LOC 018 Life of Christ:
The
First Disciples II
Last week we started to look at the text of John 1:35-51 under
seven heads. We stopped after the
third. We spent the last half of the
message looking at true discipleship as it is conveyed to us in the words of
the Lord Jesus, “FOLLOW ME.”
In verse 37 of our text we saw that two of the prominent disciples
of John the Baptist were directed to Jesus and the text reports that they
followed Jesus.
Today, I hope to look at the rest of the narrative to show and
apply some of the points made last week.
Remember, these events all happen in less than a week. In this story we
are talking about days three and four.
On day one the committee from the Sanhedrin came to ask John who he
was. On day two John makes the pronouncement
about Jesus being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. One day three, John calls Jesus the Lamb of
God once again and Jesus finds two disciples who leave John and his ministry to
go stay with Jesus, to learn from him, to attend to his needs and to serve
their new master.
We will examine this text under
headings:
1. A word of introduction and
transition v. 35
2. A word of reminder v. 36
3. A word of reaction vs. 37
4. A word of inquiry vss.
38-39
5. A word of explanation vss.
40-42.
6. A new day with Philip vss.
43
7. A new way of life for
Nathaniel vss.44-51
1. A word of introduction and
transition v. 35
John 1:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his
disciples.
2. A word of reminder v. 36
John 1:36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold
the Lamb of God!"
3. A word of reaction vs. 37
John 1:37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed
Jesus.
4. A word of inquiry vss.
38-39
John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them,
"What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to
say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"
39 He said to them,
"Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained
with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
5. A word of explanation vss.
40-42.
John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him,
was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and
said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the
Christ).
42 And he brought him
to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of
Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).
6. A new day with Philip vss.
43
John 1:43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He
found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."
7. A new way of life for
Nathaniel vss.44-51
John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of
whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph." 46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out
of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47 Jesus saw
Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
48 Nathanael said to
Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw
you."
49 Nathanael answered
and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!"
50 Jesus answered and
said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do
you believe? You will see greater things than these."
51 And He said to
him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
Let’s take a look at some of the important parts of this
narrative. Starting where we left off with point number four.
Remember, following Jesus was not and is not a casual thing. It is not an add-on to our life in order to
get benefits and blessings. To be Jesus’
disciples demands all we are and have.
Jesus may not call us to leave it all behind, but if we are unwilling to
make that a consideration, it shows who we really love and what we follow. Many want Christ for selfish reasons. That is not a right use of faith, but a
delusion.
4. A word of inquiry vss.
38-39
John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to
them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which
is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and
see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that
day (now it was about the tenth hour).
John had directed them to the Lamb of God. The two left John to follow The Lord Jesus. But
Jesus asks they a question to probe their thinking on the matter. Jesus does not take them as his own simply
because they have come to him, He asks them what they seek. What are you looking for?
They call Jesus by the title of respect given to a teacher of the
Law, Rabbi, a leader and teacher of Israel. The title means “Our great
one”. It assumes submission of one
towards an other. They are humbling
themselves before Jesus. They ask Jesus
where he is staying.
On the surface this narrative seems to be one of those discussions
between two parties who don’t really connect with their thoughts. However, in
John’s Gospel, follow, usually means follow as a disciple. So, the phrase needs to be enlarged for our
understanding. Jesus saw them following
him with that whole-souled radical commitment one would see in a disciple.
Two additional references we did not consider last week bear out
this very point:
JOH 8:12 Then Jesus
spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows
Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
JOH 12:26 "If
anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be
also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
One who follows in the sense of a disciple is where the master
is. Mathetes, the Greek for Disciple,
entails this type of relationship.
These two men are ready to move in with the Lord Jesus Christ to
follow him and submit to him as their Rabbi.
This is radical stuff. They have
already given up much to follow John, now, they give that up to follow the one
to whom John the Baptist pointed them--the Lamb of God has come.
We also learn something that works against the notion that
commitment to Christ as a disciple can be casual and according to our time and
energy. Jesus confronted his first
disciples to see what they were all about. He probes to see what they really
want out of this action. He sees they
are totally committed. Therefore...
39 He said to them,
"Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained
with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
Based on the dating of the Gospel of John as being somewhere
between 68 and 95 AD, and the details
included, it is usually assumed that John, the writer of this Gospel, the
beloved disciple, is the author. That
would account for the insightful comments and the inclusion of this material in
John and its exclusion from the other Gospels.
That makes this a first hand account of the call of the first Disciples.
5. A word of explanation vss.
40-42.
What effect did this have?
John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him,
was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and
said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the
Christ).
42 And he brought him
to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of
Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).
John’s pronouncement had enough gospel in it in order for at least
two to follow Jesus. But remember
saying, “Behold the Lamb of God” has a context.
The ministry of preaching John had in the wilderness near the
Jordan. Andrew and John had some
background. They only needed to be
pointed to Christ, the Lamb. As those
who served the forerunner, they must have been expecting the Christ.
Andrew knew a good thing when he saw it. The first thing he did was to go get his
brother, Simon Peter, who Jesus nicknamed Cephas, meaning Rock. Cephas is the Aramaic for Petros or
Petra.
John identifies Andrew as Simon Peter’s brother before Simon Peter
is introduced. Jesus knew who this man was.
What a glorious thing to consider, a new disciple bringing his family
along. What a full day of joy as three
men met their new master.
6. A new day with Philip vss.
43
John 1:43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He
found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."
Day four, Philip. Those two
cherished words, follow me.
Who found whom? Jesus found
Philip. Years ago there was an
evangelistic campaign, called "Here’s Life America." I think it was around 1976 and the
bicentennial. There were bumper stickers
that were supposed to make men think that said, “I found it.” The Jews came up with a bumper sticker that
read “We never lost it” and the Reformed pronounced, “It found me.” The point to be made is that in Jesus
ministry, he came to seek and to save that which was lost. And here that is what he did. He found Philip and called him effectually to
himself.
What a joy it is to know the electing love of Jesus that seeks and
surely saves. He is the one who must
take the initiative to seek out those who will be saved, or no one would ever come. Jesus assures the salvation of all who
believe because he calls them to follow him.
There is no greater comfort than to know Jesus has sought you out and
called you to do what you would never have done yourself.
A man I know had a father-in-law who was the typical secular, live
for yourself, individualistic. He
father-in-law once pronounced that in five years the son-in-law would believe
the same things as the father. The
prophecy came through. The father-in-law
was called by Jesus to discipleship and now believes what the son-in-law
believed. Jesus calls men and changes
them through his work of sovereign grace.
He calls them, they follow and find themselves transformed by his
powerful grace.
But it had more effects....
7. A new way of life for
Nathaniel vss.44-51
John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of
whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph." 46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out
of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Philip, a new disciple, proclaims that this one, the Lord Jesus,
was the one of whom the Old Testament spoke.
He calls to Nathaniel to come and see.
Follow me, see for yourself. It
is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
With surprise and characteristic candor, Nathaniel asks if any
good thing could come out of Nazareth. Nate may have had a low view of
Nazareth, but he expressed himself honestly.
The cure for an inquiring mind is to come and see, check it out for
yourself. He did....
47 Jesus saw
Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no deceit!"
Jesus knew him and his character.
To this.....
48 Nathanael said to
Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw
you."
49 Nathanael answered
and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!"
A demonstration of Christ’s special knowledge added to the
personal witness of Philip changes his mind immediately.
50 Jesus answered and
said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do
you believe? You will see greater things than these."
This was only the beginning for Nathaniel. He joins the other four
in a special band of a few men. These
disciples would give their all to Jesus for about three years of teaching. Then after the resurrection, they would turn
the world upside down. All of this came
from Jesus seeking those who would worship and serve him as his disciples.
In the language borrowed from Jacob’s ladder, Jesus adds:
51 And He said to
him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
They had no idea on that day what this would mean. But is was a beginning.
All disciples of Christ have a day of calling when they begin to
follow him. It may have been when you
were younger. It may have been a few months or a few years ago. But all disciples have a day when Jesus
sought them out and called them to be his own.
All disciples of Christ follow him. It is not a casual thing, it is a
lifestyle. Anything that gets in the
way, should be put aside in order to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
All disciples know his voice, hear it and follow him. How do you respond to preaching and the
reading of the Word? Do you see it as your Great Shepherd instructing you or is
it an annoyance that you tolerate for the sake of respectability? How should a
disciple hear the voice of his master? What you follow rules your life. If you follow Jesus, even in weakness with a
heart that longs for greater faithfulness, you have the right to claim to be
his disciple. But if you follow any other thing, it owns you, not Christ.
What will you do with Jesus?
I once had a boss who had a little signature file that was appended to
all of his emails. It read, lead,
follow, or get out of the way. He was a
giant of a man. So, the joke was to read, follow or get out of Bob’s way. But
when it comes to discipleship, this slogan is illustrative. Men and women
wither seek to lead themselves by their own standards, or they seek to conform
to the standards of another, or they are apathetic and don’t care about
religion and the Lord Jesus Christ.
People don’t have many options to lead, follow, or to get out of the
way. They only have one. To submit themselves to Christ in faith as he
calls them to be his disciples. It is
Follow alone that we are called to. We
must follow him whose burden is light, we must follow the one who will not
break a bruised reed, nor snuff a smoking flax.
This one is the Lord and savior, Jesus Christ the disciple-maker, and
Lamb of God.
Follow him and seek his grace.
Cry out to him for mercy. AMEN.
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