050-00742 Hearing Jesus 1 - Jesus and Andrew, John 1 35-42
Jesus and Andrew
First Sunday of Lent – Hearing Jesus
050-00742 John 1:35-42
I. Numbers 28:3 Say to them: ‘This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.’
A. Numbers 28:9 ‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect…’
B. As Jesus was passing by, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
1. Thus the last prophet of the Old Covenant identified Jesus to the disciples who were there to learn about God.
2. John is saying, “Here is the one I’ve been talking about. Here is the one that is greater, the one who replaces me, the one you should now pay attention to.”
3. And the people heard him. And the people turned away and went home.
C. The next day, John was with just two of his disciples, Andrew and one who is not identified for us.
1. Again Jesus came by and John pointed him out again, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
2. I don’t know what else may have been said, if anything.
3. But this time the message was not ignored.
4. The two disciples of John the Baptist began to follow Jesus.
5. John had done his job: John 1:6-7 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.
D. We cannot know exactly what John meant calling Jesus the Lamb of God.
1. Those who were there to listen to him were either disciples, curious on-lookers, or officials of Israel present to test this man’s orthodoxy.
2. They were all Jews and many things may have come into their minds.
a) God had commanded them through Moses to offer a lamb every morning and every evening, and two on the Sabbath, as an offering to atone for their sins.
b) The most significant event in the Hebrew experience was God’s deliverance from Egypt, a victory which was sealed by the sacrifice called the Passover.
c) Abraham, tested by God took his beloved son, Isaac, to offer a sacrifice to the Lord when Isaac said, Genesis 22:7-8 “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,…but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
d) Jeremiah prophesied, Jeremiah 11:19 I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me…
e) And Isaiah, Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
3. There is no doubt that John’s simple statement would conjure up one or all of these images.
a) John was not being subtle.
b) He was identifying Jesus as the sacrifice God had provided – the sacrifice by which God was going to pay for sin in the world.
c) John said what he said for the benefit of all who would hear him.
(1) The majority of the people did not respond.
(2) The next day, two disciples of John turned and followed Jesus.
(3) How would we hear John’s call today?
II. As Andrew and his friend followed Jesus, Jesus stopped and turned around asking, “What do you want?”
A. Isn’t it obvious?
1. John had turned them to Jesus.
2. They had heard what John had been teaching about the light and now they followed that light.
3. These two who had followed the teaching of John were simply following where their teacher had pointed.
4. What else could they want but to hear directly from the Lamb of God? What else could they want but to be taught by the master teacher? What else could they want but the true religion of God and the forgiveness of their sins?
B. But maybe it isn’t so obvious.
1. Jesus didn’t ask who they wanted. He asked what they wanted.
2. And their answer may at first sound a little surprising or at least unusual.
3. They said, “Where are you staying?”
4. They didn’t say anything about what John had taught them. They didn’t say anything about the Lamb of God or about sin.
5. They wanted to know where he was staying.
a) They let Jesus know that what they wanted was to follow him, to go where he was going, wherever that may be.
b) They were saying, “We want to spend time with you.”
c) They were in essence saying that there was nothing more important to them at that moment than to follow.
6. Jesus gave them just what they wanted: He invited them to come along!
7. Even though it was late in the day, they followed.
C. To follow a Rabbi in that time was to become a student of that teacher.
1. Teachers taught from where they were and those who wanted to learn would go to the teacher wherever he was.
2. It is the same today. Even the relationship. Many teachers today recognize those who are most eager to learn and will invite them into their lives in varying degrees.
3. Though we don’t know what Jesus taught Andrew on this day, we do know what impact it made upon him.
III. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.”
A. Jesus spoke to Andrew, and Andrew went off to tell his brother.
1. Andrew was excited.
2. He didn’t just want to relay what he had heard. He wanted to share what he had experienced.
3. Andrew and Simon were like most Jews of the time. They were looking for the promised Messiah.
a) The Messiah was the one anointed by God to be the King of all the world.
b) The Kingdom was the ultimate hope of all the Jews; the fulfillment of God’s covenant; the exaltation of the Hebrew nation above all other nations.
c) Today there are many in America whose hopes have been raised by the election of a new president. But the hopes of this nation cannot compare to the hope of Israel in the Messiah.
d) This was to be the climax of all of Jewish history.
e) And Andrew had discovered the man who was ordained by God to be the greatest leader in all the world.
B. How quickly Andrew forgot what John had said.
1. Behold the Lamb of God.
2. He saw the Messiah of God.
3. He saw the Savior of the Israelites. He saw the great ruler of God, the King over all the world.
4. We have the benefit of seeing what Andrew could not see that day.
a) We have the benefit of seeing what the Apostle John eventually saw.
b) Revelation 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne…
C. There was much more to hear from Jesus, much more to learn.
1. Yet it cannot pass our notice that what Jesus said to Andrew had a permanent impact on his life, and the life of his brother.
2. Andrew may have not seen it at the time, but that day he when he gave up everything else to spend time with Jesus was the beginning of a change that was going to alter the whole course of human history.
IV. Today is the first Sunday of Lent.
A. Many in our world trivialize the season of Lent.
1. They talk about having to give up something for Lent.
2. What many talk about giving up is some small habit or strange idea of sin as if sin were a chocolate éclair that is soooo good to eat but fattening.
3. But this is not what Lent is about at all.
B. Lent is the season which begins with Christ turning to us and asking, “What is it you want?”
1. What do you want from the Lamb of God?
2. What do you want from Jesus?
3. What do you want from this thing called religion?
C. Andrew wanted a Messiah. And it was the Messiah Andrew got.
1. Andrew didn’t know what it meant to follow the Messiah.
2. But he would learn.
3. And it all started with a simple request, “Rabbi, where are you staying.”
D. Lent is a season during which we are invited to the place where Jesus lives.
1. To get there, we must follow him.
2. To get there, we must walk the road he walked, take the journey he took.
3. Today Jesus sits upon a throne in heaven. Today Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father. Today Jesus is worshipped because he is King of kings and Lord of lords.
4. But Jesus became such a King by becoming the Lamb of God.
V. The path of Christ is the path of the cross. The journey of Lent is a journey to the grave.
A. When one makes a commitment to follow a certain path in life, it is never known exactly where that path will lead.
1. A journey through college doesn’t always end up in a career you might expect.
2. A journey in marriage follows twists and turns that lead to a kind of love that you cannot know by any other route.
3. A journey with children never goes where you think it might.
B. But a journey with Christ always leads to where he is staying.
1. 1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
2. Behold, the Lamb of God.