The Shepherd’s Voice

Readings for Sunday, January 16^th
Isaiah 49:1–7
Psalm 40:1–11
I love to do your will, O my God. (Ps. 40:8)
1 Corinthians 1:1–9
John 1:29–42

This week we have an opportunity to look at an interaction between folks, almost as if we’re at a play or a skit. So before we begin to examine the text let’s put today’s section of text into context, into the world in which it was originally written.

Our text starts with v29 29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him. So last Sunday Jesus had come to John to be baptized and John did not really think he should baptize Him, but he did. He acknowledged Jesus because it was proper and then John announced that Jesus would fulfill all righteousness. This was a fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation.

John the Baptist was not the One, he was an announcer, very loosely we might think of him as Ed McMahon on the Johnny Carson show. He was not Johnny; he came before him to warm up the audience, to get them on board. His work in trade was preaching repentance and baptism.

Now the Pharisees questioned John because of that, look at v25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” Where do you get your authority from? Did you go to Harvard or Yale or Princeton – that type of thing.

26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”

I have told you before that John may have been one of the folks who broke away from the sect that operated at Qumran who were very fundamental about the Jewish faith. John may have been a scribe or Rabbi fro Qumran, we don’t know. John may have received a lot of his training there, however his authority did not come from there, it came from God.

Moving the story forward, our text today starts with as I said “The next day,” so this is likely the day after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. We need to ask some questions about what is John doing here? Open your Bibles, look at what the text says here:

John is declaring, (v29-31) “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” John diminishes himself and lifts up Jesus.

What else is John doing here? It next says John is testifying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I 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 (He) is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John is being a witness of what he saw and heard.

These are some scary things in Luther land. Declaring, testifying, speaking about your faith. It’s hard to tell doubters, skeptics about your faith. Some say we don’t need to talk about our faith because God predestines, but here God uses John and others to speak on God’s behalf.

Sometimes I get accused by some of not preaching enough Lutheran doctrine versus preaching Christian doctrine. Well, during the trial he declared, he testified about his work in saying “Here I stand, I can do no other.” After the court case was finished, after a self imposed exile Luther’s life was one of action and outreach. He testified to the truth, he started schools for girls, he changed diapers, he helped folks find work, he lived out the truth of God in his life.

Luther was never just a pew sitter, waxing on about the good old days; he was an active witness for Christ, a fighter, and he talked about and wrote about who Christ was, not only in his world, but also what Christ was doing in his life. Martin Luther said, “faith is a living, busy, active, & mighty thing.” Read his life story, you will be amazed about how he lived out his faith.

Back to our story: It says 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

What does that mean, “Lamb of God?” It’s not “runt of the litter,” it’s not “calf of the herd,” it’s not “chick of the henhouse.” John knew what he was talking about and helped others know also.

It should be understood that the use of a lamb for sacrifice was a very familiar term to Jews. A lamb was used as a sacrifice during Passover (Ex 12:1–36); a lamb was led to the slaughter in the prophecies of Isaiah (Is 53:7); a lamb was offered in the daily sacrifices so in a Jewish mindset this term made sense, it resonated with them. (Lv 14:12–21; cf. Heb 10:5–7). Might it be that John the Baptist used this expression as a reference to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the one who died for our sins.

John’s declaration and testimony about who Jesus was certainly was more than him just knowing about Jesus. His witness was personal, it was strong, provocative, and it was in terms that people of that day would/could understand. Perhaps that’s why it had such impact.

Look at v37 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

Why would Jesus say this? Doesn’t it seem strange to you? The term “What are you looking for?” seems out of place to me. We use that phrase today when we are looking for our keys, or a book or a lost thing. It doesn’t make sense unless we understand it in slightly different terms.

The term ‘following’ in Greek usually means to follow as a disciple. That seems to makes sense based on what is said next. They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” Again, this seems confusing……

When we think about how this might fit into the context of the time it all makes sense. People who followed Rabbi’s were disciples. They were mentored by the Rabbi, they needed to know where he was staying so they could stay there as well and learn from him. When you were a disciple or learner you were yoked to the Rabbi or teacher. This ‘following’ was serious stuff. These folks weren’t pew sitters, these were folks who were more like Luther who lived out their faith by interacting with the world, by giving voice and action to their beliefs, there faith.
Jesus next response to the question of ‘where are you staying’ was 39He said to them, “Come and see.” This statement is loaded with meaning in a Jewish world, a world where students and followers, attached themselves to a Rabbi until they were ready to go out on their own.

This whole story put in the context of the Jewish world has much more power than we might think of it in our world. If someone asks you where are you staying today, it’s no big deal or it’s not a significant question. You may say come and see where I’m staying.

In terms of ‘following and yoking,’ and living with the Rabbi to learn your craft, come and see has an all together different meaning and significance. As people today we need to take serious Jesus statement, “Come and see.” We need to get comfortable saying come and see.

All of what we’ve talked about so far, John being humble about his role in announcing the Messiah, John declaring and testifying to the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the world, Jesus saying “Come and see” these are lessons for us. This is modeling for us. These are practices we need to learn, to emulate in the here and now. People in scripture learned from this -

John’s story, Jesus’ story becomes our story. In your Bible look at the text following our gospel reading for today. (John 1:43-47) Look at how Jesus once again talks about following. Jesus found Philip and he said, “Follow me.”

Next Philip finds Nathanael and they start up a conversation about finding the one whom Moses talked about, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. Of course Nathanael is skeptical, he says can anything good come out of Nazareth?

In our gospel text today John’s story, Jesus’ story, Philip’s story becomes our story. We have skeptical friends, maybe even a skeptical family, and certainly a skeptical world, but when we approach it with humility and we tell our story people will respond.

Of course we have to have a story, God must be at work in our lives to have a story, our connection with God needs to be active, ongoing, vibrant, and meaningful otherwise we will appear to be full of hot air, with weak words, and empty rhetoric.

Have you yoked yourself to the one who has invited us to come? (Matt 11:28-20) Jesus said, 28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

God calls us to be yoked to the risen Christ, the Holy One, the redeemer of all humanity. Our job as followers is to be humble in heart and share the good news, respond to the call. We need to share our story, part of that is by telling others to come and see. When you have God’s peace the promise Jesus made was, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If you can’t understand that statement maybe you need to question your connection to God. I invite you to ‘Come and See,’ answer the call, claim the promise today, join our class Real Faith for Real Life.

Amen.