By Fr Francis Gonsalves, SJ –
2nd Sunday of the Year – Cycle B – January 17, 2021
Readings: 1 Sam 3:3-10; 19; 1 Cor 6:13-15; 17-20; Jn 1:35-42
“They said to him, ‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ He said, ‘Come and see’.” (Jn 1:38-39)
Prologue: Whether it be Prophet Samuel or Apostles Andrew and Simon, the dynamics seems to be the same: (a) they seek God, (b) they ‘sense’—see, hear, taste, touch—God, and (c) they stay with God/Jesus to the very end of their lives. You and I are called to undergo the same process, daily.
Three Scriptural Signposts:
- What are you seeking? (v.38) is the question that Jesus plainly and pointedly asks two of John the Baptist’s disciples who follow him after John points out to Jesus, saying, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” (v.36). Chapter 1 of John’s gospel has many messianic titles by which Jesus is identified: Son of God (vv.34,49), Messiah (v.41) and King of Israel (v.49), with Jesus identifying himself as ‘Son of Man’ (v.51). John’s identifying Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’ evokes a couple of images. First, it could refer to the ‘Passover lamb’ (see 1 Cor 5:7). Second, it could refer to Yahweh’s ‘Suffering Servant’ who Prophet Isaiah describes as “a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (53:7).
Earlier, John had declared of Jesus: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (v.29). The Aramaic word ‘talya’ can be translated as both, ‘lamb’ and ‘servant’. Be that as it may, on the one hand, it seems as if John is aware that his life’s mission is coming to a close and he must hand over the reins of leadership to the Messiah of whom he will say: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30); and, on the other hand, it looks as if John’s disciples sense that he is fading into the shadows so as to shift the spotlight onto Jesus who will now occupy centre-stage. So, the two disciples follow Jesus—not really knowing ‘who’ he is, ‘what’ he does, ‘where’ he is going and ‘how’. To Jesus’ question about their seeking, the disciples ask a counterquestion: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” … Here comes Jesus’ invite ….
- “Come and see!” (v.39) is Jesus’ invitation to their seeking. Elsewhere, Jesus promises those who seek that they will find (Mt 7:7). The call to “come” is a direct summons to see for themselves—to leave the familiar and venture into the unfamiliar. Jesus wants them to personally discover who he is, what he does, how, and where he goes. Now that they have been disciples of John, he wants them to have a first-hand experience of him, identified by John as the ‘Lamb of God’. Coming to him, they will see, hear, touch and be touched by him. The first reading, too, is about seeing and hearing in the context of Samuel’s call to be a prophet. Samuel was a ‘special gift’ of God, born through his mother Hannah’s fervent prayer. In gratitude, she dedicates him to God and he is brought up by the priest, Eli, at the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:28). In today’s passage, although Samuel is lying in the temple where the ark of God is (v.3), he does not sense that God is calling him. By contrast, though Eli is sleeping faraway in his room, is getting blind, and “could not see” (v.2), yet, he senses that God is calling Samuel. Eli’s exterior blindness does not darken his inner vision that makes him see that God is calling Samuel. Just as John the Baptist directs his disciples to Jesus, Eli directs Samuel to God. Thus, when God calls a fourth time, “Samuel! Samuel!” he answers, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (v.10). Samuel will be God’s instrument to inaugurate a new chapter in Israelite history by anointing kings (1 Sam 8–12). Thus, from a loose tribal confederacy, Israel will become a nation, at least for a while.
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“Where are you staying?” (v.38) is a question that John’s disciples raise not just to know some geographical location or house, but in the Fourth Gospel the word ‘stay’ means more than staying in a house. It is the same word as is used for ‘abide’ in the passages that speak of the Son abiding in the Father. Thus, the line: “they came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him” (v.39) leads them to a deeper awareness of ‘who’ he was, for they now more clearly ‘see’—with the eyes of faith, of course. Thus, Jesus invites the disciples to move from the visible to the invisible, material to the mystical and from the sensual to the spiritual. Consequently, Andrew will make a Christological confession to his brother, Simon: “We have found the Messiah” (v.41). Interestingly, though Andrew is the first one who seeks, sees and stays with Jesus, it is Simon who is ‘called within a call’. Jesus says to him, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (v.42). God’s choice and call is not often understood by human logic. Indeed, the initiative is God’s alone! It is God’s mission, too, for the disciples are but instruments in the hands of God. This gospel passage is significant. The evangelist John packs into a single scene a whole process of revelation and response that, historically speaking, embraces the entire expanse from Jesus’ baptism through Peter’s confession and the Easter appearances where the disciples finally recognize Jesus as Messiah. Thus, John theologically interprets Jesus’ call and inserts it in his gospel as the sum and summit of Christian discipleship.
Linking the Second Reading and the Psalm to the Discipleship Theme:
• The psalm (40) reinforces the call of Samuel in the 1st reading and is later applied to Jesus by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews (10:5-10). The response: “See, I have come, Lord, to do your will” is reinterpreted as the voice of Jesus who offers his whole life to do his Abba-Father’s will. Indeed, Jesus’ discipleship gives the key to understand all other discipleships. And, his discipleship is about being lamb-and-servant.
• The second readings up to the sixth Sunday of the year are taken from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul had founded this church and remained there for eighteen months from the winter of 50 AD to the summer of 52 AD. He was concerned about sexual immorality in the community, which was influenced by a dualistic, gnostic mentality that separated body and soul, matter and spirit. To critique and control this dangerous mindset, Paul reminds the Corinthians: “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (v.19). Disciples who seek, see and stay will realize not only that they stay with Him, but, more importantly, that God’s Spirit stays with them, in them.
Reflection on Discipleship: Seek! See! Stay! This invitation is neither only for God’s prophets of old nor of Jesus’ disciples like Andrew, Peter and Mary Magdalene, but is for you and me—for all disciples, ‘religious’ or otherwise. An abbot often showed his preference for those who lived in the world—the married, the merchants, the labourers—over the monks in his monastery. When confronted about his preference, he explained, “Discipleship in the state of activity is far superior to that practised in the state of withdrawal!”
Discipleship demands devotedness: A stranger once asked a teacher, “What’s your profession?” The teacher replied, “Christian.” The stranger continued, “No, that’s not what I mean. What’s your job?” The teacher said, once again, “I’m a Christian!” Puzzled, the stranger clarified, “Perhaps I should ask, what do you do for a living?” She replied, “Well, I’ve a fulltime job as a Christian. But, to support my sick husband and children, I teach in a school.” She had certainly understood the meaning of discipleship summarized by the response of the psalm: “Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will!”
Fr. Francis Gonsalves, SJ is the Executive Secretary, CCBI Comm. of Theology & Doctrine and President, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune and former Principal of Vidyajyoti College, Delhi. He is also the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. He has authored many books and articles and is a columnist with The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle national dailies.