"Come and see"

John 1:29-39

My reflection for today's readings is taken from Hans Urs Von Balthasar on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises: An Anthology. I am expanding the Gospel reading to include John 1:35-39.

What is supposed to happen [as a result of the Spiritual Exercises] is the same thing that happened long ago on the bank of the Jordan. "As Jesus was passing by (and Ignatius emphasizes that Jesus is not stationed somewhere but rather is always passing by [Spiritual Exercises, 280, etc.], "John looked at and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God.' The two disciples [Andrew, Peter's brother, and John] heard what he said and followed Jesus. But Jesus turned around and, seeing them following him, asked them, 'What are you seeking?' When they reply, 'Rabbi, where are you staying?' he answers, 'Come and see'" (Jn 1:36-39). Make up your mind to come (which means "drop everything" [Lk 5:11]). and you shall see. "And they went along and saw... and stayed." What happened back then is not merely a model but is exactly the same thing that happens today, in the here and now, just as the sacrifice of the Cross is present in the Holy Mass, just as Resurrection Day's remission of sins takes place in each true confession" (page 6-70.)

Annotation 280 of Ignatius' Spiritual Excercises is the nineteenth of "The Mysteries of the Life of Our Lord." Like all the mysteries set forth in the Excercises. It is a three-point summary of what happens in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter wants to go to the Lord. Jesus bids him come. Peter begins to walk on the water toward him but falters, doubts, and begins to sink. Jesus saves him without hesitation. According to Balthasar,

The ship is Jesus' community, which recognizes Peter as its head; the fact that he [Peter] wants to go to the Lord is all in order. But one does not idolize Peter.; one knows he is a fallible man (the Passion will demonstrate this). Peter must not for one moment reflect on himself as if his faith, his ministry belonged to him; he is what he is only within his mission, which can only be lived in faith and whose origin always lies in the Lord

Getting back to Jesus always passing by, always on the move, and the impetus Andrew and John felt to follow him and that Peter felt to go across the water to him, we hear his summons: "Come and see."

This enthusiasm can be diminished and the impetus thwarted in so many ways. This is why for Christians not only does this experience, as Balthasar insists, happen today, it has to happen over and again. We follow Jesus, we slow down, we lose sight of him and wander off the dizzying variety of paths. Not all of these are self-evident paths of destruction. Some paths look quite pious and good.

Maybe it isn't even a case of wandering off the path. Maybe it is stopping and staying. This, for many who believe, is the worst temptation. When Eugene Peterson described Christian discipleship as "a long obedience in the same direction," he understood that to follow Christ is to remain on the move. We are pilgrims and the Church is the Pilgrim People of God, always on our Way. When we grow weary, the Lord says again, "Come and see." This is how we reach our sabbath rest.

San Giovanni che indica il Cristo a Sant'Andrea, Ottavio Vannini, 17th Century

I am going to be audacious now and cite my own work. Since it isn't published except to gather dust on a shelf in the Mount Angel Library, it's okay. Otherwise, who would read it? The following is rooted in John 5:1-30.

At the end of the first creation narrative, Genesis clearly states that after completing his work creating, God “rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.” [Genesis 2:2] Further, we learn that “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” [Genesis 2:3] As a result, keeping the Sabbath day holy is encoded in the Decalogue. [See Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15]. [Theologian James] Alison observes with no disputation whatsoever, the commandment to rest on the Sabbath “is a strict injunction to imitate God.” [Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay, 9] This commandment is taken so seriously by the observant men who accuse Jesus that anyone who does not observe it disobeys God by failing to imitate him. [Ibid] Jesus’s retort to the accusation that it is sinful to heal on the Sabbath is mind-blowing: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” [John 5:7]. According to Alison, Jesus’s reply contains two astonishing assertions: Jesus’s denial that God is resting on the Sabbath and, implied by this denial, stretching back to Genesis, the reason God is not resting on the Sabbath is because creation is not yet complete. [Faith Beyond Resentment, 9]

Alison’s two assertions find further grounding in the fourth chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, in which the earthly pilgrimage of God’s people ends with their entering into the Sabbath. Citing Psalm 95, the author of Hebrews notes that entering into Sabbath rest was denied to the children of Israel because of their disobedience. [Hebrews 4:1-11] In addition to resonating with this section of Hebrews, Alison’s insight also provides it with a hermeneutical key that lends the overarching point the inspired author is trying to make some theological coherence. “The cure on a Sabbath,” Alison continues, “has as its purpose to show God’s continued creative power mediated by Jesus.” [Faith Beyond Resentment, 10] Jesus’s point in this dispute, according to Alison, is that God is not done creating and so there is not yet a Sabbath rest into which anyone can enter (Scott S. Dodge. Diaconal Spirituality: A Systematic Exploration, Mount Angel Seminary, 2019. 101-102)

And so, he says to us today "Come and see."