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?” Then Jesus says to them, “Come and see.”
John 1:38-39
I don’t know about you, but when I invite someone over to my home, I check the house to see that everything is relatively neat and clean. Kitchen counters clear, magazines and books straightened, and everything picked up. It does not appear that Jesus is doing that kind of preparation. He simply takes the two disciples of John home with him for the afternoon and it appears that they spend the night. We can only guess what they find when they visit Jesus at home. In any case they get a close up experience of what it is like to be with Jesus at home.
Maybe they see him sharing leftovers with the poor, or talking to unclean people on the way home. Maybe he is talking about what to do about a widowed neighbor or a depressed friend. Maybe he teaches them about the kingdom of God coming near, or maybe they just see how he lives on any random day. Whatever they see they find it important enough for them to tell some others about it, and to give them the same invitation to others to come and see. This visit was the beginning of a relationship with Jesus that would change their lives. All it took was for them to ‘come and see.’
We sometimes make that invitation so difficult when it is very simple. All we need to do is invite someone to ‘Come and see,’ and Jesus will make the relationship happen. As we begin a new year maybe we need to just let this simple invitation to come and see Jesus be our motto for introducing others to the Lord of our life.
Questions
Can you name the time when you first realized how much Jesus loves you and wants to be with you?
Can you name the time when you knew that a life of being in Jesus presence, ordained or lay, was how you needed to be in the world?
Can you invite someone to ‘Come and see Jesus’ this week?
Sue is NLS Spiritual Director, since 2019 and is a retired Lutheran Pastor (ELCA). Active in VdC since 1995, she has served two terms on the Board of the Texas VdC Secretariat, and also on the Texas Gulf Coast VdC Board as Spiritual Director since its start-up in 2017.
