God Meets Us
This is the sermon I preached last Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The scripture was John 1:29-42. What we have before us in today’s gospel is an action-packed account of the first disciples. John the Baptist proclaims and declares Jesus’ identity as the Lamb of God. Two of John’s disciples leave him for Jesus in response to the message. Jesus invites John’s disciples to “Come and see” (v. 39). They become followers and evangelists themselves as Andrew brings his brother Simon, to Jesus, who calls him Peter. Without this witness of John’s, others would not know the one who was coming and standing among them. Even John needed the divine witness to know who Jesus was. Twice he says that he did not know him. I find this to be curious. After all, Jesus was his cousin, so he knew him in one respect. But he did not know who Jesus was as far as his mission and identity as Messiah, the Son of God. He was so much more than merely John’s cousin. The Spirit remained on Jesus. Thi