Our gospel reading for this Second Sunday after the Epiphany comes from John’s gospel, and it starts with “The next day he saw Jesus coming...” which is an odd place for us to start reading, because we’re not really sure what happened the day before, and who is the person who saw Jesus coming towards him. If we read a few verses before I started, we’d learn that this is the day after Jesus’ baptism, and it is John the Baptist who saw Jesus coming towards him. And we then hear about John’s experience of the baptism. John’s gospel doesn’t describe the actual baptism, it’s as if the writer assumes that the reader knows it’s happened, and what’s important is to understand what the event actually means. I’ll expand on that in a moment.
Last week we read the story of Jesus’ baptism from Matthew’s gospel, and this week we’ve gone to John’s gospel, for a different take, a different viewpoint. Why the switching back and forth? Selections from John’s gospel are used throughout the weekly lectionary of Sunday gospel readings to rather round out the stories told by the other three gospellers, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Not a surprise to most of you, but Anglican worship, also known as ‘liturgy’, is done in a very organized fashion. And the choices for the bible readings or scriptures for each Sunday is also quite organized. It is in fact done in a three year cycle, noted as Year A or B or C. This year is Year A in the Liturgical cycle of readings, and most of the gospel readings will come from Matthew’s gospel, at least in ordinary time anyway. Ordinary time is the time of the year that’s not a special season like Christmas, Epiphany, Lent or Advent, and we know when it is ordinary time, because the hangings in the church are once again green.
The lectionary is a selection of scriptures chosen by scholars to use for worship services. We use the Revised Common Lectionary, which is “... a three-year cycle of weekly lections used to varying degrees by the vast majority of mainline Protestant churches in Canada and the United States. (It) is built around the seasons of the Church Year, and includes four lections for each Sunday, as well as additional readings for major feast days. During most of the year, the lections include a reading from the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), a Psalm, a reading from the Epistles, and a Gospel reading.”[1] It is kind of cool to think that there are many Christians who come together to worship on Sundays who hear the same readings we do and a sermon on the same scriptures as we do!
So, the lectionary is comprised of lections or scriptures for the day and they’re read from the lectern—the stand where the scriptures are read from. As noted, this is Year A, Matthew’s year, Year B is Mark’s year, Year C is Luke’s. Matthew, Mark and Luke’s version of Jesus life outline it almost in a narrative style, like a story, from beginning to end, and there are many similarities in these gospels. These three gospels are known as the ‘synoptic gospels’, because they tell many of the same stories, and often in the same order and are easily compared to each other. (The word “synoptic” comes from the Greek word synoptikos, meaning “able to be seen together.”[2]) Scholars believe that Matthew and Luke’s gospel is based on Mark’s gospel, which is the first of the four to be written, along with some other sources. One of these is known as ‘Q’ from the German word ‘Quelle’ which means ‘source’. Scholars have hypothesized ‘Q’ to be a collection of material circulated around the early churches[3], and since lost to antiquity. John’s gospel, however, is distinctly different. It is freely organized for his theological views and not so much along the three year journey of Jesus’ ministry. John wrote his gospel primarily to show that Jesus really is the Messiah and Son of God.[4] One of the things that I find very telling about John’s gospel is that he calls the miracles that Jesus performs ‘signs’, because these are things that only one who has the power of God could possibly do. So, the miracles are really the signs pointing to who Jesus is. Jesus has the power of God, therefore is God. John is clear about this right from the very first verse of his gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The Word brought light to the darkness and John the Baptist was sent by God to tell about the light, so that everyone might believe.
And in our gospel reading today, we read of John the Baptist’s experience of discovering just who Jesus is and telling everyone too. John 1: 32-34 “32...I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 (NLT) John actually saw the Holy Spirit, John saw God, and it looked to him like a dove. That’s cool, and a pretty clear sign, a very special faith experience given to a very special man.
Twice in our reading today John refers to Jesus as “The Lamb of God” and once as the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. What does this mean? Well, the Lamb of God reference goes right back to the time of Moses as told in Exodus 12 and 13, and John’s disciples, being Jews, would well have known and understood this reference to the Passover. Recall the story? In the time of Moses, when the Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians, the Pharoah refused Moses’ demand on behalf of God to free his people. One of the divine plagues sent by God was the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. The Hebrew people God told them through Moses, could escape the fate by smearing the blood of a lamb on their doorposts, so the “angel of death” would see the blood and pass over their houses. And so, their first born would be spared. The lamb used was in effect sacrificed for its blood, to save the people, it was clearly God’s saving grace. And the people were instructed to re-enact and celebrate God’s saving grace in the Passover each year. “Passover signifies protection, lineage, deliverance and God’s promise of relationship.”[5] John equates Jesus with the Passover Lamb, Jesus, the Son of God, The Lamb of God, gave himself to be sacrificed to save the people.
Now, also of note, John said the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. Sin, not sins, plural. There’s a difference? Yes. The sin (singlular-no s) the sin of the world, for John ‘has a very distinct theological meaning... . Sin is not a moral category, a way to designate unlawful or ... (wicked or unjust) behaviour, sin ... (for John) is a synonym for not being in relationship with God. ... Belief in God means being in relationship with God”[6] “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, therefore, takes away any separation from God and makes it possible for all to be in the same kind of relationship with God that Jesus has with the Father.”[7] This is what God wants of us, to be in relationship with God. Ever wonder what God might be like if God was a person? Just look to Jesus. To see Jesus, is to see God, to be with Jesus, is to be with God. God doesn’t come exclusively to special prophets, many people have experiences, in some form or another, of God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, maybe not a swooping and alighting dove, but a strong sense in some way of God’s presence in your life, directing you, comforting you, challenging you...
Seeing the signs of God in Christ, experiencing God in Christ—these faith experiences are gifts from God, and we, like John, are called to share them with others, to testify to them, each in our own way. John told his own disciples, “Here is the Lamb God”, and they turned from him to follow Jesus. And Jesus invited them to him, he told them to come to where he was staying, and they became his disciples. A disciple is one who is a follower of Jesus and his teachings. And the first step of discipleship? John showed us! To share Jesus, to bring others to him. How? By sharing what your experience of him is. It is what we are all called to do! Simply tell others when the opportunity arises of your experience of God’s presence, of Jesus or the Holy Spirit in your life. How has it changed your life, your faith, your faith journey?
You might want to start writing your faith experiences down, journaling that’s called. So when you’re feeling like you’ve lost God in your life, you can turn back to the times when you experienced God’s presence, reminding yourself that God really is with you, even when you’re feeling like you’re in a dark place. Don’t be afraid to share your story with others, when it’s appropriate to do so, even if you’re not 100% comfortable doing so. You don’t have to be a slick story teller, in fact it’s probably better that you’re not! Your sincerity will be sensed as the truth by anyone who hears it. People are starving for stories about how God, how Jesus, how the Holy Spirit changes lives. We should share them! Because when we hear other’s stories, when we share our stories, Jesus comes alive for us in the telling, and sharing them strengthens our experience, reinforcing God’s presence, making it even more real for us.
Jesus invited the disciples to “Come and See”, to be with him and learn about God. Sharing our experiences of God is just that, it’s the “Come and See” of our day and age. Amen
[1] https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/faq2.php accessed Jan 16.20
[2] https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/synoptic-gospels accessed Jan 16.20
[3] “Introductions to the Gospels” in The New Oxford Annotated Bible 2001, Michael E Coogan, editor. page 5 New Testament
[4] From the Commentary for John’s Gospel: Oxford Bible Commentary 2018. John Barton & John Muddiman, editors
[5] Karoline M. Lewis: John (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014) 28
[6] ibid
[7] Lewis, 29