Christian Art | Come And See! | Jesus
John 1: 35-42 – 2nd Sunday Year B (Audio Bible KJV, Spoken Word)
35 ¶ Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
‘Behold the Lamb of God.’ Throughout the Bible, we are called to know and to develop our relationship with the Lamb. It is in Genesis the Lamb is first mentioned, provided by God as a sacrifice to take the place of Isaac. Through the history of Jewish ritual, a lamb is offered in sacrifice, for expiation, reparation, sanctification. The prophets speak of a meek, tame lamb, sheared without opening its mouth. In the Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, the full meaning of the Lamb will be revealed, as the king, the Spouse, the lamp, the temple, the place of our eternal dwelling. The Lamb spans all history. And John the Baptist has already, in John’s Gospel, recognised and declared Christ as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world.
John the Baptist calls on his own disciples to recognise Christ. As Christ begins his ministry, John hands over all authority to him. The response of John’s disciples is instant. They follow Jesus. Asked by him what they want, they address him as Rabbi and ask where he is living. They are invited to Jesus’ house and there stay with him. A relationship follows very quickly upon the recognition of Christ and the welcoming offered and shared. So we are invited to recognise Jesus, to develop our relationship with him, to visit, to spend the day becoming close. This is to find our vocation, our relationship with Christ.
There is a further call, to missionary activity. The first thing Andrew does is to take his brother to meet Jesus, telling him that they have found the Messiah. Jesus looks at Simon, assessing him, seeing him as he truly is. It is a feature of Christ’s seeing Simon’s true identity and calling, his true vocation, that he gives Simon an additional name, Cephas or Peter, the Rock who will be the foundation of Christ’s church.
As we pray to discern our own true vocation, we remember that this is really to develop our own living relationship with Jesus. We are called to dwell with him. We are called to dwell within him, and to invite Jesus to dwell within us.
As we pray for vocation, we pray that the light of Christ may shine through us and that we may help to take Christ’s message to the world. We pray that we may see through outward appearances, and perhaps anything we try to show about ourselves which may not be quite true to who we really are. We pray to find and to foster a deep, loving, inward relationship with Christ. Christ fixes his eyes on us. He asks us what we are looking for. May we be true to ourselves as we search and find our search complete in Jesus.
God’s call is mysterious; it comes in the darkness of faith. It is so fine, so subtle, that it is only with the deepest silence within us that we can hear it. And yet nothing is surer or stronger, nothing is so decisive and overpowering, as that call. This call is uninterrupted: God is always calling us.
Audio Bible KJV | Endnotes
Come And See | Easy Invitation To Jesus
The invitation to ‘come and see’ is at the heart of Christian faith and evangelization. It is an invitation to encounter Jesus personally and to experience Jesus’ transformative love and grace.
In the Gospel of John, we see this invitation in action when Andrew and another disciple hear John the Baptist proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God. They follow Jesus and ask where Jesus is staying. Jesus responds with the invitation, ‘Come and see.’ They go with Jesus and spend time with him, experiencing Jesus’ presence and teachings.
For some, this encounter with Jesus may happen in a moment of profound conversion, while for others it may be a gradual process of growth and learning.
In the New Testament, we see many examples of people responding to Jesus’ invitation to ‘come and see.’ The Samaritan woman at the well encountered Jesus and went back to her community to tell them about him. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to ask him questions and ended up becoming a disciple. And the apostles themselves left everything to follow Jesus after encountering him.
As Christians, we are called to live out our faith in all aspects of our lives, both in our personal relationship with Jesus and in our interactions with others. We are called to be a light in the world, to share the love and message of Jesus with those around us.
In the book of Acts, we see the early Church responding to this invitation to ‘come and see’ by spreading the message of the Gospel throughout the world. Those Christians encountered Jesus personally and were transformed by Jesus’ love, and they felt compelled to share this message with others. This evangelization was not always easy, and early Christians faced opposition and persecution, but they continued to spread the message of the Gospel with boldness and conviction.
Today, we are called to continue this work of evangelization. We are called to share the message of the Gospel with those around us, whether it be through our words or through our actions. We are called to be witnesses to the world of the transformative power of Jesus’ love and grace.
The invitation to ‘come and see’ is not just for new believers, but for all at every stage of a faith journey. Christians are constantly invited to deepen relationship with Jesus and to encounter Jesus in new and surprising ways.
This invitation challenges Christians to share faith. So the disciples went and told others about their encounter with Jesus, so we called to share the good news with those around us.
We may not always have all the answers. Ultimately, the invitation to ‘come and see’ is an invitation to experience the love of God in a profound and life-changing way. It is an invitation to enter into a relationship with Jesus that transcends all other relationships and gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
In this reading, Pope Saint Leo the Great reflects on the Nativity as an event that concerns not only Christ, but the whole Church. The feast renews the reality of Christ’s birth, even though the historical events of his childhood, passion and resurrection are complete. What is celebrated is not repetition, but participation [ … ]
The reading, presented as the voice of Christ addressing the disciple, reflects the central themes of The Imitation of Christ — listening to God’s word with humility, preferring eternal truth over temporal vanities, and persevering in faith through both trials and consolations [ … ]
Christian Art | Parousia | Second Coming | Lamb Of God, You Take Away The Sins Of The World Luke 17: 26-37 (Audio Bible KJV, Spoken Word) Early Christian thought about the Parousia – the second coming – was largely influenced by the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Saint Paul. In the early Christian community, expectation of Christ’s return was strong, and many Christians believed that it would happen in their lifetime. This belief is evident in the New Testament, where the authors express a sense of urgency in their writings and encourage their readers to be prepared for Christ’s imminent return. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the idea of the Parousia became more complex and nuanced. Theological debates arose around the nature of Christ’s return and the events that would precede it. Some theologians, such as Origen and Augustine, saw the Parousia as a spiritual event that was already happening in the Church. Others, such as the Montanists and the millenarians, believed in a literal, physical return of Christ and the establishment of a new, earthly Kingdom. In the Middle Ages, the Parousia was often associated with apocalypticism and the idea of a final, cataclysmic battle between good and evil – the last battle. The idea of the Antichrist, who would precede Christ’s return, became a popular theme in Christian literature, and the book of Revelation (Apocalypse – meaning to reveal, to uncover) was interpreted as a prophetic guide to the end of the world. Biblical Basis For The Parousia | The Second Coming The concept of the Parousia, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, is central to Christian eschatology and is supported by numerous biblical passages in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, there are numerous passages that refer to the coming of a Messiah who will restore Israel and bring about the final judgment. For example, in Daniel 7:13-14, it is written: ‘I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.’ This passage describes a divine figure who comes in the clouds and is given dominion over all nations. In the New Testament, the Parousia is described in greater detail, particularly in the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Saint Paul. Jesus speaks of his return in many passages, including Matthew 24:30-31, where Jesus says: ‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’ Here, Jesus describes his return in power and glory, accompanied by angels who gather Jesus’ elect from all over the world. In Saint Paul’s letters, the Parousia is also described in detail. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Saint Paul writes: ‘For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’ This passage describes a resurrection of the dead and the gathering of believers to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. The language and imagery used to describe the Parousia are often dramatic and apocalyptic in nature. The Parousia is often described as a time of judgment, when the righteous will be separated from the wicked, and God’s justice will be fully revealed. The imagery of clouds, trumpets, and angels is used to depict the power and glory of Christ’s return. Theological Interpretations Of The Parousia | Jesus’ Second Coming The concept of the Parousia has been interpreted in a variety of ways throughout Christian history. Dispensationalism Dispensationalism is a theological framework that emerged in the 19th Century and has since become popular among some evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Dispensationalists believe that history is divided into distinct periods or ‘dispensations’, each of which is marked by a particular mode of divine revelation and a specific plan of salvation. According to dispensationalist theology, the Parousia will be preceded by a period of tribulation, during which the Antichrist will establish a one-world government and the Jews will be restored to their homeland. The Parousia itself will involve a physical, visible return of Christ, who will establish a thousand-year reign on earth before the final judgment. Preterism Preterism is a theological interpretation of the Parousia that holds that many of the prophecies in the New Testament, particularly those in the book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the first century AD. According to this view, the Parousia occurred in a spiritual sense when Christ ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to empower the Church. Preterists argue that the tribulation and other end-time events predicted in the New Testament were fulfilled in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. Postmillennialism Postmillennialism is a theological view that holds that the Parousia will occur after a period of history in which the Church will gradually bring about the kingdom of God on earth. According to this view, the Church will spread the gospel throughout the world, and social, political, and economic conditions will gradually improve. Eventually, Christ will return to a world that has been largely transformed by the Gospel. Amillennialism […]
