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URC Daily Devotion 10 May 2025

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URC Devotions

Saturday 10 May 2025
 

St John 1: 35 – 42
 

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

Reflection

How many languages can you speak, read or write? Maybe only one, or perhaps you grew up in a multilingual household where different languages could be heard. Perhaps you’ve lived in different parts of the world and learned a new language to be able to communicate. Perhaps English isn’t your first language but you learned it in school or as an adult. Today in our multicultural communities we can often hear many languages being spoken.

There were also many languages which could have been heard in first-century Israel. It seems likely that Jesus spoke Aramaic, could read the Jewish scriptures in Hebrew, and maybe knew a little bit of Greek. He would also have heard Latin, the language of the Romans, particularly when he came face to face with the governor Pontius Pilate.

John’s gospel was written in Greek and for a wide audience, and here in this passage we have three translations to help those reading it who may not know Aramaic or Hebrew. Rabbi, which means teacher. Messiah, which in Greek is Christ, which means anointed. Cephas, which is the same as Peter and means a rock. Sometimes a language will have a word which can’t be easily translated and it’s best to use the original; Rabbi does mean teacher, but that doesn’t fully explain it. Messiah and Christ both mean the anointed one, but again this doesn’t fully explain who Jesus is. Either the author of John or a later editor felt it was important that their readers knew what was happening, and tried to stop language being a barrier. Just as today Bible translators work hard to allow us to read scripture in whichever language we choose, making scripture accessible to as many people as possible.

Prayer

Loving God,
we thank you for the languages of the world
and for the languages we personally use to express ourselves
to communicate with other people,
and to read about, worship and pray to you.
We give thanks for translations of your word
into so many of the languages of the world,
so people in many places and cultures
can discover your message for themselves. Amen.

 

URC Devotions
URC Devotions

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