John 1:35–51

When the first disciples begin following Jesus, he turns and asks them: “What are you looking for?” Their reply is simple, almost ordinary: “Rabbi, where are you staying?”

It’s a question about location, but it’s also about presence. They aren’t asking for a lecture or a creed. They want to know where Jesus dwells—where his life is rooted, where his love is lived out. And Jesus responds not with an address, but with an invitation: “Come and see.”

Where Jesus Stays

Jesus doesn’t stay in the places we expect. He doesn’t dwell in prestige or power. He stays in Nazareth, a town dismissed by Nathanael: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He stays in the margins, among the overlooked, the ordinary, the doubted.

If we only look for Jesus in the places we already approve of, we may miss him altogether. Our prejudices—about people, neighborhoods, denominations, or political identities—can blind us to Christ’s presence. We say, “Nothing good can come from there,” and in doing so, we close the door on curiosity.

Where We Stay

The question also turns back on us: Where are you staying? Where do we dwell—in openness or in judgment, in curiosity or in dismissal? Do we stay in echo chambers, only among those who think like us? Or do we risk staying in places of encounter, where God surprises us through people we didn’t expect?

Hospitality and Curiosity

Hospitality begins with presence. To ask “Where are you staying?” is to say, “I want to be where you are.” But if our prejudices keep us from entering certain spaces or welcoming certain people, our hospitality falters. We cannot embody Christ’s welcome if we refuse to dwell with those we’ve already judged.

Invitation

Jesus’ answer is still the same: “Come and see.”
Come and see where Christ is dwelling today—in the neighbor you’ve dismissed, in the community you’ve overlooked, in the silence you’ve feared. Come and see, and be surprised by grace.

Closing Prayer

Lord, open our eyes to where you are staying.
Break down the walls of our prejudice.
Teach us to dwell in curiosity, hospitality, and love.
And invite us, again and again, to come and see.

John 1:19-34

Each of the Gospels has John the Baptist as the introducer of Jesus as the Christ.  As we begin our adventure into the Gospel of John, it is significant how John the Baptist identifies Jesus.  He is “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the whole world!”  This is the universal action of Christ, to remove the sin of the whole world.

The New Testament helps us understand that the world lies under the sway of the wicked one.  We are taught that all have sinned, and that each sinful act will be judged by God.  The judgement of God on the sinful world was on the cross of Christ when he became sin for us.

But too often, we take knowledge of the judgement of God for sin, and turn that into judgmentalism of others.  Yes, often what we point out in them is sinful.  Yes, it is a violation of God’s Holy Law.  But we do not put their sin in the context of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world.  Instead of trusting God that judges all in truth, we make our voices and views the judge of the other.  We make the remedy of their sin conformity to our view and not conformity to the love of God.

Here is a meditation I found on a web site that lets me think about this:

The Sin of the World

Not just your sin. Not just individual failings. But the tangled, systemic, generational mess of humanity. The violence we inherit, the injustice we perpetuate, the wounds we pass along.

The Lamb steps into that whole web and begins to unweave it.

This is not a private salvation. It is cosmic healing.

Where do you see the world aching? How might you join the Lamb’s work of mending?

In our time in John’s Gospel notice the way Jesus deals with people, even sinners, and the remedy that he prescribes for their sins.

Pastor Greg