Exploration John 1:35-42

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster is one that has both intrigued and disappointed thousands over the past century. One man, however, has remained a resilient sentinel at the lake since 1991, refusing to give in to disappointment. Steve Feltham arrived at Loch Ness over 32 years ago, having quit his job and sold his house in order to purchase a habitable van and "pursue his passion." A short documentary was filmed about the man who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous search at Loch Ness, in which he addresses his seemingly absurd commitment. "The reason I sit here and I try to solve this mystery is because that is what makes my heart sing," he says in the film. "My life gives me freedom, adventure, unpredictability...it's a dream come true."

-Our life as a disciple of Jesus begins when…

I. Someone Exalts Jesus vv. 35-37

In our passage this morning, we are going to watch the journey as some of Jesus’s earliest disciples begin to walk with Him

The story begins with John the Baptist, a man who was committed to follow Jesus

He has his own disciples, men who have followed him for some time now

They are at a pivotal moment, and John has the opportunity to point them to Jesus and he does so without hesitation

John exalts Jesus in front of his own associates and redirects their attention to Him

Jesus is the lamb of God, the one who will take away the sins of the world

John is only a messenger!

I want you to notice something about John:

He did not hesitate to invite people into a relationship with himself to walk with them into a relationship with the Lord

However, he was not self-serving; He immediately points these men to Christ

I think we need to wrestle with this for a moment:

We cannot make more disciples or even effectively live as disciples if we are not exalting Jesus

This is a public lifestyle of worship where we clearly define the priority of Jesus in our lives and live that out in front of others

This is also a commitment to decenter ourselves from the conversation:

We are not ultimately trying to point people to ourselves, our group, or our church

We want them to know Jesus, so He has to be the hero of the entire invitation

Like John the Baptist, we must decrease so that He may increase! (John 3:30)

Somewhere in the Namib Desert, the American rock band Toto’s song “Africa” (first released in 1982) is blaring from a set of speakers. Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf spent December constructing a new art installation on the rugged desert landscape of his home country. His goal: that the sounds of Toto’s rock anthem “Africa” be heard in perpetuity. To that end, Siedentopf connected six speakers to an MP3 player loaded with the song set to play on a loop and placed it in an undisclosed location in the Namib Desert. According to the plan, the solar batteries hooked into the speakers and player will ensure perpetual power and allow “Africa” to play—at least until it rains.

II. We Engage with Jesus vv. 38-39

Next, we see these two men in their quest for Jesus

They believe what John says, so they begin to follow Jesus

They want to know Him, in fact, they want to learn from Him

Their identification of Jesus as “Rabbi” is important here

On some level it is just a recognition of who He is and is a title of honor

On the other hand, it speaks to authority; when we go to Jesus, we go to Him as a teacher

Jesus doesn’t just invite us to worship Him or to serve Him

He invites us to follow Him

This is about a relationship with Him

This is about participation in His way of living, thinking, and doing

However, we cannot follow Him from a distance

Something really compelling happens here

The two men receive an invitation: “come and see”

This is a lower commitment than the one we hear later: “follow me”

However, they will never make it to the big commitment without this smaller one

What do we find out in this exploration?

We find out who Jesus is

We find out what He is like; we begin to understand His character

We find out His expectations; we observe His way of life

This is worth thinking about for a second:

Do we invite people to get to know Jesus or do we leave them at arm’s length from Him?

Are we stuck at this observation and exploration phase?

Mark 1:16–18

[16] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [17] And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” [18] And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (ESV)

A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

III. Jesus Exposes Our Reality vv. 40-42

Finally, we find out the identity of one of these two men: Andrew, the brother of Simon

He meets with Jesus and comes to the point of belief: He is the Messiah, God’s anointed Savior

Andrew is so convinced, he goes to his brother and:

Proclaims the truth

Brings him to Jesus

When the brother gets to Jesus, the Lord makes two things clear:

He know who Simon is

He knows who Peter will be

In some ways, this encounter is completely shocking: nothing seems to be hidden from Jesus

He knows everything there is to know about Simon, his past history, experiences, and character

He also knows everything that Peter will become and has a plan for Him

Jesus expresses all of this with a kind of simplicity and a certainty that is a little disarming

He has the same perspective on us:

He knows exactly what we are

He knows exactly what we will be

He knows these things and He knows exactly what it takes to lead us there, as we follow Him

He is not ashamed of us nor is He overwhelmed by us, but He does know and show the truth about us

He only asks us to trust Him

United States runner Marla Runyon has been legally blind for 22 years. Even so, she competed in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. In fact she qualified for the finals in the 1500 meter race. (Marla finished eighth, three seconds behind the medal winners.)

How does she do it? Marla can't see in color, and what she does see is just a fuzzy blob. In a race she just follows the blob of figures in front of her. She told TV commentator Tom Hammonds that the real difficulty was in rounding the final turn and "racing toward a finish line that I can't see. I just know where it is."

Philippians 1:6

[6] And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

What about you?

-Are you exalting Jesus and pointing others towards Him?

-Are you ready for a deeper engagement with Jesus, to commit to life as His disciple?

-Are you willing to let Jesus show you who you are and what He wants you to be?