Come and See!
Being a disciple of Jesus means we have to follow Him.
John(86) (Part of the Believe(74) series)
by Stuart Johns(233) on June 2, 2019 (Sunday Morning(371))
Salvation(84), Witnessing(11)
Believe
Come and See!
(John 1:35-51)
INTRODUCTION
“In my experience, signs follow decisions. The way you overcome spiritual inertia and produce spiritual momentum is by making tough decisions. And the tougher the decision, the more potential momentum it will produce. The primary reason most of us don't see God moving is simply because we aren't moving. If you want to see God move, you need to make a move!
I learned this lesson in dramatic fashion during the first year at National Community Church. We had been praying for a drummer to join our worship team for months, but I felt like I needed to put some feet on my faith, so I went out and bought a four-hundred-dollar drum set. It was a Field of Dreams moment: if you buy it, they will come. I bought the drum set on a Thursday. Our first drummer showed up the next Sunday. And he was good. He was actually part of the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps.
Rock and roll.
I cannot promise that signs will follow your faith in three minutes or three hours or three days. But when you take a step of faith, signs will follow. God will sanctify your expectations, and you will begin to live your life with holy anticipation. You won't be able to wait to see what God is going to do next.”
Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase (Multnomah, 2008), pp. 32-33
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2008/september/5091508.html].
BODY
ME
Following Jesus – steps of faith
Florida to Ohio (step of faith – moved without having a job)
Ohio to Missouri (said no twice to going to the headquarters of CEF, but agreed the third time)
Missouri to California (step of faith to move further away from family; leaned on our church family in CA)
California to Pennsylvania (resigned from EGM without having another job lined up and left CA, eventually accepted pastoral position in PA)
WE
Following Jesus – steps of faith
Individuals
Every one of us can probably look back over our lives and see the steps of faith we taken to follow Jesus
It may not have been moving all over the country like Judy and I did
Perhaps it was being obedient to the Lord’s prompting to begin teaching a Sunday school class or leading a small group
Maybe it was committing to attending church on a regular basis and not just on holidays
For some of us it was taking the step of faith to begin giving something in the offering every week and then moving to tithing 10% of our income
For others of us it was taking the step of faith to follow God’s leading into full-time pastoral ministry or full-time missionary work
An important step of faith for all of us is overcoming the fear of rejection and sharing our faith with family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers
We have all taken steps of faith to follow Jesus as His disciples
Idaville Church
The members of Idaville Church have taken many steps of faith
Purchasing the old school property on April 30, 1963 and moving the church from Idaville-York Springs Road to its current location
Voting in October 1991 to add on the multipurpose building
Currently taking the step of faith through the capital campaign to add-on to the main building (larger sanctuary and secure children’s area)
As John the evangelist continues to share the week-long events leading up to Jesus’ first miracle, we’ll see a transition take place from talking about John the Baptist to talking about Jesus. This transition happens during day three. What John the evangelist wants us to understand from this final part of chapter 1 is that . . .
BIG IDEA – Being a disciple of Jesus means we have to follow Him.
Let’s pray
GOD (John 1:35-51)
Follow Him – John says (vv. 35-42)
The next day – day 3 (v. 35-36)
John the evangelist has been walking us through the week leading up to Jesus’ first miracle
The transitional phrase he has been using is “the next day . . .”
This provides a natural break as John the evangelist shares what he saw and experienced with Jesus
John the Baptist was still on the other side of the Jordan on day 3
He is there with two of his disciples
We know that one of the disciples is Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, because it is mentioned in verse 40
The other disciple is unknown, because his identity is not revealed by John the evangelist
While it would be nice to say definitively who the unnamed disciple is, we cannot
We can only speculate that it is either Philip, whom we’ll be introduced to in verse 43, or John the evangelist
Philip is mentioned together with Andrew throughout John’s Gospel, and it seems as though Jesus finds Philip on the fourth day (v. 43)
I personally lean toward John the evangelist, because he never mentions himself in the Gospel
We know from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) that John brings his brother James to Jesus, just like Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus
But we’re getting ahead of the text
What is more important is that two men, who were disciples of John the Baptist, are about the transition to a new “Teacher”
John the Baptist sees Jesus once again
Jesus is still hanging out on the other side of the Jordan where John has been baptizing
He was passing by John the Baptist and not coming toward him as He had done the day before
John had already identified Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, on day 2
Perhaps the two disciples who were with John on day 3 had been gone and did not hear his declaration the day before, or maybe John wanted to make the declaration, to these two disciples, personal and direct
John again directs the attention of these two disciples to Jesus by saying, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
What an incredible thing for John the Baptist to do – pointing his own disciples to someone greater
This takes incredible humility on John’s part, especially when culture encourages us to build ourselves up
“Therefore he [John] provides a genuine model of what it means to be a minister or servant of God. The human tendency is to make a name for ourselves and to attach our names to other people, institutions, and things so that people will remember us. To minimize oneself (“to decrease”) in order for Jesus to become the focus of attention (“to increase”) is the designated function of an ideal witness in this Gospel (cf. John 3:30).” [Borchert, The New American Commentary, John 1-11, 141]
“‘To recommend disciples to a greater teacher was rare, required great humility and denoted confidence in the other teacher’s superiority’ (Keener 1993: 266). The present shift in allegiance from the Baptist to Jesus also illustrates John’s humility and submission to the divine will: ‘It is the mark of a truly great man that he can gently, but firmly, detach them [his followers], so that they may go after a greater’” [Köstenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, John, 73]
That needs to be our focus when sharing our testimony with others
We see that the two disciples take John’s declaration seriously
Transition of disciples (vv. 37-39)
Andrew and the other disciple heard what John the Baptist said about Jesus and began to follow Him
PRINCIPLE #1 – God’s desire is that everyone follow Jesus.
Perhaps you’ve never started following Jesus
It’s not too late to begin following Him
2 Peter 3:8-10, But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God’s Word tells us that if we die in rebellion against Him, we will be separated from Him for all of eternity (Rom. 6:23)
We’re all born sinners (Rom. 3:23)
God’s desire is that no one perishes, so out of His great love He made a way for us to be in a right relationship with Him – He made a way to redeem us from our sin of rebellion (Rom. 5:8)
Jesus came as the Lamb of God, died on a cross, was buried, and came alive again on the third day to take our punishment for sin (1 Cor. 15:3-4)
We now have a way to not be separated from God for eternity
It requires us to turn from our sin and follow Jesus
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
My Next Step Today Is To: Repent of my sin and begin to follow Jesus so I will not perish, but have eternal life.
Maybe you’ve followed Jesus in the past, but you’ve gotten away from that close relationship with Him
That close relationship can be restored
Lamentations 3:40, Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
Hosea 12:6, But you must return to God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Zechariah 1:3, Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.
1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
My Next Step Today Is To: Begin to follow Jesus again by examining my ways, returning to the Lord, and confessing my sins.
Being a disciple of Jesus means we have to follow Him.
Remember, Jesus was not coming towards John the Baptist like He had done the day before
Jesus was passing by – He was just walking along, but I’m certain it wasn’t by chance
Andrew and the other disciple begin to follow Jesus
“Disciples in that day literally ‘followed’ or walked behind the one they had chosen as their teacher.” [Köstenberger, 73]
The transition had taken place – they were now Jesus’ disciples
Jesus question of the two disciples
When Jesus realizes He’s being followed, He turns around and asks the two disciples a question
“What do you want?”
These are the first words of Jesus in John’s Gospel
He wants these two to articulate what their desire is in following Him – what’s their purpose
We know from reading the other Gospels and reading further in John’s Gospel that not everyone’s purpose in following Jesus was genuine
Some people followed Him, because of what He could do for them (feed them, heal them, etc.)
We also know that when Jesus began to share hard sayings (cf. John 6:53-65) that many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:66)
“But the Evangelist wants his readers to reflect on a deeper question: the Logos-Messiah confronts those who make any show of beginning to follow him and demands that they articulate what they really want in life.” [Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Gospel According to John, 155]
That deeper question is for us today as readers of John’s Gospel
What do we really want from following Jesus?
Make it personal for yourself today, what do I really want from following Jesus?
You have to be completely honest with yourself and with the Lord
He already knows your heart, so don’t try to trick Him with Sunday school answers
If your purpose in following Jesus is because of what He can “do” for you, then tell Him that
But don’t stop there, recognize that your relationship with Jesus isn’t really genuine – it isn’t about having the punishment for your sins taken away, salvation, eternal life, or being in a right relationship with God
Begin today to follow Jesus with the purpose of having your punishment for sin taken away and receiving eternal life
These two disciples were genuinely following Jesus, and we see that through their response to His question
The disciples’ response
First, they address Him as Rabbi, which John defines for his Greek readers – Rabbi means Teacher
Then, they ask Jesus a question
They aren’t asking a question to avoid answering Jesus’ question
They are asking a question to show that they are truly interested in being His followers
“Where are you staying?”
This would be important information for them, because they would be returning every day to sit under His teaching as His disciples
Jesus invites them to continue to follow Him and find out where He’s staying
Come and see
They did just that
They went with Jesus and saw where He was staying
In fact, they also spent the rest of that day with Him
“To ‘follow’ is to embark with Jesus on a journey, while to ‘stay’ or ‘remain’ is to maintain a lasting personal relationship with him. That the disciples ‘stayed’ with Jesus (presumably in Bethany) for the rest of the day testifies to their commitment as disciples.” [Michaels, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel of John, 120]
John the evangelist gives us a time stamp
It was about the tenth hour
The Jews started the day at sunrise (6 am) unlike Roman law that started the day at midnight (12 am)
So, the tenth hour would be 4 pm
John the evangelist begins a section where he shares about two disciples telling family and friends about Jesus
First things, first (vv. 40-42)
Andrew is identified
It’s from verse 40 that we can look back to verse 37 and realize that Andrew was one of the two disciples that followed Jesus after John the Baptist pointed Him out
He is also identified as Simon Peter’s brother
Interestingly enough, John the evangelist uses Simon’s new name here before he tells us that Jesus changed his name
John the evangelist is obviously writing after these events took place
He’s using Simon’s new name, Simon Peter, because he would have been pretty well known by his readers, perhaps more so than Andrew
After Andrew spends the rest of the day with Jesus, he is compelled to tell someone about Jesus
Andrew tells his brother
I like the fact that the first thing Andrew does is find his brother and tell him
Perhaps he was returning to their house for the night and sought out Simon
We don’t know exactly where he went to find Simon
PRINCIPLE #2 – God wants His people to tell others about Jesus.
“[Andrew] became the first in a long line of successors who have discovered that the most common and effective Christian testimony is the private witness of friend to friend, brother to brother.” [Carson, 155]
That should be our Christian practice as well
We should be sharing with our family members about Jesus and how He has transformed our lives
I know that many of us have done just that, even to the point of being told not to mention it again
There are probably others of us who have not shared the Gospel with our family members
My Next Step Today Is To: Share my salvation testimony with a family member or friend this week.
That is what Andrew did with his brother
The Messiah
Andrew tells Simon that they, he and the unnamed disciple, have found the Messiah
Again, John the evangelist explains for his Greek readers that Messiah meant – “the Christ”)
This is the anointed One, the promised One who would save them, redeem them, and set them free!
Andrew didn’t stop with just telling Simon about Jesus, he brings him to Jesus
Andrew brings Simon to Jesus
This isn’t the last time Andrew brings someone to Jesus
In fact, every time that Andrew is mentioned in John’s Gospel, he is bringing someone to Jesus
John 6:8, Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
John 12:20-22, Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Andrew is again our model for what we should be doing with friends and family
It is always important to share our personal testimony of what Jesus has done for us
It is also important to bring our friends and family to a place where they can learn more about Jesus and grow in their faith
There are many places where they can go to hear God’s Word (church, Sunday school, small group, one-on-one discipleship, etc.)
I want to challenge us today to begin inviting family and friends to church on a regular basis
Perhaps they’ve already heard the Gospel, but haven’t believe in Jesus yet – they need to continue to hear the Good News
Maybe they have believed in Jesus and need to grow in their relationship with Him – church is a great place for that to happen
Both groups need the fellowship of other believers in their lives
Simon comes face-to-face with Jesus and immediately Jesus changes his name
Jesus changes Simon’s name
Jesus looked at Simon and identified him as the son of John
This was a common practice, because last names were not used in the 1st Century
A person could be identified by their father’s name or by their place of origin (e.g., Jesus of Nazareth or Simon of Cyrene)
Cephas or Peter
Cephas was an Aramaic word meaning “rock”
Peter was a Greek word meaning “rock”
Jesus wasn’t necessarily changing Simon’s name, but rather giving him a nickname
This nickname was really identifying a characteristic that Jesus saw in Simon Peter that had not yet been manifested (in fact it really wouldn’t be evident until after the day of Pentecost when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit)
Jason tells the story of an RA at Messiah College that gave everyone on his floor a nickname at the beginning of the year – he was not as discerning as Jesus was with Simon
While at Huntington College there was a foreign exchange student whose name was, Jingwei
The other guys on the wing of his floor thought it sounded like John Wayne, so they nicknamed him “Duke”
Andrew and the unnamed disciple have followed Jesus, Andrew has introduced his brother to Jesus, and Jesus has changed Simon’s name to Peter
This ends day 3
Follow Me – Jesus says (vv. 43-50)
The next day – day 4 (v. 43a)
This again is the phrase that John the evangelist uses to transition from one scene to the next
On the fourth day, Jesus decides to leave Bethany on the other side of the Jordan and head to Galilee [show map]
Philip’s calling (vv. 43b-44)
We don’t know exactly where Jesus is on his journey to Galilee when he finds Philip
Most scholars believe it would have been a two day walk for Jesus to get to Galilee
Is He just beginning his journey and is still in Bethany?
Is He part of the way to Galilee?
It seems to me that he is just starting out from Bethany and finds Philip, perhaps as part of the crowd
Follow me
While it’s not stated directly, we know that Philip does follow Jesus, because of what he does in verse 44
This takes us back to our first principle
PRINCIPLE #1 – God’s desire is that everyone follow Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus means we have to follow Him.
That’s what Philip did
John the evangelist gives us a little geographical note at this point
Philip, Andrew, and Peter are all from the same town of Bethsaida in Galilee [show map]
The trip to Galilee would be a homecoming for these three disciples
Jesus is gaining disciples by the day as Philip began to follow Him
Nathanael’s calling (vv. 45-50)
Philip does the same thing that Andrew did
He found someone to tell about Jesus
It was his friend Nathanael
This brings us back to our second principle
PRINCIPLE #2 – God wants His people to tell others about Jesus.
For Philip, it wasn’t a family member, but rather a friend
We learn from Philip’s example that we should be sharing our personal salvation testimony with friends also
Philip’s testimony
Philip shares that we (Andrew, Peter, unnamed disciple, and he) have found the One that . . .
Moses wrote about in the Law
The prophets also wrote about
“. . . it anchors the notion of ‘the Messiah’ in the entire Hebrew Bible, both the law and the prophets. This suggests that the whole Bible testifies to a single ‘Coming One,’ as John thought (vv. 15, 26-27), in contrast to the delegation from Jerusalem, with their pedantic alternatives of ‘the Christ,’ ‘Elias,’ and ‘the Prophet’ (v. 25).” [Michaels, 127-28]
Philip then uses the two identifying factors of any man in the 1st Century – “the name of his village, and the name of his (reputed) father” [Carson, 159]
While Jesus wasn’t born in Nazareth, he definitely grew up there and called it His hometown
As Jesus was growing up, those in Nazareth probably didn’t know about His miraculous birth story, they only knew that He was the son of Joseph and Mary
While Philip is excited about sharing Jesus with Nathanael, Nathanael’s reaction could have burst his bubble
Nathanael’s reaction
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
Ohio State and the University of Michigan are huge rivals
It’s always amazing to see and hear the various verbal slams about the two schools
Since Ohio State has been more successful than Michigan, there are more memes that run down Michigan than Ohio State
[Show the two memes]
Ohio State fans would echo Nathanael’s reaction, “Michigan! Can anything good come from there?”
I’m not a football fanatic, so I’m simply sharing what I’ve heard and seen
We may experience this when we invite people to church or share the Gospel with them
They may respond the same way Nathanael did
“Church! Can anything good come from there?”
Many times they react that way because of something that happened in the past
Philip doesn’t let Nathanael’s skepticism get him down, instead he challenges him
Philip’s challenge
“Come and see”
I worked for a direct mail marketing company when we lived in Florida and a lot of the employees had attended the Catholic Church in the past
Most of them didn’t attend at the time and one of them told me that they didn’t attend because it was the same thing every Sunday – it was rote
I had the opportunity to share about Jesus with them and about the church where Judy and I attended
I was basically saying, Come and see!
I never had any of them come to church with us, but I had, at least, planted the seed
We need to remain positive in the midst of other’s negativity, because we have the most life-changing message for them
That’s what Philip did, he didn’t let Nathanael’s skepticism deter him
Jesus’ response to Nathanael
We know that Nathanael took Philip up on his challenge, to come and see, because when Jesus saw him coming, he had an encouraging word to say about him
He called Nathanael a true Israelite
He was saying that there was nothing false in him
He spoke his mind concerning how he felt about Nazareth
Story of Jacob
Jacob used falsehood to steal his brothers blessing and his birthright
Jacob used falsehood to trick his father
Jacob also use falsehood in dealing with his father-in-law Laban
After Jacob wrestled with God, God changed his name to Israel (struggles with God)
Jacob had overcome, his character had changed
Nathanael didn’t put on a mask or try to hide his true feelings
Nathanael wants to know how Jesus, whom he had never met, could say that he was a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false
PRINCIPLE #3 – Jesus is all-knowing (omniscient).
Jesus told Nathanael that He had seen him while he was still under the fig tree before Philip called him
This was supernatural knowledge that God had given to Jesus to help Nathanael overcome his skepticism
It worked!
What we see next is Nathanael’s testimony
Nathanael’s testimony
Nathanael uses three titles for Jesus
Rabbi meaning Teacher, which showed that he believed in Jesus as the Messiah
Son of God, which revealed that Nathanael understood that Jesus was deity
King of Israel, which displayed his allegiance to Jesus
Jesus explains that Nathanael believed because He had shared some supernatural knowledge with him
Jesus’ promise
Jesus then promises Nathanael that he will see greater things than that
This is probably a reference to the upcoming miracle at Cana in Galilee, but I don’t want to steal Pastor Marc’s thunder for next week
Jesus now turns His attention away from Nathanael, personally and addresses the disciples as a group
Divine revelation (v. 51)
We know that Jesus is addressing the group of disciples, because of the use of the plural “you” in verse 51
This divine revelation is a reminder of the story of Jacob when he laid his head on a stone as he traveled from Beersheba to Haran
He had a dream that a stairway was resting on the earth and reached to heaven
Angels were ascending and descending on this stairway
Jacob called the place Bethel (house of God)
Jesus was letting His disciples know that He was the way to heaven
The Son of Man was Jesus favorite way of referring to Himself while on earth
YOU
Being a disciple of Jesus means we have to follow Him.
Perhaps you’ve never followed Him before, but today can be that day
Perhaps you’ve fallen away from following Him and today you can begin again
WE
We all have a responsibility to follow Jesus wholeheartedly
We also have a responsibility to tell others about Jesus
CONCLUSION
“Christ says, ‘Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours.’”
—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (HarperOne, 2001), p. 196-197; submitted by Bill White, Paramount, California
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2007/september/9091007.html].
