John 1:29-42a
Not a Look-a-Like
I want you to imagine for me your favorite celebrity. Picture their face, the way they may dress, everything about them you can imagine. Now tell me, if that celebrity randomly came walking down right past you, would you actually recognize them? Would you know well enough that it was them for certain and not someone who simply looks like them? And before you answer that question, I want you to consider that a number of celebrities have actually lost look-a-like competitions for themselves. Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Robert Downey Jr, and the list could go on. Yes, these famous names went to a place where everyone was trying to pretend to be them and somehow when the real celebrity showed up, no one knew any better. After all, we should learn that our perception is always imperfect. What we remember someone looking like and what they actually look like are often two different things. Our memory is tainted by any number of outside influences that cause us to remember things slightly different from how they actually are. That is, if we don’t know someone well enough, if we don’t interact with them on a regular basis, then it’s more likely than not that our memory and image of them becomes warped. And isn’t this the same thing with Jesus? I hazard to think about how many Christians would mistake the real Jesus for a fake just because they’ve built up their own image in their heads. If we’re not regularly in God’s word, if we’re not regularly hearing from Jesus and God, then it’s all the more possible that we’ve replaced Jesus with a look-a-like of our own making.
Consider our Gospel lesson then as we hear of John the Baptist pointing and attesting to Jesus coming among them. Yes, John was sent to point out the real messiah because the people had been mistaken before. Thus, from John we learn the plea of the whole church, as we say:
SHOW US JESUS THAT WE MAY FOLLOW HIM!
I.
We talked all of Advent about John’s role in preparing the way for Jesus. He was sent before him so that the people would be ready to receive him when he came. But there’s something more to John’s role than simple preparation. The people didn’t just need to hear about their sins. They needed direction too. As we heard, “The next day [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29. If you’ve seen any paintings of John the Baptist around Jesus, John is always pointing. John has his finger literally pointing the people to Jesus. While we often tell our children that it’s impolite to point, we understand that John’s direction was necessary. The people had been deceived by many other false Messiahs that they no longer knew what to look for. Thus, it rested on God’s revelation of the Christ, the Epiphany of Christ to the people through John. For as John also said, “I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel,” John 1:31. Yes, it took direct revelation for people to know Christ and to believe in him.
So why should we think it’s any different for us? Don’t we understand that we must be constantly pointed towards Jesus lest we be deceived into following a false Jesus? This is why we’re so reliant on God’s word, and even more so, on the place where God joins himself with his word being taught and preached into our ears. For we understand that all it takes for someone to fall away from such faith is to shut their ears to Jesus and his word. When we stop asking for directions to Jesus, but rather trust in our sin-stained conscience, we’re bound to be led astray, to create a Jesus of our own making. For when the call of discipleship comes, we know it’s much easier to follow our own Jesus, than the real one. For Jesus bids us drop everything. We can keep nothing of ourselves and rather must count on receiving all of Jesus. For consider the question Jesus asks the two disciples, “What are you seeking?” John 1:38. There’s only ever one right answer to such a question. And it’s not happiness, nor love, or peace. The only answer has to be Jesus.
II.
For so, Christians of all ages have begged for one thing… Show us Jesus that we may follow him! We need the direction of God and his word. We need the direction of John and the Apostles. We need Jesus to reveal himself to us so that we may follow him who is true. We can’t trust in our own intuition or memory to find our way to Jesus. Rather, it must be Jesus who comes and calls us as his own. And he does… Jesus himself comes to us and says, “Come and you will see,” John 1:39. For so, the two disciples follow him, learn from him, begin to recognize his ways so that they may go and call others. Just as we also read, “One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’… He brought him to Jesus,” John 1:40-42a. Yes, the great disciple of our Lord, Peter himself had to be given revelation, had to be summoned by his own brother to follow Christ.
I’ve heard of a pastor who has written this little reminder into his pulpit for this very reason. Just a little bit later on in the Gospel, certain Greeks come to the disciples and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” For this is our goal every Sunday, to follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist pointing you towards the Christ, our Savior. Then hear these very words of John echo through the pages of Scripture into the church today, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29. Yes, behold the Lamb who was nailed to the cross to take away all of your sins! Behold, the Lamb whose body and blood was poured out in this lavish meal that you may partake and receive life! Behold, the Lamb of God who sits on his heavenly throne, victorious over all your enemies. For the Lamb has vanquished sin, death, and the devil so that by following after him, he may lead us through the gates of eternity!
Look to him whom God has revealed to us through the prophets, the apostles, and through his word. Look to Jesus who has taken away every sin and has called you into faith leading to eternal life. And to him who called us, let us follow him all the rest of our days, now and forevermore! In Jesus’ name! Amen!