From the time that we are little, we are taught that it is
not polite to interrupt. We are taught to wait for your turn in the
conversation and then say what you have to say. Yet our lives are filled with
interruptions. This day, in particular, is an interruption to the rest of our
week. God’s sabbath time interrupts our daily routines reminding us of God’s
plan, including intentional rest and retreat from the cares of our daily
living. In the midst of interruptions, I welcome you to the second Sunday in
Epiphany.
In the midst of our local programming, the Gospel of
Matthew, we hear from the Gospel of John, filled with different, sometimes
conflicting accounts of Jesus. This is not coincidental; it happens this day every
year. Each year we read a different passage, but none-the-less, the second
Sunday of Epiphany belongs to John. I wish I could tell you why, but I really
don’t know.
Last week, in Matthew, we witnessed Jesus being baptized.
This is important for us because the book of John reports that Jesus has been
baptized, but in John we never witness the actual baptism. In fact, today’s
text appears to take place the day after the baptism. This is only one of the
many oddities of the book of John. At the other end of this Gospel, we will see
the disciples and Jesus gathered for the last supper, but instead of giving the
disciples wine and bread, Jesus washes their feet.
We could spend a lot of time comparing the Gospels, but what
we mostly need to note is that the purpose of John’s Gospel is different. The
other three Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—are called the synoptic Gospels (“synoptic”,
from Greek syn, with or together, and
optikos, for seeing, or eye witness accounts).
The Gospel of John is known as the exegetical Gospel (again, from the Greek, ex, out or from, and hegetikos, drawn out). This drawing out from
or exegetical writing and reading of John allows us more direct understanding
of who Jesus is. It is much more theological and therefore makes statements
about Jesus that the other Gospels cannot make.
Today’s text is one of those statements about Jesus. John
the Baptist says, “I have been telling you that I am not the Messiah, the
Christ, the anointed one. That person is coming after me. I do not know him,
but I have been baptizing people because through baptism I knew I would be able
to recognize who the messiah is. And I found him; it is that guy over there. I
saw the spirit of God descend from heaven and alight on that one. You see, I
was told that the one the spirit alighted on and stayed would be the messiah,
so I know that is the messiah. He is the lamb of God, the one who will be the
sacrifice for the world, the cosmos, and through him we will all be made right
with God. Through him, the sins of our ancestors have been forgiven, and, through
him, our sins will be forgiven too. See him, the lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world. He is the son of God.”
There is no kinship between John and Jesus recorded here as
in the book of Luke and hinted at in the book of Mark. There is no
understanding that John should be baptized by Jesus as in the book of Matthew.
In the book of John, the way that John recognizes Jesus is by seeing the spirit
of God come down and stay with Jesus. This seeing is not something that is
John’s alone. We, the readers and hearers of this story, are invited to see,
with John, Jesus who is the messiah, the Christ, the anointed, and, in that
seeing, to enter into relationship with Jesus’ disciples and with Jesus
himself. We are invited to see and to name Jesus as the one who takes away the
sin of the world.
Last week we talked about how important Jesus’ first words
were for the Gospel of Matthew. “Let us do so now, for it is proper, in this
way, to fulfill all righteousness.” This week we get to hear Jesus’ first words
in the book of John. “What are you looking for?” A more literal reading would
be, “What are you seeking, or searching, for?”
John’s disciples reply with the question, “Teacher, where
are you staying?” They are wondering, “Where are you teaching, what are you
teaching, how are you teaching? What is it that you think is so important that
is different from what John has been teaching? After all, we have been John’s
disciples and have had a good relationship with him. Why should we become your
disciples? By John’s testimony we believe that you are the Son of God, but what
difference does that make?”
In response to the disciples, Jesus invites them to, “Come
and see.” This seeing that Jesus invites them to is theaomai; this Greek word is
the root of theater. This is not just a peek in kind of seeing, but an IMAX
kind of experience. It is more than just looking; it is a come and have your
world rocked, a sensory, amped-up, get involved looking/overwhelming feeling,
kind of experience. It is a relationship that will involve all your senses:
hearing the word, seeing Jesus’ interactions with others, smelling perfume,
tasting wine and eating bread, and putting fingers into the holes in Jesus’
side and hands. We will go to weddings and to homes in the night, we will go to
the temple and to the cleansing pools of the city. We will smell the odor of
the poor and the diseased, and we will hear the distant sound of Roman
authority in fear. Throughout the Gospel of John, we will see “the lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world” reach out to people to establish and
create new relationships of healing trust and hope. We will see the master
gardener sow seeds of caring and compassion. We will see Christ stand before us
as shepherd, gate, vine, and bread. We will witness Christ on the cross
challenging our hearts and minds with claims of truth, life, and light.
Indeed, what are you seeking? What do you want to know about
this Jesus who stands before you? What difference can he make in your life?
Jesus invites John’s disciples and us to, “Come and see.”
And so, when Andrew sees who Jesus is, he runs to report
what he has seen, discovered, found. He goes to his brother Simon to bring him
to what he has found: the messiah, the Christ, the anointed One of God. And the
divine theater begins. “You are Simon. From now on you will be Cephas, and for
the sake of you who don’t know Aramaic, that is Peter in Greek, and for those
of you who don’t know either Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, that is rock in English.
You are the rock, the living foundation stone on which I will build.”
Jesus began to build with Simon Peter. It is not something
that is done and completed; it is an ongoing building project that requires
sweat equity, sacrificial living, and the hands of many. Come and see. Look
around yourselves right now. For, in the midst of our lives, in the midst of
our worship, Christ interrupts our comfort zones and invites us to see ourselves,
the Church that has been built and the Church that continues to be built in the
evangelizing relationship of the world of need, in the presence of the lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus Christ, the son of God, our
savior and Lord.
So, with Andrew, who accepted Jesus’ invitation and went to
see, we too see Jesus, the Lamb of God, and find the Messiah. We too need to
ask ourselves, who do we want to tell of our great find? Who do we want to
invite into this relationship we have in the lamb? Who will benefit from our
news of what is the Good news for God’s people? Who can we invite with Christ’s
words, “Come and see.”
I now return you to your regular local programming already
in progress.
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