Come and See

John 1:35-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 

Where are you standing - where is Jesus in relation to you?

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” 

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 

Are you looking for the address of where you think Jesus resides? Are you looking for a place or a person? Or is there another question you can’t put into words?

He said to them, “Come and see.” 

A mysterious invitation - will you leave where you are standing now?

They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ, meaning Anointed). 

From spending such a small amount of time with this stranger, by the afternoon they have decided that he is the Messiah. In this short Gospel, Jesus is called Lamb of God by John the Baptist, Rabbi by the followers, and then Messiah - a name in which there is wrapped history, prophecy, promise and power. The various names given to Jesus in this piece are vastly different. I wonder what each of the disciples found in him, that in that short time they chose to call him not Rabbi but Messiah. 

Which Jesus do you know? Have you relegated him to merely one of these? Do you know him in other ways, from other times?

To an extent, naming something is a creative gesture, stepping into something new, creating a connection between two things. Adam and Eve named the creatures and plants of the world in Genesis. Their interrelation changed when they named them - they became caretakers. After encountering God Abram became Abraham, and Sarai became Sarah. The encounter changed their affinity with God and brought blessing into their lives. The narrative and trajectory of their lives was altered - in a way their destiny shifted. 

What the disciples saw in Jesus must have been something beyond the moment, a future promise of sorts. In encountering him, their knowing of him changed and so did their relation to him. We feebly perceive him in different roles - brother, teacher, anointed one, the one to be sacrificed, but he is, in his ‘I am’-ness, unchanging. Instead, I think we are the changing variable. We are at one point pursuers of a promise, another point students of a teacher, and another followers of a mystery. As we know him, as we know more of his narrative, we name him more knowing names - because our relationship to him changes.

He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter, meaning rock).

Here he states that he knows Simon as the son of John, how Simon was and is currently known by others. But in this encounter everything changed. Jesus saw all of him - his past life as Simon and his future as Peter. Jesus’ relation to Peter changed. He now knew him, he saw Peter beyond the moment, and named him appropriately.

To deign to cliché - it’s about how God sees you, rather than how you are seen by yourself, or others. 

You are called something new when you are known more - are you allowing that knowing?

How do you know God and how does God know you? “Come and see.”