Thomas J Parlette
“Standing There”
John 1: 29-42
1/18/26
It is one the most difficult social invitations to get.
Every year on the first Monday in May, the glitzy affair commemorates the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual exhibit, with the party’s theme often taking inspiration from the show.
Though the black-tie event is technically a fundraiser, earning money for the museum’s extensive fashion collection – it has also become a cultural touchstone, largely due to the influence of Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who has chaired the event for nearly three decades, transforming this charity fundraiser into a pop culture phenomenon.
Under Wintour’s guidance, the Met Gala has become a night for celebrities, fashion insiders, art enthusiasts, and society’s most powerful and influential figures to strut their stuff on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. And an undeniable part of the allure of the event is its highly exclusive guest list.
There is no guaranteed way to get invited to the Met Gala. Each year, Wintour herself decides you gets an invitation and who gets relegated to the wait list. For most charity events, if you make a sizable donation, you’re in – but not so with the Met Gala. The criteria for getting an invite to the Gala depends on a variety of factors seemingly only known to Wintour, ranging from timely achievements to cultural clout.
Even if you do make the cut and receive an invitation, there is still a hefty price tag. In 2024, a single ticket went for 75,000 dollars, and if you wanted to buy a table, the price starts at 350,000 dollars. (1)
An invitation to the Met Gala is difficult to get – and expensive to boot!
This morning, in our passage from John, we get a different kind of invitation – an invitation that is open to everyone, and costs nothing, at least on the surface.
Today we hear John’s version of the baptism story. There is no water involved, but John is standing there, sees Jesus approaching and points to him as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” I baptize with water – but he will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I testify to you that He is the Son of God.
Then, the next day, John was again standing there with two of his disciples, and points out Jesus again – “Look, here is the Lamb of God,” a term unique to John. This is the only time that word for “lamb” is used in the New Testament. The term comes up again in Revelation – but it’s a different word that is used. One of the many unique things about John.
I often say that John has his own way of telling the story of Jesus. For instance, John does not have a birth story, but he does have two cleansing of the Temple stories – his is the only Gospel to do that. John records no parables and talks about Jesus’ miracles as “signs” – again, the only one of the Gospel writers to do that. John often relates not simply what Jesus does or says, but also why or for what reason he does the things he does. When you compare the four Gospels, John paints a more divine portrait of Jesus than the other three, that portray more of the human aspect of Jesus. (2)
A few Sundays ago we took a look at John’s Prologue, the beginning verses of Chapter 1, which John uses as a kind of creation story to introduce Jesus as the Incarnation of God and the Light that has come into the world.
The rest of Chapter 1 is structured around a series of four days. We are looking at the events of Day 2 and Day 3 this morning. (3)
There are two important theological concepts on display over the course of these two days. First, we continue with the concept of Incarnation – God with us in the flesh – as John refers to Jesus as God’s Son, the Divine walking amongst us.
The second important theological concept here is Atonement. When John says, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” what does he mean by that exactly. Well, theologians have been debating that for centuries.
John is not speaking of an individual, day to day experience of sin, as if Jesus takes away the things we do wrong every day. No, John is speaking of sin in the broader sense. He is talking about the sin that came into the world in the time of Adam and Eve, the sin that has plagued us from the very beginning. The sin that John Calvin said rendered us “totally depraved,” incapable of good if left to our own devices, and enslaved to our evil desires – that kind of sin is what John refers to. That is what Jesus, the Lamb of God takes away.
Over the centuries, theologians have come up with many theories that seek to explain how this happens.
The most popular and well-known one is probably the Satisfaction Theory that is associated with St. Anselm, which sees Jesus’ death as satisfying the righteous demands of a God offended by human sin.
Another well-known theory, especially in Reformed circles, is the Substitutionary Theory, which understands Jesus’ death as the death of God’s innocent Son, offered by God on our behalf or in our place.
And finally, there is the theory connected to Peter Abelard, often called the Moral Influence Theory. This idea sees the death of Jesus as the ultimate expression of the depth of God’s love, that God would offer His own Son to pay for our sin.
Now there are a couple of problems with these classical theories of the Atonement. The first problem is that God and Jesus are portrayed as separate beings. This is clearly a contradiction of what we find in John’s Prologue. The second problem is that God seems to be rather a callous figure in these theories because Jesus has to die to placate God’s anger, or God comes across as an abusive parent as He offers up his Son for torture and death. Many people over the years have had trouble thinking of God like that.
But, the Gospel of John offers a unique perspective that you might call the Incarnational Theory of the Atonement. (4) This idea holds Jesus and God together as One Being, like John talked about in the Prologue. The uniting of the Divine and the human in this man Jesus is what makes salvation possible – because God has become incarnate with humanity – God has become one of us.
Looking at this way, Jesus, and God, show their love for humanity by dying to save us from the consequences of the sin that we have brought on ourselves. In this view of Atonement, there is no anger to be appeased, there is no torture or death that God takes satisfaction in. From the beginning, God and Jesus are the same being, of one essence, as the Nicene Creed says. God becomes incarnate in Jesus to be with us. Since Jesus is God incarnate, and God is Jesus incarnate – God sacrifices Godself on the cross.
Divine Self-Sacrifice? – Yes.
God sending Jesus to his death as an Atonement for our sin, to appease God’s anger? – No.
This is the great invitation that the Gospel of John offers us.
Simply put – to those just standing there, “Come and See.” Yes, this is complicated stuff – but life is complicated, the best plan is to come and see for yourself.
In the chapel of the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, France, there is a painting by Matthias Grunewald. It is a depiction of the Crucifixion. Jesus is dying on the cross, surrounded by his mother, the Beloved Disciple, and Mary Magdalene. Surprisingly, the artist has also included the figure of John the Baptist. He is facing the viewer, he holds the open scriptures in one hand, while the other hand points to Jesus on the cross. At his feet stands a lamb, cross in the crook of a foreleg, the ancient symbol of the Agnus Dei. (5) The painting is a brilliant illustration of John’s sole purpose. To everyone standing there, John is there to point to Jesus. As he has said from the beginning, he is not the light, he is not the Messiah – he only prepares the way for the Messiah. John points us in the right direction.
Noted Christian scholar and author, Rodger Nishioka likes to remind his graduating students that even though they have earned the degree of “Master of Divinity”, they still have a lot to learn. He remembers a time back when the WWJD – What Would Jesus Do – bracelets were all the rage, he started to suggest that perhaps the bracelets should say “WWJBD.” Instead of doing what the Son of God would do – maybe we should do what John the Baptist did. (6) Maybe we should concentrate on pointing not to ourselves, or our programs, or even the church. Maybe we should simply point to Jesus.
Perhaps the most faithful thing we can do as a disciple is offer the invitation to everyone standing around us “Come and See.” Come and see for yourself what the Lamb of God offers.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Cady Lang, “How Do You Get Invited to the Met Gala? An Industry Insider Weighs In” TIME Magazine, May 2nd, 2024, Homileticsonline.com.
2. Troy A. Miller, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 261.
3. Ibid… p 263.
4. Buran Phillips, Feasting on the Gospels, John, Vol. 1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, p 30.
5. Joseph J. Clifford, Feasting on the Gospels, John, Vol. 1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, p 27.
6. Rodger Y. Nishioka, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol.1, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 264.
