Epiphany 2

Epiphany 2 (John 1:29-42) “What are you looking for?”

Jesus frequently asked people questions.

He asked questions to help people clarify their spiritual state.

Sadly, most people then (as now) refused to consider the questions Jesus asked. Most people most of the time were locked into a system of rigid, inflexible uncompromising belief. They were in fact lost in their own narrow and unquestioned assumptions about God, other people and themselves.

The most difficult people Jesus encountered were the religious leaders of the time. These were well educated, accomplished, wealthy and powerful people. They not only believed they knew the one right religion- they knew they knew. They were lost in the spiritual state of invincible ignorance.

They were those of whom the prophet Amos said: woe to those who are at ease in Zion. They were those who were looking for a Messiah to confirm their beliefs and secure their wealth and power.

Jesus knew this aspect of human nature. He grew up in a society in conflict. He listened to the various rabbis of the many religious sects argue with each other and condemn each other. He knew that once he began to teach that these religious leaders would analyze and criticize his every word looking for flaws.

As the perfect mirror of God, Jesus reveals to us our spiritual condition. In the question: “what are you looking for?” Jesus invites us to consider our inherited beliefs.

The apostles by and large were not members of the religious elite. They were working class men. The smartest and the brightest among them was Judas. They also came to Jesus looking for something. As with everyone at that time they initially came with a demand.

The demand comes from deep within the soul. The demand is: my will be done. Give me what I want.

Jesus came in the superabundance of divine love. He came to seek out and to find the lost who do not want to be found. He came to fulfill the Law of Moses and the teachings of the Prophets. He came to reveal that God just doesn’t have love as one of many attributes but God is love.

Jesus is the extravagance of divine love who comes to offer a new life and a new way of living. Sadly, no one wanted the new life. They wanted their old lives enriched and empowered. No one wanted the new way of living. They just wanted more of what they already had. Fundamentally, lost souls do not want to change. Lost souls do not want to be challenged or inspired. Lost souls do not want the active dynamic transforming personal relationship God offers us in Jesus Christ.

Jesus knew all of this. At the beginning of His public ministry He knew his time was short. He knew that people lost in separation would criticize him, reject him, abandon him and kill him. He knew he had to endure the worst that people would inflict upon him in order to bring the best that God has to offer.

The lost do not want to change. The lost resist transformation. The lost need both change (conversion) and transformation (sanctification). The only alternative is stagnation (damnation). Jesus died to save us from ourselves. Jesus died to save us from stagnation.

Human nature never changes of itself. People are still lost in separation from God. People still live from the place of pride that declares: do it my way. Give me what I want when I want it or else.

Human nature can only change as we follow the path of Jesus into a personal transforming relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The way forward into the kingdom of heaven is the altar of sacrifice. It is the way of Jesus who prayed: heavenly Father not my will but Thy will be done. It is the way of sacrifice and service empowered by divine love.

Are you willing to surrender self- will to Divine will in the prayer of Jesus: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done?

Jesus asks us the same question he asked the religious people of the first century: “What are you looking for?”

Your words and actions answer that question more loudly and more profoundly than your imagined religious beliefs.