John 1: 43 - 51

The Gospel portion for the Second Sunday after Denaha in the Indian Orthodox Tradition is St. John 1: 43 - 51. The portion speaks on Christ calling his first disciples, and His conversation with them. Christ found Philip and told Him "Follow Me". 

The first point to be thought about in this particular Bible portion is ofcourse the command Follow Me. Throughout the Bible, from the beginning of the Creation, this is a commandment given to the humans. Many were asked to follow God and follow His commands. Some followed, some denied. Christ even after He came down to the earth to save the humans kept saying follow me. The message of Christ still is the same. This is the same message we are hearing through the Word of God which is to "Follow Me". 

While saying follow me, what does it really mean? God created humans in His own image, or as an Icon, and gave us the choice to make our decisions. Meaning, we are not robots, but those who have the power to make choices, and to decide how our lives should be formulated. Eve decided to eat the forbidden fruit, and that lead to the fall of all humans. We too make many decisions in our life time, good and bad, sometimes even without realising what we are doing. This is when Christ says Follow Me. It is the intention of God to have the whole creation saved because He is full of Love towards it. Therefore, He has given His begotten Son to be crucified so that the humans will be able to be relieved from the bondage of sin. To be relieved from the power of Satan and to be with God, the solution is Christ's words, "Follow Me". 

We are called to be Sons of God. Therefore, it is our duty to accept the call and follow Him in truth and in spirit. The follower of Christ will act like Christ, and will function in the Spirit of God. The follower will be a true Image of God, and Icon of Christ and a dwelling place of Holy Spirit. He will show the World, the kindness and love of God and he will make the creation glorify the Lord by his own presence. He will be in the path of acquiring holiness every second and every minute. He will be in the process of theosis or in the path of unification with God. He will be leading a life of prayer, and he will be an example for the multitude. He will suffer for Christ and will enjoy in those sufferings. He will love the creation as Christ did and will be able to see the image of God in all. He will also be a kind servant working for the Kingdom of God. These are a couple of things that will be found in a follower's life once he decides to accept the Word. 

Philip after recieving Christ said to Nathaneal that "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael could not believe that what Philip was talking is true and asked him, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" It was the perception of them that no good will be coming from Nazareth. This denotes the human feeling and classification of the world. The humans differentiate between certain people, groups etc., and makes assumptions about it. For example, considering all african american people or the spanish people as wrong doers. Bad apples are every where, but that does not mean that there is no good in that group. 

Christ understood his thought and said to him that He saw him under the fig tree even before Philip called you, and as Nathanael heard this, he replied with much faith, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." This is the true transformation seen when the creation saw the creator. When the True Teacher was seen, Nathanael immediately transformed and proclaimed Christ as Son of God and King of Israel. This transformation is not a single event in the Holy Bible. There are other occasions when believers cried and proclaimed Christ as Son of God realising the truth. 

This is the transformation every human should undergo when he or she encounter with Christ. There are occasions when Christ's presence is seen in our lives. Are we able to see it and accept Him as the Lord? Are we able to proclaim with much strength that He is the Son of God? Are we able to tranform and follow Him? These are questions in front of us, and these are thoughts to reevaluate ourselves. Life in this world is short, and it has a specific purpose. It is to glorify the creator. Praise be to Him!