Come amd see Jesus.

John 1:29-51: 
2 Epiphany

The various sections of John’s Gospel are much more interlinked than those of the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Indeed, it is hard to understand today’s text of John 1:35-42 without looking at the end of last week’s text, and next week’s text as well. The entire section is separated into three distinct but inter-connected parts, each beginning with the words ‘the next day’ in verses 29, 35 and 43. And this literary device also ties today’s text in with the story of the wedding at Cana, which begins in chapter two with the words ‘on the third day.’

The repetition of ‘the next day’ gives the story pace. John wants us to know that everything is happening quickly, not just ‘some time later’. It starts with John the Baptist saying that he was not the Messiah, but that the Messiah was about to appear, indeed, was already among them. For a community anxiously awaiting the coming of the Messiah this would have been very exciting news. Then, ‘the next day,’ John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God (v. 29) and we move quickly into the calling of the first disciples.

Next week we will look at this extended again, with attention to Jesus’ calling of his first five disciples. This week, we will focus on the 17-fold repetition of various words meaning ‘to see’, most of these being forms of the verb orao (όράω). We find the word in past, present and future tense, as participle, as imperative. The use so often of forms of ‘to see’ in this text is no accident. Deliberate repetition of words and themes was a well-known device for underscoring a point and getting a reader’s attention in both Hebrew and Greek literature.

The looking/seeing action starts immediately after the first ‘the next day,’ when we read that John ‘saw Jesus coming toward him.’  This is the first appearance of Jesus as a human figure in the Gospel. The Word that became flesh now has a name. He is real person ‘dwelling among us.’ And his name is Jesus.

And as soon as John sees Jesus, what does he do? He points others to him by declaring: ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.’ (v. 29). We also read in this section that John saw the Spirit descending upon him, points out that others have seen the Spirit descend and remain upon him, and that John himself has seen (with his own eyes) and testifies to what he has seen. For John, the Gospel writer, seeing is a way of portraying faith. John the Baptist sees Jesus, has faith that this is the Messiah, confesses him to be the Lamb of God, then asks others to see Jesus. So quite literally, in John’s gospel seeing is believing. To see Jesus, is to believe in Jesus.

But now we go to the next section of the text, set apart again by the repetition of ‘the next day.’ We are still with John and we are still keeping with the theme of seeing. John watched as Jesus walked by and calls out, just like the day before: ‘Look! Here is the Lamb of God!’ The identification of Jesus as the Lamb God is important as John says it twice. The second time he no longer needs to add the description of what Jesus does as the Lamb of God, that is, he takes away the sin of the world. His hearers will remember this from the previous day. But he does repeat the call to ‘look.’  We are meant to look to Jesus. We are meant to see Jesus. At this point John leaves the story, at least for a time, and we move to the account of Jesus and his first disciples. But the theme of seeing continues to build.

It is now Jesus who does the seeing. Jesus sees two of John’s disciples following him. And it is here that Jesus speaks his first words in John’s Gospel. And his words are these: ‘What are you looking for?’ Not ‘why are you following me?’ but ‘What are you looking for?’ The theme of looking and seeing is not only continued, but accentuated when Jesus takes up the theme in his very first recorded sentence in John’s Gospel.

This must have thrown these two new disciples off. They were perhaps prepared for a welcome, or some question about their qualifications to be disciples. But Jesus cuts to the chase. What he wants to know, and what he wants them to think about is, ‘what are they looking for.’

I wonder how we might have responded in their place? I wonder how we would respond today? If when you entered the worship space this morning someone had asked; ‘What are you looking for?’ How would you have responded?  Perhaps you would’ve dismissed the question as being inappropriate. Perhaps you would’ve cheekily said, ‘How would I know until I have found it.’ But no clever answer can diminish the force of the question. When we seek Jesus, here in this worship space, in our private devotional space, in the depths of our innermost thoughts, in the midst of whatever pain we might be feeling or issues we are struggling with, the question remains valid. What are we looking for when seek Jesus?

I suppose if the two disciples had been very quick thinking they could have said, ‘John has already given the answer. We are seeking the Lamb of God. We want our sins to be taken away. We want to see the sins of the world taken away.’

But that is not what these two disciples said. Instead, they said simply, ‘Teacher, where are you staying?’ It seems like a bit of small talk. Maybe they are overawed. Perhaps it was their roundabout way of asking if they could stay with Jesus and become his followers. Whatever the intent behind this rather unexpected response to a very big question, Jesus does not discourage them. Perhaps there was no right or wrong answer to his question. Surely, some of us began to follow Jesus because we were looking for answers to life’s big questions. Some of us wanted to live a better life. Some of us sought forgiveness or the lifting of some burden we carried. But I have encountered many who began attending church or Bible study, or reading the Bible because they wanted to meet or impress some young man or woman in the congregation. Or they were bored or curious. Or in my own case, I was cold and the Bible story group meet in a heated room during school recess.  But whether our initial reasons seemed noble or mundane, the response of Jesus in the same. ‘Come and see.’ It’s not about what we think we are looking for. It is about who we see.

Notice Jesus continues with the theme of seeing. John had seen for himself. Now Jesus invites these two young men to come and see for themselves. At the beginning of this process of becoming disciples, it is Jesus who takes the initiative. Jesus asks them the probing question. Jesus invites them to come and see. As the Gospel writer reminds us later (15:16) Jesus says to his disciples, ‘You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.’

We also note that the disciples’ question, the question that prompted Jesus’ invitation, was the simple one about where Jesus was staying. Jesus was surely referring to much more than ‘come and see the quiet and clean room I have rented.’ He has taken the seemingly mundane concern of the disciples and turned it into a life-transforming invitation. So the two disciples went with Jesus, and they saw the place where he was staying, and they remained with him. Note those words in verse 39. ‘They remained with him.’ This is the true beginning of their seeing. They saw more than Jesus’ accommodation. What they saw was Jesus. And seeing Jesus led one of the two, Andrew, to go and tell his brother, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ The process of discipleship (and we will explore this in more depth next week) is now well and truly taking hold.

But there is more to be seen in this text. There is much more that Jesus wants his disciples to see; much more that he wants us to see.

The third part of this passage is again marked out by the words, ‘the next day.’ The next day Jesus goes to Galilee. Now, it is not possible to go from the Bethany by the Jordan, which is about nine kilometres north of the Dead Sea, to Bethasida in Galilee in a day. Everyone knew that. The distance was well over a hundred kilometres. But that was not the point. The point John as the teller of this story is making, once again, is that things are happening quickly. There is an urgency in the transfer of action from John the Baptist, to Jesus, to the calling of the first disciples.

In this third section Jesus finds Philip (again note that Jesus takes the initiative in the relationship with the disciples). Again, the discipleship process takes hold immediately. As with Andrew and Simon Peter, Philip finds his friend Nathanael and tells him they have found the Messiah. When Nathanael expresses skepticism, what does Philip say to him? The very same words Jesus had spoken to the first two disciples the day before. ‘Come and see.’

And the focus turns again to Jesus. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him he said ‘This is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.’ Still skeptical, Nathanael asks how Jesus could know this about him. Jesus’ answer is both simple and obscure. ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip came to you.’ Nathanael’s response is instant and surprising. The skeptical Nathanael confesses Jesus not only as Messiah but also as ‘the Son of God’ (v. 49). While sitting under the fig tree might mean little to us, it clearly meant a great deal to Nathanael. We can imagine perhaps that he had been having a heart to heart conversation with God under the fig tree. Perhaps he had asked God when the Messiah was coming, perhaps he had asked if he might see the Messiah. Something along these lines would make sense given Nathanael’s response.

And we should not underestimate the importance of ‘being seen’ by Jesus in bringing Nathanael to this confession.  When Jesus said he had seen Nathanael, he meant that he had really seen him. He knew his heart and his concerns.

A few years ago a major film was released called Avatar. The native inhabitants of the planet Pandora, in the film, had an endearing way of expressing emotion, love, forgiveness. When a couple was falling in love, they would say to each other ‘I see you.’ When two people had been fighting, reconciliation occurred when the offended party said, ‘I see you’. What they meant by ‘I see you’ went far deeper than mere physical vision. It was an acknowledgement of another’s worth or value, or their feelings for them, of seeing deep inside them, of seeing who they really were.

When Jesus says to Nathanael that he saw him, I think this is the sense in which these words are meant to be taken. It is certainly how Nathanael took Jesus’ words.

Seventeen times in this passage some form of the word ‘seeing’ occurs. Often it is John or one of the early disciples seeing Jesus. Then it is John twice calling upon his hearers to see Jesus. And, of course, the two-fold repetition of the invitation to come and see Jesus. But perhaps the most striking use of the image of seeing is that Jesus sees us – just like he saw Nathanael. Because Jesus takes the initiative, because he sees us – we can also truly see Jesus. And more than this, Jesus tells Nathanael, ‘You will see greater things that these. … You will see heave opened. You will see the Son of Man.’ That is, Nathanael would see Jesus as he really is, in all his glory. Nathanael, and all who are called to come and see Jesus, will see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So, what are we looking for? Perhaps we really are not certain what it is we are looking for. But Jesus knows. And he calls us to come and see. He calls us to open our eyes and behold the one who takes away all the brokenness of the world. More than that, Jesus says to us, ‘I see you.’  He sees us as we really are, all our needs and worries. And he loves us and calls us to himself.

So why are you here today? What are you really looking for?

Come and see.

Come and see Jesus.

Amen.

Pastor Mark Worthing.