Christianity is all about experiencing Christ. Both the Old and New Testaments share with us the faith experiences of all those who have gone before us. Christianity cannot carry on without sharing the Christ experience. Today’s gospel passage underlines this truth through the example of John the Baptist and Andrew, the apostle. We read in the passage that John the Baptist pointed out the lamb of God to his disciples. Immediately, they followed Jesus. John could have kept his disciples with him so that there would be someone with him to listen and assist him. However, by pointing out the Lamb of God, John tells them to follow him. John knew he came to just prepare the way for the Messiah. He has the words of eternal life; therefore, his disciples should go to Jesus and experience him so that they could inherit eternal life. Thus, John the Baptist helped his disciples recognise their vocation as apostles of Jesus. In the first reading, we see God calling Samuel, but he could not recognise it. He approaches Eli twice. Then Eli realised that it was God who called him, so Eli instructed young Samuel to respond to what God was saying: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam.3:9)
At once, those disciples followed Jesus. Seeing them following, Jesus asks them, “What are you looking for?” They wanted to know where Jesus was staying. Jesus did not give his home address; instead, he told them, “Come and see.” It was an invitation as well as a promise. It was an invitation to come and experience the person of Jesus and receive words of eternal life. The promise is that all those who experience Jesus will finally become a blessing to others. They become channels of God’s grace by leading others to Jesus, who is the fullness of life. Andrew was one of those who followed Jesus, stayed with him, and experienced him. He realised that Jesus was not an ordinary rabbi. Then he leads his brother Simon Peter to Jesus, telling him that we have seen the Messiah. When Peter comes, Jesus extends the same invitation and promises that he will be his rock.
As we reflect on this gospel passage, we need to realise that Jesus extends the same invitation and promise to all of us. Once we experience Jesus, we can’t contain that experience only with us. We will become his missionaries, sharing this experience with others and bringing them close to Jesus. We need to keep in mind that all of us have the responsibility to share this Christ experience with others. First and foremost, we cannot lead others to a God experience if we don’t have one. We have seen Eli helping Samuel to attune his ears to God’s calling. Eli could do so because of his God experience. He realised that no one else built God by calling the young Samuel. Like Andrew, we should not hesitate to bring our brethren close to Jesus by sharing our witness. You may be the chosen instrument of God to have a Christ experience for someone else. We can be sure that all those who are coming close to Jesus will inherit the blessing that no longer remains the same. They will be transformed day by day into the person of Christ and be staunch witnesses to Christ like Peter.