What do you seek?

Two men are walking. Not towards anything they can name. Not with any plan. They have heard a voice say: Behold the Lamb of God. And that has been enough to move their feet.

They are not disciples yet. They carry no commission, no understanding. They are simply men in motion. Drawn forward by something they could not explain. And have not yet been asked to explain.

And then Christ turns. He sees them following. And He asks: "What seek you?" (John 1:38, Douay-Rheims)

It is the first question Christ speaks in John's Gospel. Not a greeting. Not a teaching. A question. And it is addressed not to the crowd, not to the synagogue, not to the learned. It is addressed to two uncertain men who are walking at a distance behind someone they have barely met.

This is not a small question. It is the question. It is the one that, once asked, cannot be unanswered forever.

What do you seek? What is it, underneath all the noise and the motion and the daily management of life, that you are actually looking for?

Augustine knew this from the inside. Our heart is restless, until it reposes in Thee. The restlessness is the seeking. Christ is asking them to name it.

They do not answer.

If you have ever wondered about this passage, or felt that something more is happening here than is first seen, this paper is written for you. It is short. Clear. And grounded in Scripture as received in the Catholic tradition.

Format: Digital PDF, 7 pages, approx 1500 words

Language: English

Author: M.F. Robb

Published by thephilippapers.com

A Cathedral of The Fourth production.