Just Who Are You Following?

Last time, we saw Andrew and John leaving their teacher, John the Baptist, to follow Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Today, we pick up on this transition to see where they are going.  

As we walk through this passage, it almost looks like a bunch of unwitting players who find themselves drafted by a coach to play on the team.  However, the coach is not looking for skilled or recognized players.  Jesus knows exactly what He is wanting to accomplish and knows exactly the people with whom he is going to invest the rest of his earthly life in training.  In addition, the upcoming players, or disciples, weren’t even looking to make the team.

Brothers and sisters, God’s calling on our lives is very real.  He calls us to follow Him as Lord and Savior.  He also calls us to follow Him in living our lives as children of God.  He then calls us to invite others to follow Him. We could summarize it this way: God’s call to us is to be Christ’s followers in all areas.

Seeing Jesus as Rabbi then Messiah - 1.38-42

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. 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).

As we look at this, we can imagine that Jesus was walking along and when they decided to follow Him, He kept walking as they are following.  Then Jesus turned and begins to engage them by asking what they are expecting from Him.  Jesus really didn’t need an answer since He already knew.  Yet, do you and I know?  

They were disciples of John the Baptist already.  John’s ministry was to prepare the way for the Messiah.  He preached for people to repent of their sins and to get ready to meet the Savior, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. It would seem possible that they were seeking salvation itself.  We see that Jesus doesn’t ask them whom they were seeking; He asked what they were seeking.  

They respond very respectfully in their address to Him, then asked, what we would consider a strange question, as to where He was staying.  Just in this short response of a question, a great deal is being said.  Basically, they were seeking to visit with Jesus in private.  In addition, by asking such a question after referring to Jesus as Rabbi, they were asking about the possibility of becoming disciples of Jesus.

Then Jesus gives an invitation to check it out with Him.  Understand that this is not an invitation to spend the night, as it were.  He is welcoming them to find out more about what it is He is doing.  They referred to Him as Rabbi; they were already disciples of John the Baptist, whose role was to prepare the way for the Messiah; they had left the side of their teacher, John the Baptist; but they were wanting more.  So they kept on following Jesus.

We know that Jesus is God and knows all things.  Yet, He gave the opportunity for these two disciples to express their desire.  If these would have been the religious leaders who had interviewed John the Baptist earlier, I am guessing that Jesus would not have invited them to check further into His life.  Throughout the Gospels, we see that Jesus is always willing to engage and always welcoming to those who are earnestly seeking Him.  But for those who are being religious and wanting God on their terms, Jesus would not commit Himself to them.

We might wonder as to why the author, John, writes about something like this and even describes the time of day, which would be around 4:00 p.m. Normally, this would have been the time that people would have begun to wrap things up for the day, as it’s getting close to evening and night.  However, I am convinced that what took place that day was to forever change the eternal destiny of Andrew and John.  There is silence as to the actual contents of the conversation; however, from the passage where Andrew goes out to find Peter, we know that Andrew and John had become convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ.  My friends, sometime after 4:00 p.m. that day, Andrew and John knew Jesus’ true identity.  We don’t know this for certain, but I believe that may have been when they experienced salvation.  Just like most of us, we don’t understand all that it means at the beginning.  But they were in for the greatest growing experience of their lives.

I love Andrew’s enthusiasm.  He went out and got Peter immediately to tell him the amazing news.  He informs Peter that they have found the Christ, or the Anointed One.  They knew this was the One who had been prophesied about. But Andrew didn’t stop with just telling Peter; he brought him directly to Jesus.

We all recall the exploits of Peter later in his journey.  However, only Jesus knew what would be happening in Peter’s future at that time.  Jesus calls Peter, the Rock.  Jesus knew the person that Peter would become. This would become an identifying nickname for Simon throughout the rest of his life.  Interestingly, Jesus would normally use his given name of Simon, which was a very common name, when referring to the run of the mill, everyday activities or when referring to his family members.  Most of the time, Jesus would refer to him as the Rock, or Peter.  However, every time in which Peter would slip up and go back to the ways of the flesh, Jesus referred to him as Simon.  It seemed as if this was almost like a rebuke.  

I believe one of the reasons so many of us like Peter so much and identify so well with him is that we exhibit both sides of our spiritual maturity.  There are days when we are not living for Christ as we ought and we identify with Simon.  Then there are other days when we are living victoriously in Christ and for Christ and we identify with Peter.  Yet, always, we are loved by our Savior!

Seeing Jesus as Rabbi then God and King - 1.43-51

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.”

In this section, we see a little bit of a change in perspective.  The first few disciples were  introduced to Jesus by someone else, either John the Baptist or Andrew.  Here, we see that Jesus very intentionally chose to go to Galilee and got ahold of Philip.  But, again, when one meets Jesus, we cannot keep Him to ourselves.  Philip then went to get Nathanael.  For some of you who may wonder about this name, this is the same person who is called Bartholomew in the other three Gospels.  

Let’s take a little time to look at this particular encounter between friends.  First, Philip tells Nathanael that we have found Him.  Thus, it would seem that Philip now considers himself part of Jesus’ followers.  Philip reminds Nathanael that this is what the Old Testament was talking about when it spoke of the Messiah.  We can guess that Nathanael was a big fan of the Scriptures from this exchange.  Philip identifies Jesus like he would anyone else by the place of his upbringing.  To which Nathanael basically scoffs.

Why would Nathanael respond in such a negative way?  Interestingly, Nazareth is not mentioned in any of the Old Testament writings.  Also, historians suggest that Nazareth was one of those towns that we might refer to as being on the wrong side of the tracks.  In other words, Nathanael could just as easily have said, Are you kidding me?  That town is of no importance.  Nothing special could possibly come out of that forsaken place.

Notice Philip’s fantastic defense and response.  Oh, wait!  There is no defense.  There is no fantastic response.  He just says, Come and see.  People can spend all day and most of their lives trying to figure out who Jesus is.  Until you personally meet the Savior, you will have no idea.  Check Him out for yourselves.  

Upon approach, Jesus let it be known that He knew immediately who this Nathanael character was.  He knew that this fellow was going to say it like it was.  He knew this guy was going to check things out for himself and would not be fooled by anyone.  Here was a man who was a true Israelite, not by what he did, but because of who he was.  

To show even further that Jesus was the Messiah, the Lamb of God, Jesus responds to Nathanael’s shock on the recognition by describing things that only God could possibly know.  Jesus knew not only the location of this new follower, but the heart.  As I read this several times this past week, I was nearly moved to tears as I am a bit like Nathanael.  I will not be easily fooled.  I will study and research and learn as much as I can.  I tend to be very forthright in my assessment and comments.  Yet, when Jesus lets me know that He knows me better than I know myself and wants me to be His follower, I too, would answer, Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.  

By the way, the definite article the is used here to show that Jesus is not a son of God; He is the Son of God.  We also need to understand that Israel had no king at that time.  So when Nathanael addressed Jesus as the King of Israel, he was recognizing and acknowledging that Jesus was his own personal King.

Jesus’ supposed question back to Nathanael is better understood as a statement based upon the comment that he would see greater things than that.  In fact, the first miracle recorded will be taking place in Nathanael’s hometown of Cana.

Then Jesus shares an interesting picture that may seem a bit curious to us.  The closest we and probably the disciples had as a reference point was the dream which Jacob had with the angels going up and down a ladder to heaven.  As we look at Jesus’ entire ministry on this earth, it would seem to be referring to the fact that Jesus Himself is the connecting link between heaven and earth.  Throughout the New Testament, it is quite clear that for anyone to get to heaven or to understand heavenly truths, it requires a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Reflections

So often, we get the idea that it was us who found Jesus.  We think that we’re the ones searching for Him.  The reality is that because we were His enemies; because the Bible says no one seeks Him, not even one; because we have this God-shaped hole in our lives which we’re looking to fill, we find Jesus.  

The reality is Jesus is not lost; we are the ones who are lost.  The Great Shepherd willingly and lovingly finds us.  Even in this passage of Scripture, Jesus was very intentional in going after this group of disciples. 

Yet, God chooses to use us in His salvation purposes and plan.  We’ve seen that God used John the Baptist to bring John and Andrew to Jesus.  Then Andrew went out and found Peter and brought him to Jesus.  Jesus got ahold of Philip without using any person on this planet.  Then Philip went out and found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus.

You and I don’t save anyone.  But we can certainly tell others what it means to be saved and introduce others to Jesus.  What an amazing thing it is to know that our Lord knows us right now and knows what we will become.  He also knows the many falls we will take and the many times we will rush headlong into the ditch.  Yet, He loves us and continues to mold us and shape us, preparing us to live forever in His presence.  In the meantime, we are being equipped to be busy telling others about Jesus.  

Do you have an Andrew or Philip in your life?  Was there someone who came to you and told you that you just had to meet Jesus?  For most of us there was at least one of them, if not several.  Let me give you a two-part challenge.  

Write a letter, text, email, or make a phone call and tell them thanks for being your Philip or Andrew.  Let them know what your life has been like as a result of following after Jesus.

Then, make a commitment to become an Andrew or Philip.  Commit before the Lord that you will tell others and invite them to come check out Jesus.

Remember God’s call to us? God’s call to us is to be Christ’s followers in all areas.