Come Along and See For Yourself

Text

John 1:43–51 NASB95

43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 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.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 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.” 49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” 50 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.” 51 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.”

[workshop: Have you seen enough to be committed to a full sacrifice for Jesus?]

John presents Jesus in a marvellous way that is different from the other gospels. The others are called the Synoptic Gospels because, generally, they “see together” and offer parallel perspectives of shared accounts and stories in the life of Jesus.

John is different, because he does not hold to the same format, on many occassions giving us teachings, stories and miracles that none of the others give.

The reason John says I write what I write is John 20:30–31 “30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

John wants you to believe, a phrase that he uses 98x in his gospel account. He wants you to leave this reading with a firm and sure belief in Jesus Christ, because there is life in His name

There may be death, decay, discouragement, despair, destitution in the world, but in Jesus there is LIFE. But you need to believe.

To believe is consider something to be true and put your full/complete trust in it.

To the believer, it is not just to say “I’m a christian” or “I go to church” or even “I got baptized”,

But I believe Jesus to be true, God to be true, His word to be true, His promises to be true - and I will put my full weight, trust, and dependence on Him and anything that He says.

This is why John says he writes - for you to believe. It’s an important theme to him

John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 6:29 “29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.””

John 11:25–26 “25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?””

John 12:46 “46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

John 14:1 “1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

The challenge today, is if you have to believe, you need to come along and see for yourself

To believe, you need to “come and see” (vs. 39)

This lesson is taken from John’s account of Jesus’ first interaction with those who would later become the apostles. It is different from what you read in Matthew, Mark and Luke because it is the intitial contact with them. This was not important for their purpsoe, but it is for John. What did they think of Him early on, how did they respond to the Christ?

The way the other gospel writers put this it seems crazy! That they simply hear Jesus say “come” and they just dropped everything. The reason they did is becasue they spent time with the Lord, they saw Him for themselves so when He came back and gave them the call, they answered - THEY HAD SEEN ENOUGH FOR THEM TO SAY “YES” TO JESUS.

Have you seen enough, to say yes to the call?

You are lost in your sins - have you seen enough to say yes to the call of salvation?

You who are struggling in your sins - have you seen enough to flee immorality and heed the call of repentance?

You who have been sitting in the pews every Sunday thinking that this is the limit of your service to God - have you seen enough to heed the call of revival?

You have been giving well (don’t stop giving well) - have you seen enough to realize Jesus wants more than your finance and that you cannot buy your way into His grace?

You have been clinging on to a position/title thinking that it is what makes the difference - have you seen enough to heed the call of humility?

Have you seen enough - if not, come along and see for yourself

This can help us contemplate on how we respond to Jesus today. Because How I think about my saviour will show in how I treat my saviour.

How I think about Jesus will reflect in my devotion to His cause.

#1 What do you want?

Jesus asked the question

John 1:37–38 “37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 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?””

Jesus doesn’t just want the crowd He wants commitment - and maybe you are guilty of being in the crowd but you’re not committed. You add to the attendance but nothing in the kingdom has you attention. You’re here, but there’s nothing in your hand. You keep looking for God’s kingdom to do something for you, but what have you done for the kingdom?

What do you seek? This question ought to stop you in your tracks and think about why you do what you do? Or why you do nothing at all. God is calling you to be more, God is calling you to be a vessel that is used for his glorious purpose - That’s what God wants, BUT WHAT DO YOU SEEK?

We all come for different reasons - But why you should come is to be changed, challenged, and charged

BUT, what do you seek? Your way? Your purpose? To treat Jesus like a stepping stone to something greater?

OR, do you seek the cross? Do you seek to be a living sacrifice? Do you seek to deny yourself, take up the cross and follow Jesus?

For the disciples, they said “Rabbi, where are you staying” - in ancient times disciples stayed where there Rabbis stayed - this was an indication of committment and a life of learning. They wanted to abide with Jesus

What do you seek?

#2 What’s stopping You?

Jesus said,

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 1

39  He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”

This was an open invitation for them to “Come and see”. Jesus is not stopping you from getting closer. He is not stopping you from being redeemed, revived or restored. But somehow you are comfortable leaving the same way you came - so the question is what’s stopping you?

These men had jobs and families - They had a way of life, religion

Mark 1:20 “20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.” [James and John]

Matthew 9:9 “9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”

What’s stopping you?

It’s hard out there as a Christian - Matthew 5:11–13 “11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The people in the church - Matthew 13:30 “30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”” Matthew 13:41 “41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,”

Things are hard - Philippians 4:19 “19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Everything is hard - Ephesians 3:20 “20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

The world is troubling - John 16:33 “33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

#3 What are you going to do?

John 1:39–41 “39 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. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).”

They made the connection. They concluded that what we read about was true. (vs 45) Now they are experiencing in the flesh, what their anscestors wrote and believed.

They were so convicted, that they had to go tell someone else about it.

Are you going to believe?

Are you going to tell somebody about him?

#4 Can anything Good come from Nazareth?

John 1:45–46 “45 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.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.””

Nazareth

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Nazareth

Nazareth is not mentioned in the OT, the Apocrypha, intertestamental Jewish writings, or the histories of Josephus

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Nazareth

Trade routes and roads passed near Nazareth, but the village itself was not on any main road

It really wasn’t on the map, a big deal, anything special. If you said Jerusalem, Capernaum, Rome - it’s expected that great things could come from those places, but not Nazareth.

Yet this is the place the Jesus had his upbringing. It is here that the angels annouced the birth of Immanuel

This child would turn out to be the Saviour of the world, The lamb that takes away the sin of the world - To answer Nathaniel’s question: The best thing ever came from Nazareth!

Maybe you’re thinking about yourself, your life, your past, your circumstances and wondering the same - Can anything good come from this?

Can God bring beauty from brokenness?

Can God bring something wonderful from a wretch like me?

He took Rahab the prostitute and placed in lineage of Jesus

He took Joseph from the pits and set him before a king

He took a dusty shepherd boy from the fields and made him into a king

Surely He can do something great with you, But I don’t know - SO COME ALONG AND SEE FOR YOURSELF