Why Are You Following Me?

John 1:29-42; Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-19

January 20, 2008, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ten years ago I told you the story of an upstate New York rich man whose estate was worth millions. Yet he was unhappy because his wife was getting older and they did not have a child. He had always wanted a little boy to carry on his legacy. In her later years his wife miraculously became pregnant, and she gave birth to a severely handicapped boy, and the father loved the boy with his whole heart.

When the boy was five his mom died, and dad drew closer to his special son. At the age of 13 the boy’s birth defects cost him his life, and the father died soon after from a broken heart.

The estate was auctioned before hundreds of bidders. The first item offered was a painting of the boy. No one bid. They waited like vultures for the riches. Finally, the poor housemaid, who helped raise the boy, offered $5 for the picture and easily took the bid. To everyone’s surprise the auctioneer ripped off a piece of paper from the back of the picture. It was a handwritten will. This is what it said, “To the person who thinks enough of my son to buy this painting, to this person I give my entire estate.”

The auction was over. The greedy crowd walked away in shock and dismay. How many of the people sought after what they thought were true riches only to find out that the father was prepared to give the entire estate to the one who sought something of his son?

In many ways this is what we find in the passage from John. It has to do with what people are looking for. Let’s understand the gospel writer’s intention though, because it is so easy to confuse John with Matthew Mark and Luke’s account of this same period. Prior to this in the Gospel of John we hear John talking about the one to come. Then the next day he sees Jesus in the crowd and makes the announcement we hear today. There is no baptism scene in this Gospel, but the fact that Jesus is by the river would cause one to assume that he was baptized by John. In this gospel the voice of God is played by John. Instead of God saying this is my Son with whom I’m pleased; it is John saying “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” That is why this passage is read during the season of Epiphany.

Now why this choice of words on the part of John? Knowing John’s connection with the Essenes it is possible that in identifying Jesus this way, John sees Jesus as a lamb or rather a ram who will be victorious over God’s enemies and drive out sin. It is quite possible that some of the Jewish persuasion will connect Jesus with the Passover lamb, the lambs that were killed as a prelude to the Exodus so that the blood could be spread on the doorposts and the angel of death would pass over, or they and others would understand it as the sacrificial lambs that were slaughtered in the temple as sacrifices to purify the people.

Sarah Breuer, who writes the blog SarahLaughed.net shares another possibility.

In Bruce Malina's and Richard Rohrbaugh's Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John, Bruce is fond of pointing out that in the ancient world, watching the night sky was the closest equivalent to what watching television is to a lot of us. It was entertainment, and it was also news, as the stars were seen as having profound and divine influence over human affairs. And if we want to understand the significance of the term "Lamb of God," we too need to look to the night sky.

Specifically, we look to the constellation we (following the Romans) call Aries, which Jews of the Second Temple period (i.e., of Jesus' time) as well as Greeks saw as a male lamb. And across numerous traditions in the ancient world, it was a pretty strong lamb at that. Ancient descriptions of Aries mirror that of the first-century astronomer Nigidius Figulus, who called Aries "the leader and prince of the constellations" (Malina and Rohrbaugh, pg. 51). Aries the divine Lamb was the ruler of the other constellations, and the starting point from which all other constellations were mapped.

I would also add that it was a star that led the astrologers to the baby Jesus. For the first century Jews the concept of lamb was a powerful and strong image. It could wipe away sins, it could keep evil at bay, it governed the cosmos. All of this entered into what John announced to Andrew and another disciple. And they went and followed Jesus.

Then we come to, what is for me, the big question, “Why are you following me?” Every time I hear that I find myself saying, “Well, duh.” And I have to remind myself that Jesus is not a mind reader per se. But the question is perhaps the most important question asked in Christendom. “Why are you following me?” Now the two disciples’ response is just as interesting, if not more so, “Where are you staying?” If you don’t want to look dumb, answer a question with a question. But there is more than that going on here, and the question implies a correct response to the question.

Why do we follow Jesus; is it so we can feel good about ourselves? Are we Christians because we hope to gain special blessing from Jesus? Do we see following Jesus as some sort of life insurance policy – you know, covering all of the bases? Does our following Christ make us superior in some way?

Susan Andrews, a former Moderator of our denomination, and now the General Presbyter of Hudson River Presbytery writes concerning the answer to Jesus’ question:

discipleship, “knowing Jesus[,] is not about intellectual certainty. It is not about ethical perfection [ . . . Rather,] [T]o know Jesus is to come and see, to remain with him, to abide with him, to simply hang out with Jesus for a while, and to see what happens” (p.66).

These words are liberating, because they remind and assure us Christians that we do not have to have all the answers as part of discipleship. Discipleship is more about having a relationship with Jesus than about having all questions answered or about having no doubts or about being comfortable with every aspect of the Church.

Jesus invites the two disciples to come “hang out” with him. That’s why I say the disciples response is so important, because somehow, even though they may not know it, they get it – “Where are you staying,” is another way of saying we want to hang out with you. But it is more than just hanging out. You can hang out for the purpose of getting a piece of fame that may come your way from being with Jesus. As William Loader, a professor of Murdoch University in Australia writes:

That belonging is not something static but a relationship with an agenda: ‘that they might have life and have it in abundance’. Its obverse is also clear: taking away, getting rid of, confronting, disempowering the sin of the world. ‘The sin’ by definition is what destroys life and relationship. When we let that note linger, we can hear through it not only the cries of the human heart but also the cries of all humanity in the pain of violence, injustice and evil.

Why are you following me? That is the question. John has told us who Jesus is – the Lamb of God. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection tell us who he is. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Why are you following him? There is a handwritten will in all of this for those who care enough to hang with the Son.

Amen

© 2008 Rev. Dr. Thomas T. Peters