Looking For What We Didn't Know Was There

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?” He said to them, “Come and see.”
--John 1:38-39

This brief snippet from today's Gospel lesson has always intrigued me. Every time I read or hear it that closing invitation screams out at me with a power and presence that only Jesus can have.

Yet it is so quiet and gentle and, well, inviting as only Jesus can say it.

It started with a simple question from Jesus that cuts to the chase. He asks his soon-to-be-apostles what they are doing hanging around these spiritually-rich and promising places with John. He knew that simply by being there they were showing that there was more to life than the visible and even religious made present. He knew these young men were pilgrims.

Only when faced with the question of what they were seeking did they even realize it and somehow or other, (through the Spirit?) they knew they were in the midst of the Spiritual. All they could do was ask another question- "Where are you staying, Jesus?" They were ready to see more, spend more time.

And Jesus answered them... or did he?

Come and see.

Not where he was staying physically but where he was living- the spiritual dwelling place that only Jesus could show them at that moment. Come and see my home- and yours.

Now, am I reading too much into this? No, I think that is exactly (well, approximately anyway) what John wants us to see here. And challenge us to go there with Andrew and James and John and the others. Perhaps John as an old man dictated this thought to his community. And there was a twinkle in his eye, and a life in his soul remembering just what it was like to live in that spiritual place.

He knew- as we can know- that such a place is as real as any we can see with our eyes or touch with our hands. It is The Spiritual Place into which we move to get a new vision and a new home. It is The Spiritual Place from which we go out into the world and invite other pilgrims who didn't know they were looking for it.

Praise God for all his wisdom and opportunity for this amazing spiritual direction.