Asking Questions! : Seeking Answers!
There is a significant encounter in John’s Gospel (1:29-38) where one question is answered with another question. We are informed that John the Baptist, on seeing Jesus, stated: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” When two of John’s disciples hear this they follow Jesus. Then Jesus turns, & seeing them following, said to them: “What do you seek?” They said to Him: “Rabbi, where do you live?” On the surface there seems to be a big dis-connect between these two verbal exchanges. Let’s try & see what is going-on!
The 1st inference we can take from this introductory dialogue is: this is no ‘small talk’: ‘big issues’ are under consideration. In reality: Jesus’s question is addressed to each one of us & the disciples question is expressed on behalf of all of us, To ‘tie’ the two questions together, Jesus issues a follow-up invitation (to each & all of us): “Come & see”. We are then told the two disciples “came & saw where Jesus lived & stayed with Him that day” (John 1:39).
The 2nd inference that is made visible from this ‘face-to-face’ meeting is that ‘‘‘RELATIONALITY”’ – as per this website (‘Konect 1-2-1’) VISION statement – is in view. Jesus challenges the disciples in terms of: what are you (really, really) looking for? The disciples want to ‘get-up-close’ to Jesus to see if He (really, really) ‘measures-up’ to John the Baptist’s description.
The 3rd inference that is ‘made-manifest’ relates to everyone’s primary ‘focus-of-attention’: life, itself. As we are only too well aware: life is a mystery. How do we make sense of it? It is interesting to observe John the Baptist’s disciples in their ‘moment’ of being LOST & FOUND (see: ‘I found myself lost’ article). St Augustine had a particular ‘transition’ point in his ‘life-journey’ &, as a result, handed-on his own ‘enlightened-life-wisdom’: ‘You have made us for yourself, O’Lord, & our hearts are restless until they rest in You’.
So, where do we go from here? As in everything: we need to ‘take-in’ the ‘bigger picture’ (‘heaven’s view’)! The crucial question, now, is: what does all this mean for ‘you, me & the rest of us’? The answer lies in the Good News, as presented. The real (‘deep down’) issue each human person has is: finding a life to which we can say “yes”. Who can deliver such a ‘teaching-for-living’? Jesus is the One: He said: “I (Christ) have come that you may have life” (John 10:10). Jesus is telling us: you, too, can have My Life in you: I, continually, offer My Life for each & every one of you: “take & eat”: “take & drink”: absorb & nourish yourselves: become part of My Body: the Body of Christ. As is set out in CCC521 (i.e. Catechism Catholic Church / section 521): we have to immerse ourselves in the Christ Life: in the Christ Way of living. As Christians (i.e. Christ followers) the ‘key’ to this life is ‘self-discovery’ in Christ, whereby: ‘Christ enables us to live in Him all that He himself lived & He lives it in us’.
That’s all very well, but, how do we (really, really) find this “hidden treasure”? The short answer (in three words) is: “Listen to Him!” Who said that? The answer, of course, is: The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, finally, who helps us on the “Way”? The last, but by no means least, answer is: The Holy Spirit. With “3 in 1” we can’t go wrong. God will, surely & assuredly, bless the ‘real’ (unique) life He has ‘ordered’ for you.