Come and See

Who is Jesus?: Come and See

Key Passage(s): John 1:19-51 Audience/Occasion: Connect Church (8/14/22) Purpose: I am preaching this message to invite people to come and see Jesus for themselves and invite others to come and see too. Big Idea: Come and see!… Creative Element(s): Props: Connect Card, Communion Resources: Thoughts for next time:

30 min. A couple of people (church family) complimented me on it being a good message Looked down at my notes less often—felt more present in the moment and connected better with the audience—reviewed my notes 3x instead of the typical 2x on Sunday morning

INTRODUCTION

Hey Connect, my name is Chris, and I’m one of the pastors on our team.

I’m so glad you’re with us today as we continue “Who is Jesus?”

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely an anticipator!

As a kid, Christmas could not come fast enough!… As a teenager, I could not wait for high school graduation and to go off to college!… As a young adult, I could not wait to be married!… Then I couldn’t wait for the birth of our first daughter!… Then our second daughter!… Then our third daughter!…

:) Yes, I am out numbered 4 to 1 at home—so please pray for me…

(Raise hand) Anyone else here an anticipator?…

Maybe you’re anticipating graduation, marriage, a vacation, having a baby, an empty nest, grandkids, healing from an injury or illness, retirement, or something else…

Throughout the ages, anticipation has been a defining characteristic of God’s people…

As the Israelites wandered around the desert for 40 years, they anticipated the Promise Land. And for centuries, the Israelites anticipated the coming messiah:

The prophecies and promises of who this messiah would be and the freedom he would bring made them long for this messiah all the more as they were in exile in Babylon. Then the deafening silence of God for 400 years left them wondering, “When will be messiah finally come?!”… Over that time, Rome rose to power, conquering many nations—including Israel—so not only was God seemingly silent, his people were also oppressed by a global superpower. To say the level of anticipation for said messiah was high is an understatement!

They weren’t just anticipating the messiah; they were DESPERATE for the messiah, and left no rock unturned looking for him… It’s here that the Apostle John picks up his account of Jesus… If you have a Bible with you, please turn with me to John 1:19-51 to follow along.

If you need a Bible or place to jot down notes, check out our Connect Church app.

We’re in this series, “Who is Jesus?”, because there is not a more important—yet controversial—question for us to answer…

Born in 3 or 4 BC, the son of a carpenter started a grassroots movement that is now the largest world religion… Who is Jesus? Some curse his name, others praise his name… Who is Jesus? The thousands of historical records on his life make it impossible to deny his existence, but what is his identity?… Who is Jesus?… To answer this question, we’re going through the Gospel of John because John knew Jesus personally.

And he recorded many of the signs Jesus performed so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Last time, we learned that Jesus is God, and belief in Jesus is the way to God. And Jesus is so much more as we’ll see today… But first let’s pray and ask Jesus to reveal himself to us through his Word…

PRAY

Before Jesus walked onto the scene, Jesus’ cousin—John the Baptist—was there, and people were starting to wonder if HE was the long awaited messiah…

The Apostle John recorded how it went down and John’s response—picking up in John 1:19-28…

BODY

John 1:19-28

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John was something else!…

Elsewhere in Scripture, we’re told he live in the desert where he ate locust and honey.

:) Being an eccentric dude, John would have fit in great in Boulder!…

Just kidding, no offense to our friends in Boulder… A certain kind of crazy with some charisma, and John drew a crowd. He often posted up by the Jordan River, where he would teach, call people to repent of their sins, and baptize them.

Traditionally, Gentiles—a.k.a those who were not Jewish—would be baptized when they converted to Judaism. But John was calling ALL to repentance and even baptizing Jews—treating them like pagans… It’s no wonder people wanted to come and see John!… It’s no wonder the religious leaders wanted to know know, “Who is this guy?” “Is he the messiah?!”…

So they asked him, “Who are you?” “Elijah?” “A prophet?”… V. 23, “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”

John wasn’t the messiah, we was the forerunner—the great anticipator—of the messiah. John’s identity was directly connected to his revealing of the messiah’s identity. John’s audience wanted to make it about him, but he was about something greater—someONE greater…

As a pastor in the age of celebrity preachers, I want to be like John…

Though people might gather to hear me teach, I want them to leave not in awe of me but in awe of him!…

John knew his place as evidenced by his response to those who wanted to know who HE was—v. 27…

“He [that is the messiah] is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Jewish tradition taught that disciples must follow and serve their rabbi, their teacher, in every way—EXCEPT for the menial task of removing his shoes, that was the job of only a slave… So charismatic, crowd forming John essentially says, “I’m not even worthy to be a slave—let alone a disciple—of the messiah.”

What a humble posture even as others wanted to lift him up…

John got it… It’s not “Come and see me!”…

It’s "Look at him!”… as we see next in vv. 29-34… John 1:29-34

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” Anticipating the birth of a baby is something else…

With many big changes in life, we know when it’s going to happen—we know when we’ll close on the house, when the new job starts, etc. But with when it comes to having a baby… you know it’s going to change everything, you’re anticipating it, you’re planning for it, but you have NO IDEA when it’s going to happen!… When Amanda was pregnant with our oldest, Hannah, Amanda had a baby shower, we got the nursery ready, we had our bags packed for the hospital, I had my phone on me at all times anxiously awaiting the call that it’s go time, and our friends and family were anticipating her birth with us!…

And then we waited… And then Amanda’s due date came and went… And then our friends and family asked, “Still pregnant?” :) “Still pregnant.”… And we waited… And they asked…

And we waited… And they asked… It got to the point that we didn’t want to go to church on Sunday because we were annoyed with all the people asking, “Is she here yet?”… It was not until 13 DAYS after her due date when Hannah was finally born. And when she was born I wanted ALL our family and friends to meet her!

Many came over to do just that in the days and weeks that followed. :) And if I was with them and Hannah wasn’t with me, you better believe I was that dad whipping out my phone to show them a picture!…

When you’ve been anticipating something and it FINALLY HAPPENS, you want everyone to know!

“You’ve got to meet my wife!”… “Let me show you this picture of my grandkid!”…

Imagine, the urge to share that John must have felt after he had waited his whole life and his people had waited for the messiah for generations upon generations upon generations…

That’s why when John saw Jesus coming toward him, he yelled, “LOOK, THE LAMB OF GOD, who takes away the sin of the world!” (V. 29b).

This tile “Lamb of God” alluded to the passover lamb the Israelites sacrificed and thus were sparred when God freed them from slavery in Egypt. By calling Jesus the “Lamb of God,” John foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrificial death for our sins—offering us freedom. John says in v. 34, “I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John's like, “Don’t come and see me; come and see HIM!”

“Don’t follow me; follow HIM!”—which is exactly what a couple of John’s disciples did next…

Now in vv. 35-42… John 1:35-42

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). A couple of things strike me from this account:

First, John very humbly let his disciples stop following him, so they could start following Jesus.

Because he realized it wasn’t about him, it was about Jesus. And if he was about Jesus, then he must encourage others to be about Jesus. Second, the invitation of Jesus is to “come and see!”

When John’s disciples asked Jesus where he was staying, Jesus responded this way… (v. 39)

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Some of us want every question about Jesus answered before we start following him, but it is in the following of Jesus that we get to know Jesus. If you’re curious about Jesus, his invitation to you is this,… “Come and see!”

‘Come and see’ Jesus by reading through the Gospel of John—which many of us are doing together right now!

If you read a chapter a day, you’ll read the whole Gospel of John in three weeks! ‘Come and see’ Jesus by joining us on Sundays as we get to know and grow in Jesus through this series. This is the invitation of Jesus, “Come and see!”

And the third thing that strikes me from this account is this… Third, ‘Come and see’ quickly becomes ‘go and tell.’

V. 41-42a., “The FIRST THING Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” Andrew didn’t have all his questions answered. Andrew hadn’t been following Jesus for even a day!…

And yet the FIRST THING Andrew did was go and tell his brother, Simon, about Jesus—the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one they’ve been anticipating their whole lives!…

Too often in the Church today, we don’t invite people to ‘come and see’ Jesus while we’re exploring Jesus ourselves.

We presume, “I have to know ‘this much’—whatever ‘this much’ is—before I can tell others about Jesus.”

But that’s just not the case—at least it’s not biblical… The FIRST THING Andrew did—the SAME DAY he started following Jesus himself—was he told his brother about Jesus. If you’ve been following Jesus for longer than a day, I’ve got to ask you a challenging question…

Who are you telling about Jesus?… Who are you telling about Jesus?…

Because in this passage, followers of Jesus tell those they love about Jesus and invite them to ‘come and see’ Jesus for themselves… Those who ‘come and see’ ‘go and tell.’ And before you write this off as Andrew’s thing, know this… Philip did the same—which John shared next in vv. 43-51… John 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” Similar to Andrew, when Jesus invited Philip to follow him, Philip went and found his friend, Nathanael, and invited him to ‘come and see’ Jesus for himself.

When Nathanael came, he didn’t know Jesus, but Jesus knew him.

The same is true for us… When we come to Jesus to see who he is, we don’t know him yet.

We may or may not have heard about him. We may or may not like him because we may or may not FEEL liked by his people. While we don’t know Jesus when we first come to him, he knows us.

He knows you. He sees you in whatever you’re going through. He sees you, and he loves you!… His invitation to you is ‘come and see’; ‘follow me.’

When invited to ‘come and see’ Jesus—like Nathanael—the proper response is to do just that… Once we’ve experienced Jesus for ourselves—like Philip—it is then our responsibility to invite others to ‘come and see’ Jesus for themselves. ‘Come and see’ is Jesus’ invitation to us, and ‘come and see’ is our invitation to others…

Whether it’s a family member (like Andrew with Peter) or a friend (like Philip with Nathanael), who will you tell about Jesus?…

Who will you invite to ‘come and see’ Jesus?…

Write their name in the Pray for One box on your Connect Card, and we will join you in praying for them as you invite them to ‘come and see’ Jesus… Maybe they live across the country, so you invite them to read through the Gospel of John with you and talk about what you’re learning about Jesus over a FaceTime call… Maybe you workout with them on Saturdays, and you invite them to join you at service on Sundays…

I don’t know what it specifically looks like for you, but when you ‘come and see’ Jesus for yourself or when you invite those you love to ‘come and see’ Jesus, here’s what we see!…

As Jesus’ first followers recognized, and John captured in our passage today:

Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus is God’s Chosen One. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is King. Jesus is the Son of Man. Jesus is the Messiah!…

He’s the one God’s people have been anticipating… He’s the one you’ve been longing for…

So ‘come and see’!…

CONCLUSION

Brenda has been neighbors and friends with Lana and her son Gavin for years…

Experiencing Jesus herself, Brenda wants everyone she meets to experience life with Jesus too—and I love that about Brenda!… Well, Brenda invited Gavin to come with her to one of our services, and eventually he came and ended up coming a couple of times, but then Gavin stopped coming… That is until he needed volunteer hours for school, and Brenda reached out to Tyler and me asking if Gavin could serve on Sundays. That next Sunday, Gavin started serving on the setup team.

Not only was he racking up volunteer hours for graduation, week in and week out Gavin was rubbing shoulders with people who love Jesus, and he began to experience Jesus’ love for him through them—through Blake, Jace, Alex, and others… Through conversations, a couple of us encouraged him to read the Gospel of John to get to know Jesus—and he did and he asked great questions about what he was reading… As Gavin kept coming, he began to see Jesus more and more clearly.

Last month, Gavin got baptized during one of our services… Not only did Gavin invite a village to come and celebrate with him when he got baptized, but after service Gavin shared Jesus with a French-speaking family who had broken down in the parking lot. And Gavin hasn’t stopped sharing the love of Jesus since!… It all started with a simple invitation that Brenda extended to Gavin, “Come and see.”…

Here’s the thing Jesus knows…

Coming leads to seeing. Seeing leads to believing. And believing leads to inviting—so others can come, see, and believe! This is why whether you don’t know Jesus or you do know Jesus, our invitation is…

Come and see!…

Let’s pray…

PRAY

(Keys begin to play)

RESPONSE TIME

Take a moment and reflect on how God is speaking to you today.

Maybe you know Jesus now it’s your responsibility to tell others about Jesus; write the name of someone you love who doesn’t know Jesus in the “Pray for One” box on your Connect Card.

And we will join you in praying that God gives you an opportunity to invite them to ‘come and see’ Jesus this week.

Is today the day you are going to surrender to Jesus and decide to follow him?

If so let us know you’re deciding to follow Jesus on your Connect Card and we’ll reach out to encourage you this week.

In a moment, we will take Communion together to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

As you prepare your heart, you can grab the pre-packaged Communion cup from the bucket on your row, and there is a gluten free option available in the back. Take a moment now to reflect…

CLOSING

It was great worshiping with you all today! If it’s helpful as you invite people to ‘come and see’, we have invite cards on the Resource Table in the back—so grab a handful and extend the invitation of Jesus to those you love… On your way out, you can drop your Connect Card in the box in the hall—and be sure to mark ‘New to Connect’ so we can make a $10 donation on your behalf to a local nonprofit. In the meantime, if you decided to follow Jesus today or you’d like to pray with someone, our team is available up front. We’ll see you next week! And until then, remember…

Whoever follows Jesus finds life!… (wave)