John the Baptist Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God
John the Baptist Identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=29353 [retrieved January 12, 2023]. Original source: image donated by Jim Womack and Anne Richardson.
Exploring the Text: The invitation to follow
When John points out Jesus to two of his disciples, they begin to follow Jesus. This is not following like a disciple would, this is following like an awkward stalked. They haven’t asked Jesus to follow him, they are just following from a distance to see what happens. Jesus sees them following and turns to address them. He asks them, “What are you seeking?” This the equivalent to confronting someone and asking them, “What do you want?” or “Can I help you?”
They know what John has said about Jesus, but they don’t personally know him. They aren’t comfortable talking to him and they have just been caught following him. One of them awkwardly stammers, “Where are you staying?” Jesus responds, “Come and see.” They join Jesus and, suddenly, they are no longer following awkwardly from a distance, they are legitimate followers, they are disciples.
They still aren’t completely sure who Jesus is and what he is about. All they know is that they have heard good things about him, he has invited them to come, and they are following. Like these first disciples, we have an invitation to follow Jesus as well. Like them, we don’t need to know everything about Jesus, we just need to start to follow.
David W. Dalton
When John points out Jesus to two of his disciples, they begin to follow Jesus. This is not following like a disciple would, this is following like an awkward stalked. They haven’t asked Jesus to follow him, they are just following from a distance to see what happens. Jesus sees them following and turns to address them. He asks them, “What are you seeking?” This the equivalent to confronting someone and asking them, “What do you want?” or “Can I help you?”
They know what John has said about Jesus, but they don’t personally know him. They aren’t comfortable talking to him and they have just been caught following him. One of them awkwardly stammers, “Where are you staying?” Jesus responds, “Come and see.” They join Jesus and, suddenly, they are no longer following awkwardly from a distance, they are legitimate followers, they are disciples.
They still aren’t completely sure who Jesus is and what he is about. All they know is that they have heard good things about him, he has invited them to come, and they are following. Like these first disciples, we have an invitation to follow Jesus as well. Like them, we don’t need to know everything about Jesus, we just need to start to follow.
David W. Dalton