Today's Gospel in Art: Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus

Saint John the Baptist pointing out Christ as the Lamb of God, by Master of the Saint John Altarpiece, Netherlandish © Philadelphia Museum of Art

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 4th January 2022 - John 1:35-42

As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God.' Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, 'What do you want?' They answered, 'Rabbi,' - which means Teacher - 'where do you live?' 'Come and see' he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.

One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' - which means the Christ - and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas' - meaning Rock.

Reflection on the painting

Today's reading follows on from yesterday's, in which John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God'. In today's Gospel reading, we find John now directing his own followers towards Jesus. John came to prepare the way and did exactly that, prompting some of his own disciples to become disciples of Jesus. Therein lies the example of John, that he didn't try to hold on to his followers. He generously and lovingly pointed his own disciples towards the One who was greater than himself.

Saint John is thus a great example of how we too can share our friends with one another and be non-possesive of the friends we have. We want to introduce them to other people and share what we have and who we know… And of course the greatest friend we can introduce them to is Jesus himself. We too are called to point our friends in the direction of the Good. And yes that may come at a cost at times. Saint John ultimately gave his life in sacrifice to his mission.

Our panel by an unknown Netherlandish artist, painted circa 1500-1510, shows Saint John on the left with his disciples. He points to Jesus and His followers. Note that Jesus and all His disciples all have halos, but in the other group Saint John is the only one with a halo. They are all in an enclosed garden. The garden gate in the background will soon be flung open for Jesus' ministry to burst into the world. The artist painted St John and Jesus in similar dress.

All of us were introduced to Jesus by someone. This might have been done by our parents or by a friend. But who will we introduce to Jesus in 2022?

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/1043
Christian Art - www.christian.art