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"Come and see" said Jesus
to 2 of John's disciples.
On the face of it, this is a strange encounter. 2 of John the Bap's disciples
hear John's endorsement of Jesus: 'Behold, here is the Lamb of God.' And
they leave John and start to follow Jesus. Jesus sees them following and
asks, What is it you seek? They answer with a question: Where are you
staying? And he says, Come and see, or Come and you will see. So they
go and remain with him for the rest of the day. Then, having spent time
with him, Andrew tells his brother Simon, to Come and See.
This fourth Gospel is not to be read like Matthew, Mark and Luke. This
is not about time and place, it is about the inner journey of discovery.
It is about Jesus being revealed to those who will come and see. The 3rd
Sunday of Epiphany, the 3rd Sunday of revealing, of uncovering who Jesus
is. The Wise men come and see who Jesus is - it is revealed to them through
the patient study of the stars and they are open to a new revelation.
Another of the Epiphany stories is the wedding at Cana, the first of the
signs through which the identity of Jesus is revealed. But the revelation
needs an openness, a receptivity. At the wedding Jesus' mother was open
to whatever Jesus would chose to do. She was not put off by her son's
response "what concern is that to you and me?" She says to the
servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' And through her openness, God's
glory is revealed and the sign given.
The baptism of Jesus by John is a further uncovering. Typically the 4th
Gospel does not give us the account of Jesus' baptism - it is more interested
in its significance. Here it is John whose eyes are opened: see vs 32
- 34.*
John was looking for the One who is to come: vs 31…**
John was seeking and he found. His 2 disciples were seeking. Jesus asks
them what it is they are seeking. It is a fair question. What do you want
from me? There were to be many who would seek to exploit Jesus for their
own ends. And they missed the revelation. They missed seeing Jesus for
who He was. They came looking, not for Jesus but for what they could get
out of Him.
So what about these 2, who had been open to God's work through John and
were His disciples? What is it you are seeking, asks Jesus. Teacher, we
want to know where you are coming from. We WILL come to where you are
and not ask you to fit in with our agenda. "Come and you will see"
says Jesus. And they do. Much later, as Jesus prepares for his death,
he makes the same invitation. In ch 15, Abide in me… These 2 had
already heard that invitation: They came and saw where he was staying
and remained (abided) with him.
And what was the outcome of abiding with Him? "We have found the
Messiah." The truth of who Jesus is, has been uncovered, the glory
of Jesus as the Christ has been revealed.
As we move closer to Lent, the challenge I take from this is 2fold. Firstly
I have to check my inner motives. Am I following Christ or asking Christ
to follow me? Will I go where he leads or am I asking Him to come where
I lead? Secondly, am I willing to abide with Him. To spend the afternoon
with Him, to give time to being in His presence. I suspect that only by
doing so, will His glory be revealed to me. Lord, help me to respond as
those 2 disciples did, to the invitation to 'Come and See'. Amen.
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