Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 15 January 2017 takes John 1:29-42 as its scriptural basis. Geoff discusses how the season of Epiphany must not obscure the fact that there are many epiphanies (great revelations) to be had about Jesus. This section of the Bible includes epiphanies for John the Baptist, Andrew (Scotland’s patron saint) and Andrew’s brother, Simon Peter. Find out how St Andrew was first-called by Jesus and how the simple revelations from the story perhaps have greater meaning for our daily Christian lives than the high, theological ones.
As usual, the Scripture is immediately below (New International Version). After that, comes Geoff’s sermon. You can download the sermon as a PDF by clicking on this text.
John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
I will never forget the day I had a run-in with the three wise men.
I was starring in the school nativity play as King Herod and, when it came to the point when the wise men arrived at Herod’s Palace, here was my moment.
I remember being overcome with nerves and so, when the the chief wise man stood before me and bowed, I, for some strange reason, bowed too – and we banged heads in front of hundreds of school children, who descended into howls of laughter.
I can remember clearly lifting my eyes to the Christ star above and loads of little stars were flying about around it as I struggled to remember my lines.
The feast of Epiphany falls on 6th January every year.
On that day, the visit of the Magi, the wise men, is marked in the western Church.
Epiphany simply means ‘manifestation’ or ‘great revelation’.
It refers, in the Christian tradition, to the ‘making known’ of Jesus; that God is manifest in him. The Church celebrates epiphany on the one day and then treats the following Sundays as ‘Sundays after Epiphany’.
However, this tends to sell short Epiphany because the Gospels clearly record a number of epiphanies, not just one.
We can’t stop with the wise men.
- What about the baptism of Jesus?
- What about the great declaration of John the Baptist, which we have read this morning?
- What about the changing of the water into wine?
- What about the Transfiguration?
So, in effect, we have a mini Church season, which allows us time to think about these manifestations, as we ponder the mystery of the incarnation.
Epiphany always carried great weight in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In fact, much more so than Christmas.
The birth of Jesus was one of a series of epiphanies in the Orthodox church.
It was that, rather than the “event” which it became in the Western church. And there is something of great merit in that approach.
Sometimes we read at Christmas time churches advertising events with the “come and celebrate the baby Jesus’’ kind of strap line. The emphasis is on the baby rather than the Christ.
That is a distortion which has the potential to skew our understanding of the incarnation. If we emphasise the epiphanies and understand the birth of Christ as one such epiphany, we avoid that kind of trap.
So what kind of epiphany moment are we presented with today?
Well, for me, the most interesting aspect of this account in John’s Gospel is the manner in which the author John places the words and attitude of John the Baptist alongside the words and response of the first disciples.
John the Baptist begins the passage with the declaration; “Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” and goes on to state again, when Jesus passed by, “Look, here is the lamb of God”.
Now, we might not think too much about this, especially if we have been raised in the church and are long-familiar with church language.
‘The lamb of God’ is a biblical concept and we might have been familiar with that concept most of our days. But we can be very sure that the disciples wouldn’t have been. So, if you’re not familiar with it this morning, you’re in the same boat as the disciples!
What does John the Baptist mean by ‘the lamb of God’?
It sounds at best a bit quaint – or maybe even just downright strange.
Ah, but – you might say to me – it points to the nature of Jesus as the sacrificial Messiah of God, indicating that his destiny would be as God’s unique Passover lamb…
Well, that’s way beyond the first disciples. They wouldn’t have had a clue!
But, you know, that didn’t particularly matter.
They heard the words of John the Baptist and that was enough for them to follow. When Jesus asked them: “What are you looking for?” they couldn’t answer him. Instead, they asked: “Where are you staying?” But that was enough. Enough for them to be shown the way.
A recent survey of children’s questions to mum and dad revealed the following.
The most common ones were:
- How is electricity made?
- What are black holes?
- What is infinity?
- Why is the sky blue?
- Why do we have a leap year?
- How do birds fly?
- Why does cutting onions make you cry?
- Where does the wind come from?
- Why is the sea salty?
- How big is the world?
- What happens to us when we die?
- What is a prime number?
- Is God real?
- What makes thunder?
- Why do you blink?
- Where do babies come from?
- How do planes fly?
- What is time?
- How does Father Christmas get down the chimney?
- Where does water come from?
How well are you doing with the answers?
Jesus asked a question: a very difficult question and he received a question in return. A child-like question but one that seemed to delight him. “Where are you staying?” In other words, we would like to follow you.
We have a very grand epiphany in the words of John the Baptist.
“Look, here is the lamb of God”.
But we have a much simpler, yet – in many ways – much greater epiphany through the words of the child-like disciples:
“Where are you staying?”
All we want to do is follow you, wherever that may take us.
Jesus is someone who is really worth following. And to prove it, off went Andrew to find his brother, Simon Peter, and, in so doing, became an evangelist.
Here is the simple principle of church growth in action.
As the Graham Kendrick song goes:
“One shall tell another
And he shall tell his friend
Husbands, wives and children
Shall come following on
From house to house in families
Shall more be gathered in
And lights will shine in every street
So warm and welcoming.”
That is the manifestation of the Messiah being proclaimed, in action.
It would be easy today to focus upon the amazing words of John the Baptist: to allow ourselves to indulge in the sacrificial theology of the lamb of God.
However, the theology is useless if it is not worked out and lived. It is no good for us to live our Christianity in our heads.
We can take delight in the wonderful images that the Scriptures can bring to us but, if our thoughts are not shaping our walk after Christ, then we are missing everything.
In that sense, the epiphany of John the Baptist is nothing without the epiphany of Andrew and Simon Peter.
A convoluted sermon about the differences between John the Baptist’s calling Jesus “the son of God” and Andrew’s calling Jesus “the Messiah” might make for an interesting diversion, or not! But it would all be useless if Andrew and his brother were not brought to the foreground.
The call of Christ this morning is the same call that Andrew received.
The Greek Orthodox Church name our patron saint, Andrew, protokletos: “first called”.
He is the first of many millions who have since had an epiphany experience of seeing Jesus in a new way.
The ‘Rabbi’ of Andrew’s first impression has become his ‘Messiah’ before the day has ended. How we need that kind of insight.
And we trust that, through this mini season of Epiphany, we may be granted it.
