29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
John 1:26-42
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
My sermon from 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (January 18, 2026) on John 1:26-42.
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I’d like to begin today’s sermon with a question: if you had to sum up some of the main takeaways from the gospel according to John into a few sentences, a verse, or even a question – what might that be?
[pause]
This isn’t, I think, an easy thing to do since taking a Biblical story full of different characters, stories, teachings, challenges, and mysteries is probably as difficult as trying to sum up our entire lives. Our instinct might be to pick a verse or two as our starting point since John 3:16 always shows up at football games and yard signs. But I wonder if there might be something from earlier in the book that reveals what John imagines it means to have Jesus in our lives and in the world. And to do that, we need to spend a little time with another John who was hanging out in the wilderness. We have, over the last month, spent a long time with this other John – John the Baptist – as we learned about his peculiar clothing habits, his calls for repentance, the baptisms he practiced, and what happened when he was arrested by King Herod after choosing to bring God’s word into local politics. John the Baptist shows up a lot in Mark, Luke, and Mathew – but it’s the different emphasis in today’s story that might reveal a little bit about what this entire book is about. The John the Baptist we meet in the gospel according to John – and it’s important to remember the John who wrote the gospel and John the Baptist are two different Johns – isn’t as colorful as the other books. We’re not given details about clothes being made out of camel hair or how locusts and wild honey is quite a delicious meal. In fact, we don’t even get to see John the Baptist baptize anyone in this story and so it’s fitting in the verses before today’s reading, folks asked John “who are you?” This John is, in a way, less of a doer and more of a talker. And the word he brought wasn’t a sermon inviting us to live more God-centric lives but was a giant verbal finger pointing at who he expects Jesus to be. To John, Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Chosen One who embodies God’s vision for creation and outranks those we proclaim to be holy and true. The word John shared wasn’t a word he chose to keep to himself. Instead, it was a word John shared. John the Baptist not only told those who came to him who this Jesus was; he also told his own disciples they might want to follow Jesus instead. To me, at the heart of John the Baptist’s words is the continual unpacking of that question “who are you” directed not only to us but also to Jesus and God. And the entire gospel according to John feels like it’s meant to unpack that question in challenging and unexpected ways.
But that might not be the only question John tried to answer. And this comes into view when we notice the first words Jesus uttered in this book. We might assume the Son of God’s first words to be a story or some profound thought weren’t meant to apply immediately to our daily life. Yet what Jesus did instead was ask two of John the Baptist’s disciples the question: “what are you looking for?” That’s not the kind of “hello” we’d expect the prince of peace to share but it could be an invitation for us to reflect on who we want God to be. The language John the Baptist used throughout our reading described Jesus with metaphors, symbols, and spiritual realities that reflected who John the Baptist wanted God to be. And that, I think, creates room for us to do the same thing. When it comes to God, the divine, creation, the kingdom of God for the world and for our lives – one of the most faithful questions we can ask is simply: what are we looking for? Are we looking for a listener, a companion, this promise our forever has already begun? Or are we looking for power, strength, and the kind of God who makes us special at the expense of everyone else? That “what” we want is often revealed through the words we share and the actions we take. And so the gospel according to John will, throughout the book, to not only reveal what we’re looking for but also push us towards what we can cling to instead.
So after “who are you” and “what are you looking for,” there might be one more question we’re being asked to hold. And that’s because after Jesus asked his question, the two following Jesus responded with a question of their own. The answer they gave doesn’t lean into the “what” Jesus asked. Rather, they wonder where Jesus was saying. On one level, they really are just asking where Jesus was currently tucking himself in at night. Yet the word in the ancient Greek we’ve translated as staying also means dwelling and abiding. To dwell and to abide is more than simply finding a Motel Six to stay in. Where we dwell is where we get to craft a home of our own. It’s a place defined by the relationships which reaffirm we’re known, valued, and we really belong. And it’s the trust that even when life gets hard, we are a necessary part of what this world is meant to be about. That doesn’t mean dwelling is always easy or that our abiding won’t require us to grow, change, and become something new. Rather, it’s a place, a moment, and an experience where the limits of who we are have been replaced by whose we are instead. Where we dwell can be a physical place like a sanctuary, a house, or even a neighborhood. Yet dwelling can’t happen unless we’re rooted in relationships where we are fed, supported, and cared for. If we dwell with relationships that are toxic, harmful, and rooted in a vision of the world that says some matter more than others, our dwelling is taking from our life rather than enhancing it. And so the disciples’ question to Jesus about where he dwells is more than about where he rested his head. It’s also a question about the relationships shaping who Jesus got to be. Rather than going into detail about what those relationships were, Jesus did something different instead. He asked those who were standing before him if they’d like to “come and see” to experience that kind of dwelling for themselves.
And so the gospel of John is more than just a verse we wave at football games or tattoo on our body. It’s a book unpacking the questions “who are you,” “what are you looking for,” and “where are you staying/dwelling/abiding?” These faithful questions are the ones we can – and should – ask the divine. But they’re also the kind of questions we need to ask of ourselves. Do we find ourselves dwelling in anger, violence, grievance, competition, and with a deep desire to win? Or do we dwell with One who was there when the universe was made; who lived a life needing the care of others; who broke bread with those who agreed with him and those who didn’t; who welcomed those who were viewed as expendable to his side; and who promised to not let your worst days be the only ones that defined you? “Who are you?” “What are you looking for?” “Where are you dwelling?” are the questions we get to ask ourselves – and our God – every day. And while our answers to those questions might be full of emotions, words, mysteries, or deep silences that nothing can break – God’s answer to those questions will be right there holding you through.
Amen.