“The next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.” – John 1:35-37
John’s account of the calling of the first disciples differs from that of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). Whereas in the Synoptics Jesus approaches the first disciples, in John the disciples approach Jesus out of curiosity. I find this difference indicative of how things still are today: some people become disciples because Jesus has approached them and disrupted their lives, and others become disciples because they approach Jesus in curiosity, who in turn responds to their curiosity with the challenge to “Come and see.”
But in this account in John, I find neither Jesus nor the first disciples to be the most important characters in the calling of the first disciples. No, in this account it is John the Baptist who initiates the action. It is John the Baptist who first recognizes the presence of the Son of God, and points out that presence to his buddies.
How can we be John the Baptist today? How can we recognize the presence of Jesus Christ in our world and point that out to the people around us? How can we point others towards Christ in such a way that their curiosity is piqued? It is true that only Jesus Christ can make disciples. And it is true that only potential disciples can choose whether or not to “Come and see” what Jesus is doing. But unless we point out the Lamb of God to those who would not otherwise recognize his presence, the making of disciples will be limited by our silence.
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