This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Each year in the Lectionary Cycle (A: Matthew; B:Mark; C:Luke) the gospel for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time is taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John. The purpose for this is essentially the same – following the baptism of the Lord, which reveals the relationship of the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit – this week’s gospel reveals the relationship of Jesus to the disciples.  And perhaps no one does so more robustly than the Fourth Evangelist.

The fourth Gospel is a book of “signs;” namely things, events, and people who point to something else. Such “intermediaries” are generally necessary in this gospel in order to come to faith. Even Jesus is a type of intermediary as the logos – the “Word” or “Revealer” of God. The theme and purpose of the “signage” becomes clear in John 20:31 – “But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” This gospel itself is a “sign” to point us to the Messiah, who is a “sign” who points us to God. As O’Day (524) states about this gospel: “… the story of Jesus is not ultimately a story about Jesus; it is, in fact, the story of God.”

It is to this that John testifies: “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Following Jesus

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

In John 1:19-34, the verses before our gospel reading, we have seen John the Baptist giving his  witness about Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities. Now we see the gospel “turn” to focus on Jesus.

In the other gospels there are accounts of a “call” (e.g., Mark 1:16–20).  Strictly speaking there is no “call” in the Gospel of John (except in the case of Philip, v. 43). Jesus does not call the disciples and John the Baptist does not send his disciples to Jesus. Simply, the Baptist points out Jesus and his role as the Lamb of God. Even then what unfolds is slightly different.

As it unfolds, the Fourth Gospel tells of a call to be disciples; the Synoptics (the other gospels) tell of a call to be apostles. John’s theme is not the calling of the apostles into office; it is their call to relationship with Christ. The English translation does not make clear or provide how to understand the disciples’ motivation. Are they curious, intrigued or do they perhaps recognize the Messiah and spontaneously follow?

One should note that John’s whole ministry was forward-looking as John was but the herald to the One to come. Presumably he had instructed his disciples well. So, it is likely that when this pair of John’s disciples heard Jesus acclaimed as “the Lamb of God” they knew what was expected of them. They immediately left John and followed Jesus. The verb “followed” is in the tense appropriate for once-for-all action, which may indicate that they cast in their lot with Jesus. They did not mean to make a tentative inquiry but to give themselves to him. We should also notice that the verb has both a general sense of “follow” and a more specific sense of “follow as a disciple.” In this place both senses may be in mind. They walked down the path after Jesus and thus followed. But they also symbolically committed themselves to him.

Image credit: Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness | Artist: Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638) | Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | PD-US