What are you looking for?
Readings: John 1. 29-42
What are you looking for? That’s what Jesus asks those would be disciples as they follow him. As 2026 begins, what are you looking for? What are you hoping for from Jesus in the year ahead?
As the passage starts we’re still with John the Baptist, although we’ve switched Gospel’s from Matthew to John’s Gospel. And it’s an interesting thing he says isn’t it; ‘I myself did not know him’ until the Spirit descended on him at his baptism. Because he must have known Jesus, they were cousins, and close enough that their mum’s had visited one another, so they must have met or known one another in that sense.
But there’s a deeper sense of knowing isn’t there. Jesus steps out of the crowd beside the river as John’s cousin but now John sees who Jesus really is. As the Spirit descends now John doesn’t just know Jesus as his cousin, but as the Messiah, the Saviour. The one who told him to baptise is God himself, and God had told him that the Messiah would be revealed in the Spirit’s descent. And so it was. Now John’s eyes are truly opened to who Jesus really is.
But John the Baptist’s role has always been to prepare the way for Jesus and then fade into the background as Jesus begins his ministry. It happens in every Gospel, John the Baptist appears briefly at the start and then fades away, albeit with a couple of check ins as we go. And we see here that he’s not just doing this passively, he’s not just allowing himself to fade away, he’s actively pointing people to Jesus. ‘This is the man I’ve been preparing you for, go and follow him’. And not just the man, but the Lamb, we’ll circle back to that later.
Because the second time John see’s Jesus coming towards him, John has two of his disciples with him, he declares again that here is the Lamb of God, and both disciples leave him, and go after Jesus. As Jesus passes, John is left alone, that must have been hard for John, all these followers, and then they all go after Jesus. But he’s not trying to get them back, he’s encouraging them to go, it’s what he’s been preparing them for, but it must have been hard for John in himself to let them go.
So these two men fall in behind Jesus, and John the Evangelist, the writer of the fourth Gospel, is playing with meanings here, they’re both following as in travelling along behind Jesus, going the same physical direction in his wake, but also following is what disciples do, they follow their Rabbi, their teacher, learning to do and speak as they watch him act and speak.
And Jesus realises they’re there, turns around and asks them ‘what do you want?’ That seems a bit abrupt in the NIV, a better sense of what he’s saying is ‘What are you looking for?’ It’s a question Jesus will ask again and again in the Gospels, even when the answer seems pretty obvious, he’s always asking, never assuming. Jesus is God, he knows their hearts, he knows their thoughts, he doesn’t need to ask, but perhaps for their sake even, he asks, why. Don’t just do, think about it, don’t assume I know, ask me. It’s about relationship, it’s why we pray. God knows our needs, knows our worries, knows the challenges we face, but he still wants us to ask, to speak to him, to vocalise it, because that’s how relationships work, and he wants a relationship.
What do you want? What are you looking for? asks Jesus of these two men as they start to follow him. What do you want from me, what do you want from life? And Jesus asks you those same questions as we enter 2026, why are you following me? What do you want from me? From life?
And there are so many answers we might give to that question, some very deep, some much less so. Following to learn; I want to know more, discover more about Jesus, or God or faith. Following to earn; I want a place in heaven, or God’s favour, or some blessing from the Lord. Following to gain; whether it be health or wealth or freedom from trouble. Following because actually we’re not sure what else we’d do at this point, we’re not sure why we’re following, but we have for so long that we just kinda still are, not because we’re actively following, but more because we’ve never actively stopped.
Why are you following Jesus this morning? What do you want from him? You can be honest with him, he’s not trying to trip you up with giving the wrong answer, he values honesty, both with him and with yourself. Why are you following him? What do you want?
And actually whatever your answer is, that’s ok, that’s ok as a first instance, or a ‘for now’ instance. Jesus isn’t going to chase us away for following him for the wrong reasons. Instead what happens again and again in the Gospels is people stop following Jesus, because their reason isn’t satisfied, he isn’t fulfilling that for them. I followed Jesus because I thought he’d bring me health and wealth but I’m still poor and sick, I give up. I followed Jesus because I thought it would be a good way to gain better social standing but actually the tide is turning and it would be better for my standing if I switched. I followed Jesus because I thought he’d always answer my prayers the way I wanted, and my loved one got sick, and I prayed and prayed and prayed, and they just got sicker, and they died. I can’t follow Jesus anymore. And actually that last one is painful isn’t it, I don’t want to deny the pain and suffering there, but actually Jesus never promised that all would go well, go our way if we followed him. Meanwhile in the US, I saw this one on social media a while back; I followed Jesus because I thought it would be a good way to meet girls.
And Jesus asks us that same question for the church here in this place too. What do you want? What do you want from me for St David’s? And we might answer revival. Or simply more people in the pews. Or a massive landfall of cash. Or lots of families to join us. What do we want from Jesus for St David’s this year?
There are all sorts of ways we might answer Jesus question ‘what are you looking for’ both for our church and for ourselves. There are all sorts of reasons we might be following him. And he won’t send us away for any of them, but he also wants us to be following him for the right reasons, not for his sake, but for ours. He doesn’t want us to turn back from him. He wants us to still be following him when at last he brings us through the waters of death and into our eternal home.
So what do these disciples of John say in answer to Jesus’ question. In some ways they don’t answer, but in their response, the question they ask in return, they say so much; ‘where are you staying?’ They want to be near Jesus. Can we stay with you? We want to follow, to stay near, to draw near and not go back. And Jesus will never say no to that. ‘Come and see’ he says. Not just come and look at my house, not come along and I’ll give you the tour, no, come, follow me, see for yourself, with your own eyes. Enter in.
Whatever reason we have for following Jesus this morning the very best is to be following him for him. Following because actually we want nothing more than to be near him. And if that is our reason for following him, if that truly is our hearts desire, what we want this year, we will not be disappointed, for he will never leave us or forsake us. He will never abandon us, or give us the cold shoulder. If what we want is to be near him, and day by day pursue him in our living and our doing, we will find that he always answers that request. From highest mountain top to deepest valley he will be with us.
And if what we want above all else as the church in this place is to be near Jesus, to not go anywhere that he is not, but to go with him wherever he goes, we will find ourselves in good stead. Because we can try to manufacture all the other stuff, but if above all here at St David’s we long to be near Jesus, we will find that he can use us for his glory. That as his body, with him as the head, we will find ourselves truly being his hands and feet if we dwell with him.
For here is the man born to be the Lamb. Here is the one who takes away the sins of the world, takes away your sin. The innocent lamb sacrificed for our sins, the pure and blameless one who becomes sin for our sake. His whole mission is to be near you, to tear down the walls of sin and shame and guilt that separate us, sinful humanity, from the all holy God. He is here to be near us, so that we can draw near to him, to the God of the Universe, and he will do whatever it takes, even going down into death burdened with our sin, to make that happen.
Because as we started with, it’s all about relationship, and relationship isn’t about the stuff you get, it’s about the one you’re in relationship with. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians this morning ‘God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord’. It’s about relationship.
My brothers and sisters, what are you looking for? That’s what Jesus asks this morning. As we enter 2026, what do you want for yourself, for St David’s? He simply asks us to be honest. But in our honesty he also draws us forwards, because what he longs for above all else is that we are following him for him, wanting to be near him. For with him we can weather all storms, and with him whatever happens in this place would be his will as we seek to draw ever nearer. The Lord calls to you, what are you looking for?
Amen.