The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). While the year is still new, let me ask you the question Jesus asked two of John’s disciples: “What are you looking for?" Or, in other words, “What do you want from life?” It is a basic question that we should have an immediate answer to, but the strange thing is that not many of us know what we want from life. So we wander aimlessly from day to day, leading a meaningless existence, always thinking that there should be more to life, but not knowing what. We might get some direction from today’s passage. Let me give you the background. John the Baptist has his own following and it is quite a large one. But the moment Jesus appeared on the scene, John pointed to him saying, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” Two of the men listening to him immediately set out after Jesus, who turned to them and asked them, “What are you looking for?” Their response seems rather off-tangent, but reveals a lot. “Where are you staying, Rabbi?” It was a way of saying, “I don’t know what I am looking for. But I suspect you might know. John was a great man, but he told us that you were greater. He didn’t have all the answers, but I believe you might have them. So, teacher, we want to know more about you.” And Jesus said simply, “Come and see.” And that is all they needed to do. That is all we need to do. In a jail cell one day, having lost every single thing I had, I called out to him, “Jesus, do you really exist?” He responded with a sigh, which I later understood to mean, “Come and see.” I went and saw. And my life changed, because I discovered the reality of Jesus, and in him I discovered who I was and what my life was all about. He is saying to you today: Come and see. How, you might ask? If you are a Christian watching this, you undoubtedly have a Bible. If you are already reading it, great. If you aren’t, take it out. If you aren’t a Christian, may I invite you to get a Bible. Start reading the gospels and you will discover who the Lord really is. And in the process you will discover yourself too. What do you want? Come and see!
