John Part 5
Notes
Transcript
Calling of the Disciples
Calling of the Disciples
(If Time Permits)
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which 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 Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which 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 means Peter).
Ok, So, here we have the first 3 disciples being called.
One of them was Andrew,
And the other is unnamed.
However, it seems very likely that it was John
The one writing the story
And this is because John did something like this often
Where he did not use his own name
when he was clearly talking about himself
This is probably out of humility
He consistently refers to himself as the beloved disciple
Or the other disciple
So, it seems natural that Andrew and John were called first
Then Andrew went and got his brother Peter
And John went and got his brother James
Vs 35 says that these two disciples,
Andrew and most likely John
were originally disciples of John the Baptist
But when John the Baptist called Jesus “The Lamb of God” in v 36
Andrew and John started following Jesus.
This is an important lesson that we can learn from John the Baptist
He had amassed this huge following
But he understood that his purpose was to point people to Jesus.
He did not try to hold onto Andrew and John
He later says, I must decrease so that Christ can increase.
So, we must remember that when we are trying to get people
into the church
into truth
into our group
We are not really the ones they are following
We can’t ever think that they are our people
They are HIS people
Even if they follow us to Jesus
They are not ours.
So many churches get this confused
They think their church is the only church where people can be saved
They think their pastor is the only pastor who can lead
Pastors often try to hold so tight to people
people who God may be calling to go somewhere else
People who God may be wanting to leave and preach the gospel
somewhere on the other side of the world
or even in the next town
and pastors will hold onto them
There are churches with 10 men who could be pastors
but are sitting on a pew because their pastor won’t release them
There are churches with 10 sets of worship teams
but they sit in the shadow of better singers
better drummers
better piano players
waiting for their chance to be used in that church
when God is probably calling them to another church
But too often they can’t be released
like John the baptist release Andrew and John.
Follow me as I follow Christ
But you are ultimately following Christ.
If God calls you elsewhere
I’m going to support it
It isn’t about our attendance records
It is about the Kingdom
HIS Kingdom
Not ours.
and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
I want to back up and look at verse 36 again
I want to reiterate one of the main points John is trying to make
He is creating a witness that Jesus is the Son of God.
And he does so by documenting those who said it
or believed it
He did it with John the Baptist
and now Andrew and John himself
Are hearing that Jesus is the Lamb of God
And the next verse says… they followed him.
So, the evidence is piling up that Jesus is really the Messiah
The Son of God
And we know that this is John’s main point
because he tells us..
All the way at the end of this book.
John says…
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
So, the purpose of the book is to make you believe
That Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah
The Son of God.
And then in the final Chapter
John says…
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
So, there is this language of “witnessing”
A legal testimony
Like John the Baptist did in the first chapter
John the Revelator is doing in all the chapters.
John is stringing together witnesses
John the Baptist is the first witness
Then Andrew and John are the 2nd and 3rd
And it just keeps going throughout the book
this topic of witnesses
Witnesses to the fact that Jesus is Messiah
And the Son of God
and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
So, the first two disciples heard that Jesus was the Lamb of God
And what did they do?
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
They followed him.
Which means, they believed the testimony of John the baptist.
And then we will see they they didn’t only believe it
They also became witnesses themselves to Peter
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
Ok, there is more than first meets the eye in this verse
First, Jesus turned
So, they started follow Jesus
And it was without his bidding at first
and their attempt to follow Jesus
Got Jesus to stop and turn around to face them
We get the attention of God when we first start to follow Him
He is interested in those who stop following earthly things
or their own will
or temporary gratification
and they make the active choice to follow him.
So, Jesus turns.
Then we see Jesus ask a question.
And odd question.
What are you looking for?
He is not just interested in their action
He is interested in their intentions.
This is so important
God is not looking for followers
Who check all the boxes
Show up to church - check
Pay tithes - check
Give offering - check
check
check
That is not what God wants
He isn’t looking for people that are just checking off boxes
God is looking for the motivation behind our action
He wants to know what we are really looking for
when we decided to follow Him.
It is almost a rude question if you think about it.
Like.. what do you think you are doing following me?
What do you think this is going to lead to?
Then they respond by calling him Rabbi
Which means teacher, or master.
It literally means great one
And it is similar to calling someone Dr today
Who has a PH.d
So, they immediately show their respect and honor to Jesus in their first words to Him.
Then they ask him a question instead of answering his question
They asked, where are you staying
And by asking this question
They were answering Jesus’ question
Jesus asked, what did you come to see
Meaning, what do you desire out of following me
And they respond… We want to know where you live
We want to follow you,
not just for the day
We want to follow you home
We want to stay where you are staying
That’s the kind of relationship God is looking for
And that’s why Jesus says…
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.
They followed without an invitation at first
This got Jesus’ attention
He probed for their intention
and when they responded by saying we want to stay where you are staying
Jesus said… come and see.
Jesus recognized these two men did not want to be part time followers
They wanted to be committed followers
They wanted to stay where Jesus stayed.
The detail about what time of day it was is another clue that the companion of Andrew was John himself.
How else would he recall that detail?
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
Here we find out that Andrew is one of the two
And that Andrew is Peter’s brother
Peter would go on to be the leader of the 12 disciples
When Jesus leaves
And this is why I think Jesus named him Peter.
The next verse tells us that Peter’s real name was Simon…
He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
So, Andrew goes to his brother Simon
And what does he do?
He becomes a witness
That’s the theme that keeps popping up.
Andrew says, we have find the Messiah
Messiah means anointed one in Hebrew
And the Greek word for anointed one is 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 means Peter).
Jesus changed Simon’s name to Cephas
Which is an Syriac word for Rock
And Aramaic is a Semitic language
Closely related to Hebrew
And it was what was spoken by most Jews in the 1st Century
Peter is the same name in Greek
Peter sounds like petra from petrified
That’s where that root word comes from
It is Greek for rock.
There is a theme of name changes in the Bible
Abram to Abraham
Sarai to Sarah
Jacob to Isreal
etc.
In all the examples
The name change indicated a change in purpose or personality
And I think the calling him Cephas, or Peter
indicated that Peter would be solid
He had to grow into his new name
Just like Abraham and Jacob did.
Now, the next ones who are called to follow are
Phillip called by Jesus
and Nathanael called by Phillip
Let’s read the story
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, 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.”
So, Jesus calls Philip from the same city as Andrew and Peter
And then Philip turns around can find Nathanael
And things testifies to Nathanael
Again, a major theme here is witness testimony
Philip says, Jesus is the one the OT talked about
Meaning, the Messiah.
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Perhaps nathanael doubted at first because he knew the OT
And he knew the Messiah was to come from the City of David
The city of Bethlehem
Or perhaps they did not think too kindly of Nazareth
Or the area of Galilee
As we will see in chapter 7
Some people questioning Jesus seem to down him for coming from Galilee
But Philip ignores this question
and responds with “Come and See”
And this is what we need to do today
When someone says,
Can anything good come from church?
Can anything good come from pentecost?
Can the gift of the Holy Spirit be a real thing?
Don’t just engage in arguments
but just tell them, Come and See
because that is the only way to know for sure
Is to experience it yourself.
That’s what Philip does here.
Come and See Jesus for yourself.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Jesus identifies Nathanael from a ways off
And knew all about him before he even got to him
Jesus knows all about your before you come to him too
He knows about your past
About your struggles
about your failures
about your sin
He knows all of it before you even come to him
He does the same thing to the woman at the well in chapter 4
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Of course this amazes Nathanael
And so he asked Jesus how it is possible to be known
before they even met
And Jesus then tells him that he saw him under the fig tree
before Philip called him
Keep in mind they didn’t have video cameras then
They didn’t have fast moving cars either
So, Jesus couldn’t have see him
and then rushed back to where he was
and then acted as if he was waiting all along
So, this was an amazing detail that Jesus was able to identify
the exact location Philip called nathanael
It was so convincing that nathanael becomes our next witness
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
So, you see what John is doing here?
He’s building this case in the first Chapter
That Jesus is who we said he was
He really was the Messiah
and we have witness after witness to prove it.
Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘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 heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
If you will believe Jesus in the small things
He promises that you will see even greater things
In fact, in chatper 14,
Jesus promises that they will not only SEE greater things
They will DO greater things.
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 2
Ok, I’m going to read the 1st 12 verses of chapter 2
And then we will break it down
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.
When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom
and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
WINE
WINE
Ok, first things first,
Let me address the subject of wine here.
I know many people try to use this as evidence
that we should be allowed to drink alcohol today
I mean, if Jesus provided it to this wedding party
Why not have some today?
Well, there’s a few reasons.
First of all, the Bible is clear on drunkeness
It is strictly forbidden in the old and NT
Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
And in the NT…
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
There are many more passages
But that should be sufficient to prove the point.
If Jesus intended for them to get drunk
Then He would contradict his own word
But the truth is
They did not drink wine to get drunk
They added wine to their water to keep from getting sick
Today, we have water treatment plants
And they add chlorine and fluoride to the water
And the chlorine keeps us from getting bacteria
And the fluoride keeps our teeth from rotting
They didn’t have this technology 2000 years ago
So, instead they mixed water with wine
The wine would kill the bacteria
And the water would dilute the wine
(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
Here, it seems timothy was drinking water only
And it was making him sick
So, Paul is telling him to mix a little wine with the water
and that will help him not be sick
So, notice the word “little”
Most historians believe that Jews mixed 3 parts water
and 1 part wine
And this is also starting with a weaker wine than today
Due to improvements in technology and processing
Winemakers today can make pure wine that is 33-35% stronger
That it would have been in the 1st Century
without modern processing technology
So, they started with a weaker wine
and they heavily diluted it.
And the intention was to not get sick
Today, the intention of wine is not to prevent sickness
It is only intended to make one drunk
If they had water treatment plants and chlorine in the 1st Century
I’m convinced they would have just drank pure water
or grape juice instead of diluted wine.
Ok, the other thing I want to point out here is in verse 4.
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Just like with Andrew…
Jesus gives his own mother a blunt question
He is basically saying he won’t do it
and the reason is because the timing is off
And this is where most people stop talking to Jesus
Well, it must not be his will
Or, it must not be his timing
But his mother knew better
She said, do whatever he tells you to do.
And then Jesus performed a miracle
when he just said it wasn’t time.
End
End
Ok, we will end here
And pick back up on the cleansing of the Temple
In verse 13 next week.
