by Fr. Tommy Lane
It is good that we have four Gospels and not just one because that gives us four portraits of Jesus instead of just one. Each evangelist gives us information about Jesus that is only in his Gospel. Only Matthew tells us about the visit of the magi to the baby Jesus (2:1-12), the Holy Family having to flee to Egypt (2:13-23), and Peter walking on the water (14:28-33). Only Mark tells us about Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man in the Decapolis by touching his ears and tongue (7:31-37), as a result of which we bless babies’ ears and mouths during baptism. Only Luke tells us about the annunciation to Mary (1:26-38), her visit to Elizabeth, (1:39-45) and many parables such as the Parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37) and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (15:11-32).
Today’s Gospel passage (John 1:35-42) is only in the Gospel of John. It tells us of the first disciples who followed Jesus, and it gives us lots of information not in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. It tells us two of the first disciples were disciples of John the Baptist before becoming disciples of Jesus: Andrew and the other one whom John does not name. This is quite different from the call of the disciples in Matthew (4:18-22), Mark (1:16-20), and Luke (5:1-11) where we read that Jesus called them beside the Sea of Galilee and then they left everything and followed him (which we will read in Mark next Sunday). We assume that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are describing a later encounter between Jesus and the first disciples when they already knew Jesus, which explains why they immediately left everything to follow him when he called them beside the Sea of Galilee.
The very first words of Jesus in John’s Gospel are his words which we heard him say today to Andrew and the other disciple, “What are you looking for?” or “What do you want?” which is another way of saying it. It is an invitation to us to look into our hearts and see what is going on in our hearts. The saints are those who wanted one thing in life: what God wanted. What do we most want in life? Is it to draw closer to Jesus? If you want to be closer to Jesus, ask Jesus to help you draw closer to him. “What are you looking for?” “What do you want?” The saints are those who wanted one thing in life: what God wanted.
Andrew and the other disciple answered, “Where are you staying?” Since so much in the Gospel of John is symbolic, they are not asking Jesus for his street address and house number, but they were saying they want to be where Jesus is. They discovered what was in their hearts: they want to be with Jesus and are now leaving John the Baptist to go to Jesus.
Jesus said to them, “Come and see.” They spent the rest of the day with him. I think that is an invitation from Jesus to each of us also. “Come and see.” “Spend an hour with me.” It is an invitation to pray, an invitation to get to know Jesus, to say like Samuel in our first reading, “Speak, Lord, your Servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9), an invitation to listen to Jesus’ words like Mary who sat at his feet while her sister Martha was busy in the kitchen (Luke 10:38-41), an invitation to study Jesus’ words so that we will get to know Jesus better.
One of those two was Andrew and he went to his brother Simon after meeting Jesus and told Simon they had found the Messiah and he brought Simon to Jesus. John does not tell us who the other disciple was who went with Andrew to Simon, but we presume it was John the Evangelist himself, who out of humility did not want to write that he had met Jesus before Peter. Jesus renamed Simon with the new name, Cephas, which in their Aramaic language of that time means “rock,” and in Greek, Latin, and English is translated as “Peter” and refers to Peter’s future role as leader of the Church.
Andrew was always bringing people to Jesus. In today’s Gospel, he brought Peter to Jesus (John 1:41). Later, he brought the boy with the five barley loves and two fish to Jesus for the multiplication miracle (John 6:8-9), and later again he went to Jesus with Philip to tell Jesus there were Greeks looking for him (John 12:20-22). So, Andrew was bringing people to Jesus. “What are you looking for?” “What do you want?” Andrew knew that Jesus was the answer to that question and the answer to that question in the lives of everyone, so he used to bring people to Jesus.
Can we bring people to Jesus? It might be something as simple as saying that you benefitted so much from your pilgrimage to Lourdes or some other place, or that you found a retreat you made so valuable, or a Catholic book you have read was so helpful, or a theology course really helped you to understand our faith so much better. Simply telling people about Jesus and Our Lady in our lives helps people to think about how they live their lives.
“What are you looking for?” “What do you want?” The saints are those who wanted one thing in life: what God wanted. Jesus said to Andrew and the other disciple, “Come and see.” It is an invitation to get to know Jesus, to listen to his words like Mary who sat at his feet, to study Jesus’ words so that we will get to know Jesus better. “What are you looking for?” “Come and see.”
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Second Sunday of Year B
Related Homilies: Behold Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away our sins 2020
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world 2008
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins
Second reading: It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh has nothing to offer
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