Come and see (Jn. 1:29–42)

We start every calendar year with the short season of Epiphany. During this time, we focus on the identity of Jesus as God reveals him to us. Having remembered his arrival into this world at Christmas time, we take some time to recognise exactly who this Jesus really is.

At this point, Jesus had grown up and had been baptised by John the Baptist, which signified the start of his ministry. Now, Jesus needs to gather a team to journey with him for the next few years.

Throughout most of his ministry, people were desperately trying to figure out who Jesus was. The more attention he got through his teaching and miracles, the more people wondered and talked. You can imagine the rumours that must have gone around during those years.

As he started to call his first disciples, we hear a few very important titles being mentioned. There are four in this passage alone: Lamb of God, Son of God, Rabbi, and Messiah. Each of these names have their own significance and tell us something different about who Jesus is. We’re going to take each one individually today.

Lamb of God

This title comes directly from Passover language. In Exodus 12, God’s people were instructed to partake in a very specific meal before they were to depart Egypt, where they were being kept as slaves. The lamb is the last part of the meal and the most significant. It was the blood of this lamb that signified that they were God’s people, and they were spared from death as a result.

As the Lamb of God, it is Jesus’ blood that sets us apart as Christians spares us from certain death as well. His death was the sacrifice for sin that was made once and for all. At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he is already being recognised as the one who would sacrifice his life to save the world. Very few would have understood what that would mean for him at this point.

There is a second aspect to this title, though. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In Leviticus 16, Aaron is commanded by God to take a goat, place his hands on it, and confess over it the sins of all the people, placing their sin on it. That goat would then be let into the wilderness, taking the people’s sin with it, never to be seen again. This is where the expression, “scapegoat”, comes from. This is precisely what Jesus has done for us.

For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

All we like sheep have gone astray;
  we have turned—everyone—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
  the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
  yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
  and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
  so he opened not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:6,7

Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is the fulfillment of countless Old Testament prophecies.

Son of God

Having just baptised Jesus himself and witnessed his anointing by the Holy Spirit, John now knows exactly who Jesus is. He gives his testimony and shares this title based on what he had heard the Father say when Jesus came up from the water. “You are (or “This is”) my Son.” (Mt. 3:17; Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22)

Jesus has a relationship with God the Father that is entirely unique. We are all God’s children through our own baptisms (only made possible through Christ’s baptism), but Jesus is the Son of God.

Earlier on in this chapter of his gospel, John writes: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (Jn. 1:18)

There are a select few in the Old Testament that got to see flashes of God’s glory, but not fully. Jesus, a human being, comes from God and shares his nature. He is both man and God, human and divine.

Jesus makes God known to us.
Jesus makes God accessible to us.
Jesus brings God’s grace and love to us.

The Nicene Creed was written to try to articulate this relationship, as well as that with the Holy Spirit. We confess that Jesus is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father, through him all things were made…”

As the Son of God, Jesus comes from God. He shares his divinity with God, which he revealed to us in miracles and divine teaching from time to time. He was there from the beginning, but came into the world for a short time to deal with sin and death once and for all. He now sits at God’s right hand, which is his rightful place, where he will remain until he returns to finally complete all things.

Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, is the only Son of God.

Rabbi

The word “rabbi” comes from the Hebrew rabban, meaning “chief” or “great one.” These were highly regarded teachers and mentors who gathered students for themselves based on their teaching. At this early point in his ministry, Jesus is already regarded as someone worthy of the rabbi title.

In our culture today, there is usually quite a clear line between everyday life and faith. We distinguish Christian schools from public schools. We identify as religious or non-religious. We have bookstores and Christian bookstores. We set Sunday apart as “church day”, distinguished from the rest of the week.

In the time of Jesus, life and faith were so deeply intertwined that there was often no distinction. Relationships, family life, education, career, and even the flow of each day and week stemmed from faith. Jesus, as a teacher, was also a mentor and a social leader. The disciples (or students) that he gathered would learn from his verbal teaching and also his lived example.

There were people starting to follow Jesus around. He asks, “What do you want?” They respond, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” They want to come with him to hear what he has to say and see what he has to show them. Jesus invites them to come and see, but also to come and be.

Jesus’ invitation to “come and see” is not just about watching him or listening to him, even though we do both of those things. When Jesus invites you to “come and see”, he invites you to participate in life with him. As a member of his church, he calls you to come and be his hands and feet in the world.

Messiah

Andrew, one of John the Baptist’s disciples, find his brother Simon to tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” This title of course has very high significance for the Jewish people. Andrew hasn’t even seen much of Jesus at this point, but he seems to be sure that this is the Anointed One that his nation has been anticipating for centuries. How can he be so sure?

As a disciple of John the Baptist, it’s likely that Andrew was there at Jesus’ baptism. John had been completely convinced that Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Son of God based on what he had witnessed that day, as we’ve already touched on. Andrew must have had the same conviction if he was there that day. If he wasn’t there, he’s heard John’s testimony. Either way, he’s heard enough to be convinced.

Throughout the Old Testament, people were anointed when they were set apart for a particularly important role. The title of “messiah” was commonly used for kings Saul and David in 1 and 2 Samuel. It was promised many times, though, that there would one day be an ultimate Anointed One from the line of King David.

The Old Testament kings had all kinds of problems. Even David, considered to be Israel’s greatest king, is a well-known sinner. It was promised that one day, there would be a king that would not have the same faults and rule with perfect justice and power.

Conclusion

For the Jews of that day, these titles were commonly understood and didn’t have to be explained. We, who are outsiders from the Jewish faith, need time to understand what these titles mean and what they tell us about Jesus.

As the Lamb of God, Jesus took the sin of the world on himself and put it to death for good.

As the Son of God, Jesus shares the Father’s divinity and makes God accessible to us.

As Rabbi, Jesus is our teacher and mentor who not only speaks to us, but invites us to participate in his life.

As Messiah, Jesus is chosen by God to do his work and bring peace to the world.

In the name of Christ, who is all the above for us and more. Amen.