Live Greater That’s a Good Question

“The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following Him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to Him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” John 1:35-39

 

 

May the Lord give you His peace!

 

I hope your first week of ordinary time was very exciting and fulfilling as we try to our journey from now until Lent and Easter. I know to talk about spring is crazy since last week we had some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen all winter, but spring is coming which means the Church’s celebration of Easter is just around the corner! So if you didn’t have anything to look forward to, now you do.

 

This past Sunday’s Gospel is one of my favorite passages from the Gospel of John. In the above passage we see the beginning of what is likely to be Andrew and John’s vocation story. They respond to John the Baptist’s declaration of Jesus as the Lamb of God. They then begin to follow Jesus, seems kind of weird and stalker-ish in itself. Then Jesus turns around and asks both of them what they are looking for. Upon first read it sees like kind of a random question. I can imagine them being quite surprised with a question from this man they have come to know as the Lamb of God and even more anxious about coming up with a qualified answer. “Where are you staying?” they asked. Where are you staying!! What kind of question is that? Is that all they could come up with? Now come on, they are standing in front of the Messiah and all they ask is where are you staying?! But we must reflect upon that question, to see how profound it truly was.

 

Let me be a seminarian for a second and say the actual Greek word used in this question was the word “dwell.” Where do you dwell? With the Greek meaning of the word it makes this question even more beautiful. These new followers of Jesus wanted to know where he dwelled. A few verses earlier in John’s Gospel is his famous line of “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). God came to dwell among us and with great faith, the first followers of Jesus wanted to know where he dwelled because they wanted to be close to Him. They left their ways of life, their families and all that they knew to be with Jesus. Where are you staying? What a great question.

 

My friends, if the Lord asked you what you are looking for, how would you answer? Just take a moment and examine your own life. Our actions, desires, priorities and even our friends answer that question for us. If you spend a lot of time worrying about how you dress and look, you might be looking for the spot light. If you workout many hours of the day and sports is your life, you might be looking future in athletics. If you have a lot of friends and like to be a part of the crowd, you might be looking for popularity. Get my point? A lot of what we say and do tell us exactly what we are looking for.

 

How many of us could truly say that we are looking for Jesus? How many of us really want to know where Jesus dwells so that we can go and be with Him? As we continue in ordinary time, it might be a good opportunity to assess what we are looking for in our lives. The way we answer the question is the direction we are going - and the direction we are going will affect the rest of our lives.

 

When we choose to dwell with Jesus, we learn from Him, are forgiven and healed by Him and are changed by Him to live the lives that he dreams us to live….Dwelling with Him forever.

 

More in Live Greater

What a great question!

 

God Bless You,

 

Rusty

 

Our mission is the truth. Join us!

Your monthly donation will help our team continue reporting the truth, with fairness, integrity, and fidelity to Jesus Christ and his Church.