Epiphany 2

Preparation

    Please begin by reading John 1:29-42 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Look, Here is the Lamb of God

  We can understand John the Baptist’s positive reaction to Jesus in today’s Bible story.  He had experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit and heard the voice of God when Jesus had come to him for baptism.  The experience, which John describes here, must have been awesome!  

But people did not have to have that kind of powerful experience to be attracted to Jesus.  Witness the reaction of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, who immediately stopped being John’s disciples and became Jesus’ disciples.  They were the first of many, whether later disciples or crowds anxious to be near him, who would follow Jesus in the days to come.

There must have been something extraordinarily compelling about Jesus!  Wherever he went people wanted to be with him.  It is not likely that was because of his physical appearance.  (See Isaiah 53:2.)  Later, some people may have come because they had heard he was a powerful preacher or heard about the healings and other miracles.  But Andrew and Peter and others were drawn to him early on before the miracles and public preaching began.  So there was something else.

I wonder if we had been there is we could have defined it.  What was that quality?  Did people know that they were in the presence of someone who would change their lives?  Was there something about being in Jesus’ physical presence that is not available to us now?

Perhaps not.  For there is still something compelling about Jesus!  And I don’t think we can describe it even now.  It is not just the words we hear or read, although countless stirring words have been spoken and written on the subject.  It is an experience; an experience of the heart and of the spirit.

If we can abandon our hurt and our cynicism and invite him to be with us, Jesus is still here.  It is not something we can see, hear, touch, or taste.  But somehow we know; we just know.  Something in us says, with John, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”  And after that, nothing is the same. 

Jesus' presence does not necessarily involve high drama.  Seldom do we find ourselves completely changed all at once.  We do not generally become totally pure and one with God in flashes of blinding light.  We still struggle and fall on our faces. 

But somehow things ARE different.  Slowly, as we walk in Jesus’ presence, Jesus shows us things and we begin to understand.  "Here are the real values, my values, not those old ones you’ve had," he seems to say to us.  "Here is the direction toward wholeness, not that old direction that looked attractive but was headed toward loss and pain.  Here are my little ones whom I love, perhaps the ones you thought were beneath you.  Here is your real reward, your wholeness, your fulfillment; all in unexpected places.  Here is where you find me; walking though life and beginning to see people, places, and things as I see them."

Look.  Look here in your daily journey.  Here is the Lamb of God!

revclay

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John 1:29-42

      The next day [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is 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 ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’  I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 

And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.  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.’  And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

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. 

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?” 

He said to them, “Come and see.”  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 Anointed).  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).

 [NRSV]