“What are you looking for?”

[Journey with Jesus – Day 4]

These (or, in the NIV version, the more direct, “What do you want?”) are the first recorded words of Jesus in John’s Gospel. He says them to two men who are at that point disciples of John the Baptist. Having seen him walking past, John points Jesus out to these disciples (one of whom was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother), saying, “Look, the Lamb of God”. John had already made it very clear that despite the acclaim he was receiving and the impact he was having, he was not the Messiah – someone was coming who was greater than him – this man, the one on whom the Holy Spirit rested, was the Son of God. John’s job was simple – to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. No wonder, then, that these two disciples seemed to set out immediately to follow Jesus. He was the one they were waiting for.

We may well wonder why Jesus began by asking, “What are you looking for?” Surely it would be obvious – they were looking for him – the chosen one. Everyone had been waiting for him, after all. But Jesus’s question is, of course, so much deeper, as he is getting to their motivation. What is it that brought Andrew and the other disciple to seek Jesus out? Were they after an experience? Had they been drawn to go out to John the Baptist because they had heard the hype, and then, once they saw that the next big thing was in town, they wanted to be part of that too? Their answer to the question is to ask one of their own, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Now, it seems a fairly innocuous question, but firstly, it is significant that they address him as Rabbi. A rabbi was someone who had disciples – apprentices – who would spend every waking moment with him, so they could learn from him in order to become like him and do what he did. So, they are immediately signalling their intention to become this Rabbi’s disciples. Then, secondly, when we consider the literal meaning of the word translated “staying” is “abiding”, then it opens up something significantly deeper. “Where are you abiding?” isn’t just a question about Jesus’s geographical location, but about what roots him. Where is Jesus’s heart? What makes Jesus tick? They’ve just been told by John that this man in front of them is the one and they have to consider whether it is worth dropping everything to follow him. They are looking for the One to follow, to live their life by.

Jesus’s response is again seemingly innocuous – “Come and see.” Again, this isn’t an invitation to check out his digs, but it is so much deeper – if you want to learn where I am abiding, spend time with me and you will find out. Significantly, the word “Abide” appears 40 times in John’s Gospel – it’s an important word, perhaps no more so than in John 15:

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (vv.4-7)

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (vv.9-10)

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. (v.16)

The place Jesus abides, as the disciples will discover, is in the Father’s unconditional love – a place of intimacy, security and peace. Incredibly, Jesus, speaks to us, and says, “Come and see.” He invites us to come to that same place too, to experience that same abiding in his love and the love of the Father. It isn’t a short term thing, but a lifetime of learning.

“What are you looking for?” The same question Jesus asks these disciples, he asks me. When we reach out for the divine, when we come to church or, in my case, step out on the path of church leadership, and in the present time as I am in the early stages of my sabbatical “Journey with Jesus”, what am I looking for? I am looking for the one in whom my soul can rest. I am looking for the one who knows me perfectly and loves me unconditionally, who calls me by name and says of me, “You are mine.” I’m looking to be refreshed and renewed, to learn from him the “unforced rhythms of grace”, I am looking to be sustained by his love for me, not just in this season, but in the years to come. I am looking for the one who has the words of eternal life, in whom I live and breathe and have my being, my hope, my Saviour, my anchor. I am looking for Jesus, and amazed, I discover he is looking for me as he is inviting me to “Come and see” and “Abide in my love”.

How about you? What are you looking for? You may well find it in Jesus, even if you didn’t know it. He is the one we are looking for.