The Last Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A - 1993

Year A - Epiphany Last

not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


Three weeks ago, Father Sloane invited me to have lunch with your bishop in Fond Du Lac. I mentioned to Father before we arrived that bishops terrify me, but soon after we sat down at table with Bishop Stevens, I was much relaxed and put at ease by his manner. He even had a little joke concerning a brand that he thought appropriately described me.

You see, we had been discussing that Lent was almost upon us (its Wednesday) and the bishop mentioned that he had always found that there was a curious sort of person who would not be seen at Christmas or Easter, but that would attend every Lenten event offered by the Church. I commented that I could relate to that in that I find Lent to be the Season in which I am most comfortable. He immediately determined that I was, as he put it, very Gothic. For the rest of the discussions over lunch, he took great delight in repeating how Gothic everything I said was.

I've been giving this some thought, however, since that lunch (as seminarians quickly learn to give serious thought to anything a bishop tells them-- even in jest), and it reminded me of something my rector back in Arlington once told me. He said, there are two major categories of Christians: The kind that stand at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday and look back at the Cross, and the kind that stand at the foot of the Cross and look forward to the Empty Tomb. I stand at the Cross... ...and look forward to Easter.

In our Gospel today, we have Matthew's account of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and at first glance, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Cross. We have Peter, James and John on top of the Mountain, seeing a vision of our Lord in his Glorified State. His face shining like the sun, and his garments became white as light (glistening white is how I think Mark puts it in his Gospel). Try to imagine this sight in Steven Spielburg terms:

You follow Jesus up a mountain for hours until you reach the top, you can see the small villages far below, and its quiet and peacful. Then suddenly, he is changed before your very eyes. His face begins to shine, and his clothes are emitting light. The other Transfiguration stories from Mark and Luke add different detail, but they all indicate an iridescence, and great glory. Just as suddenly, he is accompanied by to men which he refers to in speaking as being Moses, the Law giver and Elijah the Prophet. Both have been dead for centuries, but these are the greatest hero's of the Jews.

This is beyond history making, this is the singles greatest event that man has ever witnessed to that time. The beauty of the Lord's Transfigured countenance, his raiment of white, the two heros of the Jew's. It is glorious to Peter, James and John. It would have been Glorious for any of us to have witnessed-- but what has this to do with the Cross?

The answer is in what Jesus had told these apostles in the six days prior to Peter's confessing Jesus as the Messiah. There are three items of great importance which have a bearing on the Cross during those six days.

One. Jesus has told the Disciples that he must be Crucified and raised again on the third day. If you remember, this is the point at which Peter expresses his displeasure and Jesus says to him, "Get behind me Satan." This is the first time the Disciples have heard anything about their master being killed, and Peter's reaction is understandable... But the news gets worse.

The second matter of great importance is that Jesus tells them that if anyone would come after him, then he must first deny himself and take up his own cross and follow Jesus.

The third matter is much better news, and it has to be understood that this is the last thing we are told by Matthew, before Jesus goes up to the Mountain of the Transfiguration. Jesus tells the disciples, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."

What the disciples saw at the top of the mountain was the Glory of Jesus that is in His kingdom. They saw Jesus, for a few moments, in the Glory that is his after the Resurrection. They saw the light and beauty of the glorified body. Moreover, they saw what awaits their own bodies; if they too can deny themselves and pick up their own Crosses, because the glory they see is not that of Jesus alone, although his certainly outshines all others. But in Luke's Gospel, Elijah and Moses are said to have "appeared in glory" as well.

Peter says, in his Second Letter, that he wishes to remind the Church of many things as longs as he is still "in this body" and that he knows he will "be putting off this body as the Lord Jesus Christ showed me" on the mountain.

You see, the beautiful vision of Jesus Transfigured was a promise. A promise that made denying oneself and lifting up one's own Cross and following Jesus a blessing rather than a curse. The promise is that we too can share in that glory, it is a glorified body like that of Moses and Elijah that we are to have in the resurrection, and this is a blessing.

This summer, I worked in a hospital with some other seminarians from other denominations. Two of them were from a protestant denomination which I will not name here, because I mean them no malice.

One day, we were praying together and began the hymn, Amazing Grace. It was an easy hymn to choose for a group of varied denominations, because we all knew the words. The Roman Catholics and I sang the first line as

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."

The other two, however, sang the last part of that line as:

"that saved and strengthened me"

They gave us a funny look. One of them appeared to be almost disgusted with the way we had sung the hymn. They probably thought I was Gothic or something. I later found out that their denomination did not consider their members to be wretches, and explained that as this is the Kingdom of God, and as they believe in Jesus Christ, they are without sin altogether.

Now, even in a theological discussion, one must be very careful how one responds to an opponent who states that they are not a wretch... I know this... Now... because, if you do it the wrong way, as I did, you end up leaving them perfectly willing to accept the fact that you are indeed a wretch, and all the more sure that they are not.

You have to admit, they have a very appealing point of view (about already being without sin, not about my wretchedness). It is also a very American point of view. We, more than any other culture are tempted to pray the prayer of the Pharisee, "God, I thank thee that I am not like other men." While the righteous man prays quietly in a corner, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." We do not have a corner on the righteousness market. We are in fact, in grave danger of assuming that our wealth and prosperity are a sign of divine favor, when in all probability they will be a cause for Divine Judgement.

Yes we are strengthened, as the protestants sang. But we are not strengthened to the exclusion of our wretchedness. What is that T-Shirt slogan "If I'm O.K. and Your O.K., What is that guy doing up on that Cross?" The United States of America is not the Kingdom of God. We are not a nation of glorified people. I have met no one who glows so brightly that they must be covered with a cloud to prevent harm to those who are near. Moreover, we are not a people capable of building the kingdom of God. How sad to think that we can.

If we start believing that we have no wretchedness, then we might start believing that we are capable of building God's Kingdom. And I want no part of that Kingdom. No, we are promised more than that. We are promised glorified bodies, and a Kingdom prepared by our Lord himself.

But to receive these bodies, and to inherit this Kingdom, we must pick up our Crosses. Facing our wretchedness is a very heavy Cross. It is all the more heavy in a culture such as ours where the current trend is to blame parents and/or society for every crime that is committed, and every parent is able to blame their lack of perfection on their own parents-- it seems nobody is responsible. But the truth is, every time a crime is committed it is a sign that we are indeed wretched. And we must face the fact that we are not perfect, and we are not even any better than those to whom Jesus was speaking nearly two-thousand years ago. We are as much in need of a Saviour as they were.

We need to take our queue from Paul who tells us in the Epistle today that he has no righteousness of his own, but what righteousness he does have belongs to God, and is received only by faith. He then says that he presses on towards that righteousness by sharing in the suffering of Christ. Paul is talking about picking up his own Cross.

This is the last Sunday of Epiphany, and the Transfiguration is the ultimate showing of the Glory of our Lord before Easter. It is also a startling indication of how far from his Glory we are. We are to strive, or press on, towards that Glory ourselves, knowing that we cannot obtain it for our own, except by faith and suffering for Jesus sake. This is the perfect attitude in which to begin a penitential season. Shrove Tuesday is so named because on that day we are to be SHRIVEN, that is we are to confess our sins, accept penance, and receive absolution for our sins by a priest.

Being the Gothic man that I am, I commend two things to you. One is my favorite prayer which is very ancient, and as near perfect as any prayer that man can devise. It is called the Jesus Prayer, and it is almost identical to the prayer of the righteous man in Jesus parable. It goes, "Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen." It is not a very fasionable prayer, but it is a very good one that has found to be appropriate for any situation.

The other thing which I wish to commend to you, is to be gothic yourselves. Embrace Lent as a season to recognize how our glory compares (or doesn't) to the glory of Christ. And also how our humility compares (opr doesn't) to the humility of Christ during his forty days in the wilderness.

Remember that picking up the Cross is not a curse, it was not a judgment upon the disciples, it was a blessing and an invitation to us all to follow him and receive our glorified bodies which will dwell with our Lord for ever.

I'll leave you with Peter's own words concerning the importance of the Transfiguration:
And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:10 19
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

00:12:00


{12} The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." {13} So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. {14} And he said to the elders, "Tarry here for us, until we come to you again; and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them." {15} Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. {16} The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. {17} Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. {18} And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:12 18

{7} But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. {8} Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ {9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; {10} that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, {11} that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. {12} Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. {13} Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, {14} I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7 14

{17:1} And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. {2} And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. {3} And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. {4} And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." {5} He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." {6} When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. {7} But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." {8} And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. {9} And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." Matthew 17:1 9



Copyright © 1993 W. Crews Giles

Second Epiphany - Year A - 1993

Note: This was my first sermon.  It was preached at Grace Church, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  I served in that parish while in seminary as a layman, which I was at the time of this sermon, and as an ordained Deacon, which I would be in December of that (1993) year, until I graduated.  I was ordained a Priest in Apostolic Succession on 2-Jul-1994.

Of note, it was aired on the local radio station at the time.

Year A - Second Sunday in Epiphany

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!." The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.


In my first sermon to a real congregation, I had hoped for the really good stuff like the crucifixion, the resurrection or one of the more tantalizing parables of Jesus to preach upon. However, in today's Gospel, instead of the end, we have the beginning of Jesus' ministry; and Jesus speaks only seven words.

However, those seven words prove profitable. The first four are in the form of a question. Andrew and the other disciple (probably John) upon hearing John the Baptist refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God, follow our Lord. When Jesus saw them following him, he asks a simple question: WHAT DO YOU SEEK?

If Jesus were to ask me this question, I am not sure I would know how to answer. Andrew apparently had a similar problem, because he replies by asking Jesus where he is staying.

Jesus responds, "COME AND SEE."

Apparently, while they met with Jesus, Andrew found the answer to Jesus' first question, because we are then told that he ran to his brother, Peter, telling him that they had found the Messiah -- the Christ.

What Andrew and the other disciple were seeking was the Messiah, and
that is who they found. But it was a strange matter that started their search. They had merely heard the words, "Behold the Lamb of God!" and decided to follow the man who John the Baptist had pointed out to them.

"Behold, the Lamb of God!" is a strange expression. It comes from a strange man who is somewhat infamous for his style of dress and, in particular, his eating habits. Neither the message nor the messenger would suggest that two searchers would be wise to take much notice.

I checked, and the term "Lamb of God" does not occur even once in the Old Testament. If it had, it might have made more sense for the Baptizer to have used it, and for the disciples to have headed it, but as it stands it would have been nearly non-sensical to a Jew in 30 AD, as all of these men were.

Every significant reference to a lamb in the Old Testament relates to the idea of sacrifice and atonement. For example, the passover lamb which was to be eaten prior to the exodus, it's blood sprinkled on the door post to protect the inhabitants from the death and judgement; and the sacrificial lamb, slain to purify sinners and transgressors of the law. Some of the other words used in connection with Old Testament references to a lamb are: offering, redemption, purification, sanctification.

So what was John the Baptist thinking? In hindsight, it is obvious that this must be a reference to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross for our sins, but isn't it odd that John would be thinking in those terms before the fact? It is even odder that Andrew and the Apostle John would hear those words and follow Jesus.

As for John the Baptist, his whole message dealt with sin, and the ugliness of man's state. Perhaps he knew, as prophets sometimes do, a bit of what kind of nasty solution that God was intending. A nasty solution is required for a nasty problem, and our sins are definitely a nasty problem.
John was not looking for a solution to the economic problems of the national economy, nor a way to end wars, lower taxes, save the whales or fill in your own favorite cause; rather, he was looking for the solution to the only problem that follows a man into the grave namely, how to get out of that grave once you are in it.

Easter is Glorious. Clean white linens, new life, and a happy ending. But, I have heard it said, you cannot have easter without the crucifixion. Ah, but we could have! We could have had Jesus die a pleasant death -- going peacefully in his sleep, with no pain, no blood, no suffering. The kind of death that we all would like to have. The kind of death the antisemitists wanted our Lord to have. They blame the Jews for our Lord's suffering, and believe that without that suffering we would have been better off. But what would Easter have proved by itself?

Without the nasty death by being nailed to a piece of wood, without the sacrifice of the unspotted lamb without blemish, what would we have had? We would have had God's incarnate Son inviting us to join Him in eternal life in Heaven without any hope of ever being able to accept the invitation.

Heaven is a very exclusive place, they don't let just anybody in there. For example, anyone with the stain of sin is barred at the door. And for Jesus to have simply died and raised again, he would have gained admittance for himself only, being the only one to have achieved death without sinning. We on the other hand, each and every one of us -- dark with the stain of sin -- simply could not get in without first being cleansed of that stain. And the only method by which we can be cleansed is the nasty one -- sacrifice. We needed a Sacrificial Lamb. It was our only hope.

John the Baptists knew this, and the saints knew this too. It isn't a coincidence that any good book on prayer instructs one to first recognize one's sins, failures, imperfections, and complete and utter hopelessness before trying to speak or listen to God in prayer.

It is only reasonable that we must try to see where we stand in relationship to God if we are to be able to communicate with him. We are only righteous in as much as he has declared us to be righteous, but we have no righteousness of our own without Him. And even with that, we continue to sin, and thus still need the stain of sin removed.

Whether Andrew understood any of this when he heard those words, "Lamb of God," I cannot say. But something clicked. Something drove him to follow Jesus. Something clicked with Andrew, and suddenly he knew that he had found what he was looking for.

We have all experienced this 'click' ourselves in various ways. We don't know how we know something, we just know that we do in fact, know.

Being from Texas where football is more than the national sport, and more like a way of life, you will excuse me, I am sure, if I use an example from my over thirty years of experience in this area:

I have a gift, of sorts, for being able to predict when one team is about to take the ball away from the other team. The teams will be lined up and about to hike the ball and I suddenly know that the ball is going to be intercepted or fumbled on that play, or the next. I'll lean over to the one next to me and comment that there is going to be a turn over. Probably nine times out of ten, it happens. This is not a gift from God, nor am I psychic, and I don't know exactly what it is that I see that causes this click, but the click happens none the less a few times every season.

I have a theory, however. You see, when I was five years old, my parents bought season tickets to the Cowboy games, and I faithfully attended each home game for nearly twenty years. I watched the games on television, I watched the coach's shows, I read about football, talked about football and even played a little football. It was important to me and so I learned everything that I could about the game. Then, in the middle of a game I would see something wrong that the offense was doing or something right that the defense was doing I don't know which, and knew ahead of time that the defense was going to take away the ball from the offense.

The point is that I was able to see something that few, if any, others saw; and furthermore I believe that I had this ability because of the amount of time I spent studying and watching the sport.

Andrew, as a Jew, had been waiting for the Messiah. He had studied and watched for His coming, he knew the prophesies, and was ready when that small and almost imperceptible something caused everything to click.

Unlike most of those who encountered Jesus as he walked the earth nearly two thousand years ago, Andrew recognized that the Messiah the Christ was the one that would be Sacrificed and offered to atone for our sins and to bring about our sanctification.

Most expected a worldly king, greater than even David, but very much a king of this world like David had been. These were the ones who felt justified in their rejecting Jesus when our Lord was nailed to the cross and died.

You know that one of the gifts that the Magi brought was Myrrh. The gold represented Christ's kingship, the frankincense his priesthood, and the myrrh his death.

Andrew was not looking for just a king, nor was he looking for just a priest, the ultimate of which Jesus Christ is, but it was the sacrifice -- the inevitable and blessed death that Jesus was to suffer -- that resulted in Andrew's recognizing his (and our) Savior.

It is a revelation of sorts, but one that was conditioned by Andrew's (and the other Jews') waiting and searching for the Messiah. Once they had seen him, they recognized him.

So what are we, as Christians, waiting for? What is it that we have studied and watched for? To quote our Lord, "WHAT DO YOU SEEK?"

Paul tells us, in our Epistle today, that the Church in Corinth was waiting "for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ". Yet he also says of the Church in Corinth that:

They were Sanctified in Christ Jesus, They were called to be saints, They were given the grace of God, They were in every way enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge The testimony to Christ was confirmed in them, They were not lacking in any spiritual gift, and that they were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

It seems they had everything.

Yet, Paul says that they were waiting. Waiting for the "revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;" he says, "who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

As I studied and watched football and found that click that something big was about to happen, and moreover, as Andrew studied Scripture and watched for the coming of the Messiah, which he recognized with the click of the words, "Behold the Lamb of God!", we must be studying and watching for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The mere fact that you are sitting in this church right now is unarguable proof that you too have been called to be saints. You have been given the grace of God, and to a person you have most, if not all, of the seven attributes with which Paul credited the Corinthians. But, like those -- we must still wait, watch and study.

Our work is not done to have the testimony of Christ confirmed in us. Andrew, as a Jew, could not rest even though he was one of God's chosen even after he recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, Andrew still watched. We are told that he, with Peter, James and John ask Jesus about the end of the world so that they might be ready when it comes.

We have the revealing our Lord Jesus in the Four Gospels, and we find more revealed of him in the rest of the New Testament, yet we are still awaiting his revelation. It is in the Word of God, the Scripture, which tells us that Jesus is not finished revealing himself to us, and it is there that we must focus our study and watchfulness; and it is also in His Church that we must study and watch, so that when he does choose to reveal himself to us again, we will be ready for that click.

The Sunday temple that I faithfully attended in my youth sat seventy five thousand people. Nearly every seat was filled because what went on there was important to us. It was our way of life, and we knew the game.

We are in another Sunday Temple and we are, each of us, charged to make this our way of life, and we cannot do that unless we know the game. Watch, study and wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to reveal himself to you, and if you do, Paul tells us that you "will be sustained to the end, guiltless".

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

{49:1} Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. {2} He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. {3} And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." {4} But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God." {5} And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength {6} he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." {7} Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate them selves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." Isaiah 49:1 7

{40:1} To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. {2} He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. {3} He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. {4} Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods! {5} Thou hast multiplied, O LORD my God, thy wondrous deeds and thy thoughts toward us; none can compare with thee! Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be numbered. {6} Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire; but thou hast given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required. {7} Then I said, "Lo, I come; in the roll of the book it is written of me; {8} I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my heart." {9} I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; lo, I have not restrained my lips, as thou knowest, O LORD. {10} I have not hid thy saving help within my heart, I have spoken of thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness from the great congregation. Psalms 40:1 10

{1:1} Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, {2} To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: {3} Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. {4} I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, {5} that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge {6} even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you {7} so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; {8} who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:1 9

{29} The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, 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 before me, for he was before me.' {31} I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." {32} And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. {33} I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' {34} And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." {35} The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; {36} and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" {37} The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. {38} Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" {39} He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. {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 means Christ). John 1:29 41


Copyright © 1993 W. Crews Giles