“To Follow”
Jan. 18th, 2026
Rev. Rebecca Migliore
Today we are stepping into the world of the gospel of John (for a brief moment). This is a very different world than that of the other gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The gospel of John is a world of light and darkness, of signs and conversations, of secret or hidden messages. We have already heard the writer of the gospel of Matthew tell us what happened when Jesus came to be baptized by John. This morning, we hear it from a different perspective.
Now you might say, when I listened to our reading, it didn’t sound that different. I mean, Matthew didn’t have “the Lamb of God” comment. But Jesus was baptized, and when he came up out of the water, a dove came down, right? But did you notice that we don’t get to see this event happening. We only get to hear about it later—as our reading starts, “The next day.” John is baptizing in the river and yet he has said he is neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. John states that he baptizes with water but there is one who is coming after me; “I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal” (sound familiar?)
But then the narrative jumps to “The next day” and we hear what had happened at the river. Here in John, Jesus shows up and stands in line (we assume) and John does not recognize him (unlike our Matthew reading of last week). John even says (twice) “I myself did not know him.” But God has told John that when this one to come appears, he will see the Spirit descend and remain on him. And so the writer of John says that John testifies, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on [Jesus].” In other words, “ I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
And John identifies this Chosen One as Jesus, because he points him out as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
And he keeps pointing him out, for the following day John is with two of his disciples (one named Andrew) and he points at Jesus and again says, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” And this causes Andrew and the other disciple to follow Jesus.
But before we leave John the Baptizer (or in this gospel we might call him John the Witness or John the Testifier), let’s talk for a moment about this comment “Lamb of God.” Because of how this symbol, this way of talking about Jesus has been used over the years we might not understand what John the Baptist (or indeed the writer of the gospel of John) was intending us to hear. Lamb of God has often been tied to the idea of sacrifice. But as Rev. Boulton of SALT reminded me, lambs weren’t the animals of sacrifice—those were goats or bulls or adult sheep. And we don’t call Jesus the Goat of God, or the Bull of God!
And that means, for John, Jesus isn’t a sin offering (I’ll get back to why John the Witness says that the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.) So if the Lamb of God isn’t a sin sacrifice—what is it? Well, any good Jew would know that the Lamb of God was a specific type of sacrifice, a pascal lamb, the way that God protected the Israelites when they were in Egypt, during the plagues—a way to have the angel of death pass over their houses and not strike their first-born sons. They killed a lamb and spread its blood over the lintel of the door—not as a sacrifice, but as protection. As protection, so that they could be liberated from their captivity.
So John is saying, here is God’s protection, like that lamb used on the first Passover, the lamb that we commemorate each time we celebrate with a Passover meal. Here is God’s new way of bringing liberation—not just from the oppressive regime of the Romans, but from anything, and anyone who is oppressing (including the religious authorities). Here is the way to a new freedom and a new life. And this Lamb of God was coming not just to the people of Israel but to the whole world (remember that John’s gospel will state that “God so loved the world”—God sent Jesus to us).
This lamb “takes away sin”—which is the Greek word “airo” meaning “to raise, to lift up, to take away, to remove.” John’s gospel will use this word again in its final chapters when on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that “the stone had been removed [airo] from the tomb.” The Liberator [Lamb of God] has come to airo [roll away] the sin of the world [anything that keeps us bound, or in captivity].
Andrew and the other disciple hear John the Witness’s depiction of this “Lamb of God”—and they follow Jesus immediately. And this is where we come in. For we too have heard John’s testimony today. We have mused about what John is saying about this one Jesus. We too want to follow. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Is it walking away from everything else in your life? Is it reading what he said to those disciples so many years ago? Is it trying to walk the walk and talk the talk?
I find it fascinating that Jesus, when he realizes that Andrew and this other disciple (is this one not named here so we could imagine ourselves as that other one?), when he turns and sees them, he doesn’t sit down and start to teach, he doesn’t hand them a tract of dos and don’ts, he asks a question. “What are you looking for?” And just as telling is the disciples’ response. They don’t say, “we are looking for the Messiah.” They don’t say, “John pointed at you as the Lamb of God.” They don’t say anything like that. They answer his question with another question: “Where are you staying?” He invites them to “Come and see.” And they did and remained [meno] with him that day. Here is one more important word—meno—abide—which will appear more than 40 times in this gospel.
So, what does it mean to follow—according to this first encounter with Jesus? It means listening to what others can tell you about him. It means taking steps to meet Jesus yourself—in prayer, in action. It means permission to ask questions, even if you don’t answer the questions that are posed to you. It means abiding, remaining, hanging out with Jesus.
Incorporating Jesus into our everyday lives. Thinking about “what would Jesus do”? Or feeling the tug of “where would Jesus be right now?”
In some ways, I think that you could answer that question: What does it mean to follow Jesus with the two Greek words I’ve introduced you to today. Airo and Meno. Lift up, roll away, take away and Abide, remain. What better way of talking about the life of a follower of the One who came to be the Liberator. We too are to be in the business of [airo] liberation. What better way of talking about the life of a follower of the One who (in the gospel of John’s words) became flesh and lived among us. We too are to be in the business of Abiding [meno] with others.
So that is our charge for today. Whether we are being installed as serving elders, or sitting up front as a worship leader, or lifting up our voices in praise, or electronically connecting people from other places to us, or being (abiding) in this space, or joining us in spirit—
We are all called to follow. We are called to “Come and See.” We are given the opportunity to be a witness to what we have seen in Jesus, what Jesus has meant to us. And we are invited into the incredible work of God’s Shalom.
I know we have turned off the Christmas lights and have moved on, but as I was writing this sermon, I couldn’t get a spiritual out of my head. “There’s a star in the East on Christmas morn; Rise up, shepherd and follow; It will lead to the place where the Christ was born; Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Follow, follow; Rise up, shepherd and follow. Follow the Star of Bethlehem; Rise up, shepherd, and follow.”
May it still be so for us today, Alleluia, Amen.