Taking the Second Place

John 1: 19-42

            The Bible contains many great characters, many role models for us. The Old Testament is loaded with patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets. The New Testament has the Twelve Apostles, Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and, of course, Jesus. Jesus is the great example for all mankind, but there are others. We are all familiar with the most famous, like Abraham, Moses and David, like Peter and John and Paul. But there are others, many others, without whose help the greatest story ever told might not be so clear, might not have been presented with as much definition. Let’s look for a moment at a couple of those stories.

          The Baptist was one strange package. His given name was John. He was a cousin of Jesus. He seemed to know Jesus without even having to see him. Remember the story in Luke of him leaping in his mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit Elizabeth? Even then, John seemed to be able to sense the presence of Jesus.  John was the son of Zechariah, a Levite priest, which made him a member of the priestly tribe and entitled to a place in the priesthood. When he was grown, he exercised that right, but in a most strange way. He lived in the wilderness of Judea. He ate bugs and wild honey and he wore a camel’s hair coat tied around him by a leather thong. He looked as wild as the animals he slept with in that wilderness. And when he came in to the area around the Jordan, he preached repentance and he baptized not only Gentiles, but also Jews. What in the world! God’s people needed no baptism. That was for new believers, not for God’s chosen!

          Andrew was one of those disciples that followed John the Baptist. Andrew was a fisherman by trade. He worked in the family business up in Galilee with his older brother Simon. Simon was a big guy who spoke his mind early and often. Andrew? Well, he was Simon’s brother.  That’s how he was known to most everyone…the brother of Simon. At the time when Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist, Andrew was there and saw what took place.

          John’s ministry worried church leaders. Priests and Levites and Pharisees came out to see John at work. They questioned him. Who are you? they asked. Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet? All these had been prophesied in Scripture. John’s response three times was no. John’s answer was this: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord.”

          John’s answer was theologically loaded. Think about it. John’s gospel was written some sixty years after Christ went to the cross, and it is filled with imagery…imagery that helps us see the identity of our Savior in a whole new light. John’s gospel introduces us to Jesus metaphorically. “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word came and dwelt among us,” says John’s gospel. Then John the Baptist says “I am the voice.” John’s voice presents the Word. John is the voice, but it is Jesus who is the Word. It is John’s job to present, to announce, to make straight the way. His place is second. Jesus is the main event.

          Our passage tells us that Andrew and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist followed Jesus after his baptism. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, John does not describe Jesus’ baptism, but it is implicit that it has occurred. Jesus notices these men and asks “What are you seeking?” They do not answer but they ask where Jesus is staying. This is a roundabout way to see if they can spend time with him and Jesus says “Come and you will see.” Andrew hears Jesus. Andrew believes. Andrew proclaims. The upshot of their visit is that Andrew goes off to find his brother Simon to announce whom they have found. In Hebrew, it is Messiah. In Greek, it is Christ. In both languages, the words mean Anointed One. Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus, a task for which he will be remembered. Jesus takes one look at Simon and changes his name to Cephas, which means Peter and translates as “Rock.” Immediately, Andrew’s role is subjugated to that of Peter. Andrew later finds the lad with loaves and fish and brings him to Jesus. Andrew has acquired a second title to go with “brother of Peter.” He is Andrew the bringer. It is Andrew’s job to bring. His place is second. Jesus, or Peter, or the feeding of the five thousand; they are the main event.

          Some of us may remember either the book I Am Third or the movie Brian’s Song, both about Chicago Bears halfback Gale Sayers and his friend and teammate Brian Piccolo. It is a touching story about the relationship of two pro football players and roommates. Sayers was a sensation, though injury cut his career short. Piccolo was an undersized long shot who carved out a place on the Bears roster with sheer determination. His career was also cut short, but not by injury. Brian Piccolo died young from cancer. In 1970, Gale Sayers accepted an award as the most courageous player of the year, having fought through a potential career ending leg injury to play again. On the night of Sayers’ acceptance speech, Piccolo was lying in a hospital bed dying. Sayers dedicated the trophy to Piccolo, calling him the most courageous man he had ever met. Sayers looked out at the audience and said “I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too. He is the definition of courage.” Sayers’ book recited his priorities in life: God is first, friends are second, and I am third. It was Gale Sayers’ job not to just blindly accept the fame and the accolades, but rather to point to the real source of all that courage. His friendship with Brian Piccolo had helped him to realize that taking second place to God is an awfully nice position to be in.

          In this passage, John the Baptist seems to say that he knows his cousin Jesus, but that he does not comprehend his real identity. Then John receives a sign. A dove descends and remains on Jesus. That is the sign that John was promised and he knows. John goes on to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah three times. Once John understands, he puts his career aside and proclaims the Messiah. In a similar way, Andrew follows Jesus and spends time with him. When Andrew leaves from his encounter with Jesus, there is no doubt. He too proclaims the identity of the man from Nazareth as Messiah. When one reads or watches the Gale Sayers story, the message comes to Sayers through his teammate’s witness. Each of them is about the business of finding Messiah. Who is he? What does he mean for us? For our lives and our destinies? What does it mean to find Messiah?

          For one thing, it means that we must take second place. When we find Messiah, we must realize who is first in our lives. When we find Messiah, we want to live the lives that our Savior has bought for us. When we find Messiah, we see him as John the Baptist saw him, as the Lamb of God, the one who is without blemish, the one who will sacrifice himself for us and redeem us from our sins.

          When we find Messiah, we should do as John did. John made the Lord’s path straight. It should be no different for us today as we witness for our Savior. We should spend time helping to clear away the obstacles that keep people from coming to Jesus. We need to proclaim him as our Lord and to clear any path we can for our friends to find him for themselves.  We need to put aside self, and we need to witness. D.A. Carson, referring to Andrew going to find his brother the minute he left Jesus, says this: [Andrew] “thus became the first in a long line of successors who have discovered that the most common and effective Christian testimony is the private witness of friend to friend, brother to brother.”

          Andrew came upon Jesus and Jesus said to him: “What are you seeking?” I tell you, friends, that which you already know all too well. If you have not yet found Jesus and invited him into your life, then you are living for yourself first and you are still seeking. What are you seeking? You need to do as John and Andrew and Gale and Brian did. Take the second place. Put Jesus first. It is not what, but whom, you seek, that will change your life. Jesus said to those disciples on the road that day: “Come and you will see.” And they did. You can too. Take the second place. Find Messiah and let him in your life to stay!

Let us pray

1/19/14