors and prostitutes.
The invitation wasn’t “Come and listen to me teach by the river”. It was “Come and see.”
Come and see… Go and Tell
You may have heard of or follow the non-profit org “Canadian Friends of Sabeel” - an education and advocacy movement supporting the struggle for justice, freedom and human rights of Palestinians living under apartheid and illegal Israeli occupation.
It’s no accident that their program that gives Canadians an opportunity to travel to Palestine/Israel to witness realities on the ground and engage directly with Palestinians is called “Come & See, Go and Tell”.
Whether it be a delegation to Palestine or befriending a recent refugee, or volunteering in the DTES or helping to clean up a beach full of garbage, or singing at the bedside of a dying friend, if we are to heed Christ’s call to come and see, we must be ready to come and see Christ in the hard places.
In order to see, we need to follow Christ into the places where, and with those whom God’s love and compassion particularly abides: God amongst the weak and the downtrodden.
Then we will know where Christ remains - where Christ abides - with the God of love and healing who desires wholeness for all God’s children and all God’s creation. Who is with us when we are the weak and downtrodden. And in whom we find the source of our life and the light we carry within.
Let us pray:
Holy God, you are our source, Christ’s love is our dwelling place; and we are ever grateful for your spirit which continues to urge us, restless seekers, to Come and See, and Go and Tell, and Come and See again. Thank you; thank you; thank you. Amen.