Come and See
Bible Text: John 1:29-42
The gospel of John is always a little weird to me. It’s very abstract. Our reading today comes from the first chapter, which starts out, if you can believe it, with poetry. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” It’s beautiful, yes, but it doesn’t lend itself to stories told around a campfire. And Jesus in the book of John tends to go off on these long monologues, to the point where the scene usually ends because he stops talking, not because there’s a resolution to the encounter.
In this reading, Jesus is fairly quiet and John is the one giving us a long speech. So maybe what will help with this is a little background on who John is and what he has to do with Jesus.
Earlier in the chapter, John quotes Isaiah to describe his role. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, making the way straight for the coming of the Lord. In other gospels, we get a little more detail about John. As the baptizer, John has gone out into the wilderness and started living a bare bones existence (all he eats are locusts and wild honey, and his clothes are equally rustic). He preaches to the crowds about the coming end of the world, and curses out the people he sees as hypocrites.
John is what you might call an extreme personality.
But he’s managed to get peoples’ attention, and he has some followers who are interested in what he has to say, including the two disciples we hear about today who go on to discover Jesus.
Now, why is Jesus out in the middle of the desert in the dry scorched land with John? And more to the point, why is he there several days in a row so that John can see him, point him out and then later the two soon-to-be disciples can follow him home? Because Jesus, when he was starting to get into his ministry, came to John for baptism and wanted to hear what John had to say. He was one of John’s disciples.
Of course, if you’re writing the gospel of John and trying to show that Jesus was divine, this is kind of an inconvenient fact. After all, if Jesus is divine, could he really have been someone else’s student? I like to think that Jesus was able to learn from other people. But the writer glosses over Jesus as a disciple just a little bit and has John become the one destined to reveal Jesus’ identity: “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” And it does seem likely that someone familiar with him, like John was, would have recognized Jesus’ unique abilities, and maybe something of his calling.
But in this story, we’re both seeing the end of Jesus’ time as a disciple and the beginning of his time as a teacher. And here’s where I’d like to focus today: on how the disciples begin their journey with Jesus. First John tells them about Jesus, they respond, and then Jesus invites them to simply, Come and See.
In other gospels, Jesus tells some of the disciples to follow him and he will teach them to fish for people. Does that ring a bell for any of you? Okay, good.
When I was little my dad, my sister and I would go fishing for bluegills. We would put a worm on the hook, and a bobber on the fishing line, and cast the line out. Then we’d watch patiently to see if the bobber dipped down into the water, which meant that a fish had taken the bait. Well sometimes. Sometimes it meant the hook had caught on a rock.
In this story, though, the fishing method used is a little more like something I remember from my days of watching Sesame Street. (I know what some of you are thinking, and it really was a while ago folks, okay?) Anyway, Bert and Ernie are out in the boat, and Bert asks Ernie where the fishing poles and the tackle are, and Ernie says, “Oh we don’t need that,” and he puts his hand to the side of his face and calls out, “HERE Fishy Fishy Fishy, HERE Fishy Fishy Fishy.” And then the fish jump in the boat. No need for bait or a bobber, or a special reeling technique—just call to them and they jump in the boat.
In this case it’s John putting out the call—the “Here fishy fishy fishy” of the story, if you will. And then the two disciples jump in the boat. They come up to Jesus and say, “Teacher, where are you staying?”
If any of you have every met a celebrity or have had a teacher you really like but are afraid to approach, or maybe have ever had a crush on someone, I think you’ll have an idea of what the disciples are going through here. John has told them that Jesus is the one he’s been talking about, the one they have all been waiting for—the one chosen by God to free Israel—and they’re just a little nervous.
I had a professor in seminary who was really a very nice person, and very approachable and committed to teaching, but also relatively well-known. In fact, I saw her in a CNN special a few weeks ago talking about Mary Magdalene. Her name is Karen King. And I would be shocked if any of you knew who she was, because she’s kind of in a specialized field, but she’s, like, a big celebrity in the field of New Testament studies. I promise. My first year, I was taking a class from her and I made an appointment and went to her office hours, and really just wanted to ask her smart questions and have a conversation and make friends and have her like me, but with all that pressure, I don’t think I asked very good questions, even though I wanted to. I think I asked her what she liked about her job. She was very nice about it, and told me some interesting things about what it’s like to be a seminary professor, but still, by the time I left my hands were all sweaty and I was feeling a little shaky. I know, it might be a little bit of an extreme reaction, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
So the two disciples of John (soon to be former disciples) walk up to Jesus. And if I was nervous about my professor, how do you think they felt about meeting the Messiah? I mean really, what do you say to the Messiah? So, they came up with a question, and it might not have been the best one for showing off their smarts, but it seemed to do the trick: “Teacher, where are you staying?”
And Jesus smiles at them and says, “Come and see.” So they go over to where he’s staying and hang out for the rest of the afternoon. We don’t get to know what they talked about—I’d be interested to hear what the conversation was like—but the point is from that day onward they began to follow Jesus around and learn about his life. It was the start of their careers as disciples of Jesus.
I think we can learn a few things from this story today. There are some important tips here on how people can meet and start to follow Jesus. First, someone has to tell them about Jesus and second someone needs to invite them and allow them to Come and See what it’s like to live life as a Christian. The introductions are a two-part process.
While I’m up here, I might as well point out that some churches and some Christians are better at one or the other of these two things. Some people are very good at telling you all about Jesus, but maybe aren’t so good at living out the particular lifestyle they believe Jesus calls them to. Others of us, and I think this is more my area of weakness, are pretty good when it comes to organizing our lives around God, helping others, and trying to make a difference in the world, but when it comes to talking about Jesus, well, uh, that’s not so easy.
But it’s important to do, because part of our job in following Jesus is sharing with others that possibility of living it out. And I think it’s also important to notice that in our story, John doesn’t try to mount an argument or overpower the disciples. He just tells them what he’s seen God do in Jesus.
What have you seen God do in Jesus? I have seen God in Jesus working through the church on many occasions. I’ve seen sick people prayed for, mourning people comforted, food and laughter shared, and hearts healed. I’ve seen Jesus in the church in people working for justice, hammering away year after year at the seemingly intractable—homelessness and poverty, or like Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the evils of racism. I’ve seen roofs re-shingled, walls painted, and hope restored. And I’ve seen God in Jesus in the tremendous response to the horrific devastation of the tsunamis in Asian. Jesus, son of God, is working in the world and I am a witness to it.
The first piece of the disciples’ call, then, was John being a witness to who Jesus is. Once they responded, the second piece was Jesus’ simple invitation: Come and see for yourself. Come and see what I’m like as a person. Come see how I live out my beliefs. Come and see what God is doing in my life. Come and see for yourself.
And this is really the best way for the disciples to learn about Jesus. Because following Jesus isn’t just an intellectual pursuit. You can’t read his complete works and comprehend them, and be done with it. Jesus is teaching us a way of life. And to learn a way of life you have to watch as well as to listen. Come and see whether it can be done. Come and see what it means to live it out. Come and learn how to do it. Growing in faith means being exposed to both the telling and the doing of following Jesus.
What does this mean for us today?
Well, for those of us who are ready to welcome others into the church, it is a reminder of two things. First, people are eager to meet someone like Jesus who can really make a difference in their lives. I know that I want to be in touch with something larger than myself, and to have a life with meaning and purpose. That’s true for people outside the church, too. Second, it’s a reminder that our role is not to coerce or convince or badger people. Our role is simply to tell them what we’ve seen and invite them to come and see for ourselves.
For those of us who are growing and searching, which I hope is everyone here, it is also an ongoing invitation to come and see. Jesus is still at work in the world so watch out! Keep your eyes peeled for the workings of the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to what God has been dreaming up. There is so much beauty and love to be witnessed to in the world. Don’t let it pass by unnoticed. Come and see for yourself what Jesus is about to do!
The gospel of John is always a little weird to me. It’s very abstract. Our reading today comes from the first chapter, which starts out, if you can believe it, with poetry. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” It’s beautiful, yes, but it doesn’t lend itself to stories told around a campfire. And Jesus in the book of John tends to go off on these long monologues, to the point where the scene usually ends because he stops talking, not because there’s a resolution to the encounter.
In this reading, Jesus is fairly quiet and John is the one giving us a long speech. So maybe what will help with this is a little background on who John is and what he has to do with Jesus.
Earlier in the chapter, John quotes Isaiah to describe his role. He is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, making the way straight for the coming of the Lord. In other gospels, we get a little more detail about John. As the baptizer, John has gone out into the wilderness and started living a bare bones existence (all he eats are locusts and wild honey, and his clothes are equally rustic). He preaches to the crowds about the coming end of the world, and curses out the people he sees as hypocrites.
John is what you might call an extreme personality.
But he’s managed to get peoples’ attention, and he has some followers who are interested in what he has to say, including the two disciples we hear about today who go on to discover Jesus.
Now, why is Jesus out in the middle of the desert in the dry scorched land with John? And more to the point, why is he there several days in a row so that John can see him, point him out and then later the two soon-to-be disciples can follow him home? Because Jesus, when he was starting to get into his ministry, came to John for baptism and wanted to hear what John had to say. He was one of John’s disciples.
Of course, if you’re writing the gospel of John and trying to show that Jesus was divine, this is kind of an inconvenient fact. After all, if Jesus is divine, could he really have been someone else’s student? I like to think that Jesus was able to learn from other people. But the writer glosses over Jesus as a disciple just a little bit and has John become the one destined to reveal Jesus’ identity: “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” And it does seem likely that someone familiar with him, like John was, would have recognized Jesus’ unique abilities, and maybe something of his calling.
But in this story, we’re both seeing the end of Jesus’ time as a disciple and the beginning of his time as a teacher. And here’s where I’d like to focus today: on how the disciples begin their journey with Jesus. First John tells them about Jesus, they respond, and then Jesus invites them to simply, Come and See.
In other gospels, Jesus tells some of the disciples to follow him and he will teach them to fish for people. Does that ring a bell for any of you? Okay, good.
When I was little my dad, my sister and I would go fishing for bluegills. We would put a worm on the hook, and a bobber on the fishing line, and cast the line out. Then we’d watch patiently to see if the bobber dipped down into the water, which meant that a fish had taken the bait. Well sometimes. Sometimes it meant the hook had caught on a rock.
In this story, though, the fishing method used is a little more like something I remember from my days of watching Sesame Street. (I know what some of you are thinking, and it really was a while ago folks, okay?) Anyway, Bert and Ernie are out in the boat, and Bert asks Ernie where the fishing poles and the tackle are, and Ernie says, “Oh we don’t need that,” and he puts his hand to the side of his face and calls out, “HERE Fishy Fishy Fishy, HERE Fishy Fishy Fishy.” And then the fish jump in the boat. No need for bait or a bobber, or a special reeling technique—just call to them and they jump in the boat.
In this case it’s John putting out the call—the “Here fishy fishy fishy” of the story, if you will. And then the two disciples jump in the boat. They come up to Jesus and say, “Teacher, where are you staying?”
If any of you have every met a celebrity or have had a teacher you really like but are afraid to approach, or maybe have ever had a crush on someone, I think you’ll have an idea of what the disciples are going through here. John has told them that Jesus is the one he’s been talking about, the one they have all been waiting for—the one chosen by God to free Israel—and they’re just a little nervous.
I had a professor in seminary who was really a very nice person, and very approachable and committed to teaching, but also relatively well-known. In fact, I saw her in a CNN special a few weeks ago talking about Mary Magdalene. Her name is Karen King. And I would be shocked if any of you knew who she was, because she’s kind of in a specialized field, but she’s, like, a big celebrity in the field of New Testament studies. I promise. My first year, I was taking a class from her and I made an appointment and went to her office hours, and really just wanted to ask her smart questions and have a conversation and make friends and have her like me, but with all that pressure, I don’t think I asked very good questions, even though I wanted to. I think I asked her what she liked about her job. She was very nice about it, and told me some interesting things about what it’s like to be a seminary professor, but still, by the time I left my hands were all sweaty and I was feeling a little shaky. I know, it might be a little bit of an extreme reaction, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
So the two disciples of John (soon to be former disciples) walk up to Jesus. And if I was nervous about my professor, how do you think they felt about meeting the Messiah? I mean really, what do you say to the Messiah? So, they came up with a question, and it might not have been the best one for showing off their smarts, but it seemed to do the trick: “Teacher, where are you staying?”
And Jesus smiles at them and says, “Come and see.” So they go over to where he’s staying and hang out for the rest of the afternoon. We don’t get to know what they talked about—I’d be interested to hear what the conversation was like—but the point is from that day onward they began to follow Jesus around and learn about his life. It was the start of their careers as disciples of Jesus.
I think we can learn a few things from this story today. There are some important tips here on how people can meet and start to follow Jesus. First, someone has to tell them about Jesus and second someone needs to invite them and allow them to Come and See what it’s like to live life as a Christian. The introductions are a two-part process.
While I’m up here, I might as well point out that some churches and some Christians are better at one or the other of these two things. Some people are very good at telling you all about Jesus, but maybe aren’t so good at living out the particular lifestyle they believe Jesus calls them to. Others of us, and I think this is more my area of weakness, are pretty good when it comes to organizing our lives around God, helping others, and trying to make a difference in the world, but when it comes to talking about Jesus, well, uh, that’s not so easy.
But it’s important to do, because part of our job in following Jesus is sharing with others that possibility of living it out. And I think it’s also important to notice that in our story, John doesn’t try to mount an argument or overpower the disciples. He just tells them what he’s seen God do in Jesus.
What have you seen God do in Jesus? I have seen God in Jesus working through the church on many occasions. I’ve seen sick people prayed for, mourning people comforted, food and laughter shared, and hearts healed. I’ve seen Jesus in the church in people working for justice, hammering away year after year at the seemingly intractable—homelessness and poverty, or like Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the evils of racism. I’ve seen roofs re-shingled, walls painted, and hope restored. And I’ve seen God in Jesus in the tremendous response to the horrific devastation of the tsunamis in Asian. Jesus, son of God, is working in the world and I am a witness to it.
The first piece of the disciples’ call, then, was John being a witness to who Jesus is. Once they responded, the second piece was Jesus’ simple invitation: Come and see for yourself. Come and see what I’m like as a person. Come see how I live out my beliefs. Come and see what God is doing in my life. Come and see for yourself.
And this is really the best way for the disciples to learn about Jesus. Because following Jesus isn’t just an intellectual pursuit. You can’t read his complete works and comprehend them, and be done with it. Jesus is teaching us a way of life. And to learn a way of life you have to watch as well as to listen. Come and see whether it can be done. Come and see what it means to live it out. Come and learn how to do it. Growing in faith means being exposed to both the telling and the doing of following Jesus.
What does this mean for us today?
Well, for those of us who are ready to welcome others into the church, it is a reminder of two things. First, people are eager to meet someone like Jesus who can really make a difference in their lives. I know that I want to be in touch with something larger than myself, and to have a life with meaning and purpose. That’s true for people outside the church, too. Second, it’s a reminder that our role is not to coerce or convince or badger people. Our role is simply to tell them what we’ve seen and invite them to come and see for ourselves.
For those of us who are growing and searching, which I hope is everyone here, it is also an ongoing invitation to come and see. Jesus is still at work in the world so watch out! Keep your eyes peeled for the workings of the Holy Spirit. Pay attention to what God has been dreaming up. There is so much beauty and love to be witnessed to in the world. Don’t let it pass by unnoticed. Come and see for yourself what Jesus is about to do!
posted by Amy Sens at 1:29 PM
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