John 1:29-43
Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Epiphany and to me, this Sunday is special, this is a Sunday of transition, of changes in the ministry of Jesus and the church. Radical changes I would say. John the Baptist has been around for a while. Some people ask if he is the one who is to come; the one they are waiting for. In today’s gospel, John makes things clear, and pointing at Jesus, he said, “He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In other words, it is not me the one you are waiting, but him, Jesus, He is the one you must follow, no me. That is the first transition we find in this scripture. While some were pointing at John; John is pointing at Jesus.
John said, “I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel… He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” Here we have another transition or change, from baptism for repentance practiced by John, to baptism of the Holy Spirit offered by Jesus.
Andrew and the other disciple (who is believe is John the writer of the Gospel) left John the Baptist and followed Jesus, the new teacher. We have another transition here, the disciples left John and started following Jesus. John was the voice in the wilderness, he prepared the way, now these two disciples are following the one who was before him. All these good changes happened after John the Baptist, testified about Jesus. “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
This Sunday is also Special because with his testimony John sets the grounds of who Jesus is, “He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John did not introduce Jesus as the “Lion of Judah” or as a mighty warrior. John the Baptist captures Christ’s role as the Lamb, not as a long-awaited warrior-king who was going to destroy Israel’s enemies, but as a pure sacrificial victim. And to make his point clear, he calls Jesus twice the Lamb of God; This is not just an expression John the Baptist invented; This is the message God sent him to proclaim.
It is essential to pay attention to what John the Baptist says in verses 32-34 “Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then, I did not know who Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.” We can say that God gave John the knowledge, the key for others to know who Jesus is, for them to come to Him … and that is what he did: he share with others what God told him and he pointed others to Jesus; during that process, he gave up everything a leader can enjoy: his popularity, his disciples, and even his life. He is the one who, according to the Gospel of John who provided the first two disciples to Jesus Andrew and John. These two, following the example of John testified about what they saw, and later were four, then twelve and now are counted by millions. Everything began with one person who dared to testified; one person who dared to evangelize; one person who did not keep for himself what God revealed to him, what God asked to share.
The story of John pointing others to Jesus is for us an invitation to do the same. This story is a reminder of how powerful and effective our testimony is. John’s testimony about Jesus was so effective that even two of his disciples left him to follow Jesus. One of the two was Andrew. Later Andrew after spending some time with Jesus shared his personal experience with his brother Peter. The Gospel says that the first thing Andrew did was to go and find his brother Simon and tell him (v. 41). Andrew was the first disciple to win someone for Jesus.
Andrew and John have something in common, they both were willing to be second. After this event Andrew was always listed as “Simon Peter’s brother, Andrew.” John as well as Andrew just wanted to bring others to Jesus. Of such quiet, unassuming, nonheadline-seeking persons is the kingdom of God. And these quiet, unassuming, nonheadline-seeking persons have the most powerful testimony.
Many Christians believe that sharing Jesus with others needs especial training or skills, however, learning from John and Andrew, we can say that to share Jesus with others all we need is to notice what God is doing in our lives and share it with others and invite them to come and see and experience it for themselves.
I want to extend an invitation to us the church of Jesus, let us speak up about what Jesus has done in our life; let us speak up about who Jesus is. John the Baptist, and Andrew did it. John saw the dove descend upon Jesus and told others what he saw. Andrew later did it with Peter, his brother. He said to Peter “We have found the Messiah” and invited him to come along and see for himself.
Let us remember that silence implies consent. If we do not speak about Jesus, the Light of the world we are consenting darkness; if we do not speak up about Jesus the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” we are consenting death, “for the wages of sin is death.” Sisters and brothers, when it comes to our relationship with Jesus, our primary job is to “see and share.”
The book of Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 7 tells us about the importance to share the message God has entrusted. “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so, hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.” Sharing the Gospel is matter of life and death.
Let me finish with a real story, is about Amanda, a friend from Nicaragua. She lost two brothers during the revolution against the Somoza’ regime. One of them died after the war was over. When the Sandinista army won the civil war in Nicaragua, they were so involved in celebrating their victory in Managua that they forgot to tell some of their platoons in the mountain about the victory. Amanda’s brother platoon was one of them. In the mountains, they found another platoon of Somoza’s soldiers, who also did not know the war over. they started fighting, and her brother died. He died because his fellow soldiers forgot to tell them they had already won.
My brothers and sisters, people will continue dying in their sins if we do not share the Good News of victory in Jesus. They need to know that they do not have to struggle with sin and evil by themselves anymore; they have Jesus who defeated sin. They need to hear that Jesus’ victory, is also their victory and we are the ones called to do it.