Follow Me

The ministry of Jesus began at his baptism, where the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove and God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” This was followed by forty days in the wilderness where he fasted and was tempted by the devil. From here, Jesus began calling his own followers. We see this account written in John 1:35-51.

John 1:35–39 NASB95

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

We see again John the Baptist pointing out Jesus as he passes by claiming, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” He is fulfilling his purpose of pointing others to Jesus, including his own followers. John was the only person back then who was supposed to wind up with no followers when he was done. Could you imagine? This would be like having a social media account today for the sole purpose of pointing followers to someone else’s social media account. In a day where everyone is trying to build an online presence and gain followers, today’s John the Baptist would ideally have no followers, but everything he posted would point to Jesus’ social media page.

There are two disciples of John the Baptist who leave him to follow Jesus uninvited. When Jesus notices them following, he stops to ask, “What do you seek?” They proceed to ask where Jesus is staying. Notice how Jesus answers the question. “Come, and you will see.” He answers in an indirect way. In his response there is an invitation to follow. Their curiosity and John’s testimony led them to Jesus, and now Jesus is inviting them to satisfy that curiosity.

If we are paying attention to the text, we see it never tells us where Jesus is going. These disciples of John get an answer, but the reader does not. In the moment that Jesus extends the invitation, these disciples, which verse 40 identifies as Andrew and someone else (who many believe is John, the author), have to trust him for the outcome. Verse 39 says that it was about the tenth hour, which for us would be around 4:00 PM. That means it is getting late in the day. Wherever they are going, it will be an overnight stay.

The TV show The Chosen portrays Jesus and his first disciples as sort of nomadic. They are camping everywhere they go. While these things cannot be known with absolute certainty, it gives us a picture of what it could have been like for them at the start of Jesus’ ministry. It is possible that where Jesus was taking them was wherever he had his campsite set up. Jesus wasn’t staying at the Holiday Inn, Best Western, or Hilton in Bethany. What is also probably true, is that both Andrew and this unnamed disciple had places they lived. They could have gone home. Yet, they followed Jesus to an unknown place and to unknown sleeping arrangements that night.

Let’s think about that for a second.

Following Jesus means we leave the known for the unknown.

If I invited you to go on a trip with me overnight, and you asked me, “Where are we going?” and I replied, “You’ll see when you get there.” How many of you are inclined to get in the car and go with me? Jesus is asking us to do that all the time. Maybe not in such a direct manner, but I believe we are always asking Jesus what he’s up to and he replies with, “Come and see.” Then we don’t follow because we are either too afraid of what we don’t know or we assume we won’t like what we see when we get there. In other words, we have certain expectations about what it looks like to follow Jesus, but when reality does not match our expectations, our tendency is to bail. We see this pictured for us in the Old Testament.

Abraham was called by God in Genesis 12:1

Genesis 12:1 NASB95

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

Abraham did not know where he was going. He only knew God was calling and what God was promising if he did. Abraham left his home and his family to follow God and receive his promises. This must have been something very hard for him to do. It required him to trust God with his future, with his family, and with his possessions.

The Israelites were in captivity in Egypt for over 400 years. They cried out to God for deliverance for generations. God finally answered their prayers by sending Moses and Aaron to lead the exodus. The Israelites were barely outside the Egyptian borders when Egypt came in pursuit. Then they whined and complained that Moses had brought them out to die. They watched the Red Sea part and the Egyptian army drown. They get into the wilderness, get hungry, and said that it would have been better to go back to slavery in Egypt than to starve out in the desert. Yet God continued to provide for them as promised.

Following Jesus does not mean we will always have the answers. In fact, I’m sure he conceals those things from us because if he told us everything, we wouldn’t go. If Andrew and this unnamed disciple were told exactly where Jesus was staying, would they have followed?

Look back at a time in your life where you made a risky move. If you knew what you would have had to go through before you made the move, would you have still done it? You see, our tendency is to shield ourselves from any potential dangers. We like to play it safe. We like predictability, but that is not where God is. God is often out in the unknown, calling us to join him, to step out in the unknown, to get uncomfortable and trust him to take us where we need to go.

At this point Andrew and the unnamed disciple are curious about Jesus. They want to be close to him, but to do so, they have to go where Jesus is. Often times we want Jesus to come where we are but the best experiences with him is when we are willing to go where he is.

The story continues,

John 1:40–42 NASB95

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Whatever happened, Andrew was now convinced Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one, the Savior of the world. He goes to his brother Simon and brings him to Jesus. Jesus proceeds to give Simon a new name: Cephas, which translates to Peter, and he is known as Peter from this point forward.

The next day, Jesus makes his way toward Bethsaida.

John 1:43–51 NASB95

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 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.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 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.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

We see here that Philip, Andrew and Peter are all from the same town. Bethsaida means “house of fishing.” Guess what most of the people probably did for a living. FISHING! Jesus goes to find Philip. He is recorded as only saying two words: Follow me. And so he did.

Philip then goes and gets Nathaniel. He says, “Nathaniel! We found him! The guy that Moses and the prophets wrote about is Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph’s son!” “Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nazareth did not have a good reputation. In Nathaniel’s mind, perhaps Jesus did not meet expectations, but he goes to see anyway.

Following Jesus means inviting others to come and see.

If you were convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, how should that affect your motive for telling people about him? If Jesus really is the Son of God, and the Bible is true, then it means the fate of every human being who rejects the truth of the Word of God is eternal separation from God for all eternity. We have to remember every day we play for keeps. Every day eternity is on the line. We should strive to invite people to come and see while both burdening ourselves with reaching out to those who don’t want anything to do with it and those who will listen to what we have to say.

On February 18th, I posted a picture of a Dr. Pepper Strawberries and Cream Zero Sugar soda can and said that I needed it. Two weeks ago, I got a gift from someone in town on my doorstep. It was a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper Strawberries and Cream Zero Sugar. Guys, it is one of the best flavors of Dr. Pepper I have ever had. It was extraordinary. Then I went to Houston, where the Kroger near my in-laws’ house had them in abundance. I may have too much at this point. The real point is this: I was more than willing to share what I have experienced with this soda flavor with everyone. I should have an even greater desire to share an even greater relationship with everyone I know. I should be willing to introduce people to Jesus like I want to introduce people to this new flavor of Dr. Pepper.

Following Jesus means inviting others to come and see.

The longest part of this passage is the exchange between Jesus and Nathaniel. Let’s look at it again. Philip is bringing Nathaniel to Jesus, and Jesus, as Nathaniel is walking up, says, “Now here’s an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Jesus knows Nathaniel to be an honest man. But Nathaniel does not know Jesus. In fact, Nathaniel says, “How do you know me?” Jesus says, “Before Philip found you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Now nobody knows what Nathaniel was doing under this fig tree, yet Jesus knows.Given that nobody knows, we can assume Nathaniel was by himself. Maybe he was praying. Maybe he was confessing sins. Maybe he was at the end of his rope and he was ready to give up. Whatever it was, when Jesus told him “I saw you,” Nathaniel knew what that meant. Whatever happened under that fig tree, Jesus knew. Jesus knew Nathaniel better than anybody, even Philip. This was enough to convince him Jesus was the Son of God.

Following Jesus means following the one who knows us best.

Jesus says, “You thought that was something? Wait until you see what happens next.” The angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man is a throwback to Genesis 28:12. This is the passage where Jacob falls asleep and has a dream where he sees angels ascending and descending a ladder between heaven and earth. Jesus is identifying himself as the ladder, the connection between heaven and earth, a truth he will continue to develop throughout his ministry.

Because Jesus is God in the flesh, we must allow him to lead and trust him with our destination.

He knows us. He made us. He sees you for who you truly are and for who you were always meant to be. Jesus is Lord. We have to be willing to let him call the shots. Where are we not giving him authority in our lives? Maybe it is that we love other things more than we love Jesus. Maybe we are excited about a hobby, a product, or a lifestyle and are willing to share that with everyone, but we clam up when the topic of Jesus comes up. Maybe we need to be more excited about the one who has saved our souls. Excitement for him usually comes in greater frequency when we are willing to let go of worldly attachments.