Pointing to Jesus

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29

The Gospel for today’s Daily Office is about John the Baptist, everyone’s favorite camel-hair-wearing, grasshopper-eating prophet. Arguably one of the strangest people in the Bible, John is

known for baptizing Jesus, preaching about repentance, and calling the Pharisees a “brood of vipers.” He’s certainly not known for being cuddly, and I’ll be honest, I often find his stories tough to read.

However, I love how artists frequently depict him. If he’s not baptizing, he’s usually pointing. We see that in the painting by Annibale Carracci above, in this altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald, and in Leonardo DaVinci’s famous painting where John looks a bit like Michael Bolton from the ’80s.

This pose is appropriate and beautiful, because John’s ministry was all about pointing: pointing ahead so people would be ready for the coming Messiah and then pointing at Jesus saying, “There He is. Follow Him!” John’s ministry wasn’t about John; it was about Jesus. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God, not John.

And while I’m not half the man John the Baptist was and have no plans to start eating grasshoppers, I see my calling to be very similar to John’s: pointing people to Jesus. Whether I’m preaching a sermon, teaching a class, making pastoral visits, working with the staff and vestry, or planning future events, my goal is and should be to point people to Christ, helping them follow Him. Like John’s, my ministry isn’t about me; it’s about Jesus. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God, not me.

And so, I ask that you pray for me and for the parish, especially as we plan for the program year. Pray that our worship services, our classes, our outreach projects, our fun and fellowship events, our planning meetings, and even our personal interactions with our neighbors would point people to the love, grace, mercy, glory, majesty, and welcome of Jesus Christ. Like John, may our lives and ministries be all about Jesus, not ourselves. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God, not us.