John Series (2)

John 1:35–42 CSB

35 The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come and you’ll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”), 42 and he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter”).

1. Behold the Lamb

On the following day, John pointed out Jesus to two of his own disciples and again identified him as the Lamb of God.

At this time Jesus began to recruit disciples, more especially that small band of twelve men who later were to be called apostles. We do not have the record of the call of each one, but, in the account given us by John, three elements of the call stand out. First, there is the drawing power of Christ. It was not John the Baptist’s introduction as much as something in Jesus which caused Andrew to go from the one to the other. There is a magnetism about Christ and the Gospel which draws men to Him, those who are not insulated against Him by prejudice or willful sin. Second, there is the testimony of dedicated people. John the Baptist brought Andrew, who in turn brought Peter; Philip brought Nathanael. There is a naturalness, for the one who believes in Him, to testify about Jesus. In a straightforward way Andrew testified, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth. In order, on the one hand, to guard against a reticence which staunches the flow of words and, on the other, an over-compulsion which claims every acquaintance as an object of solicitation, let us observe that this early witnessing or introducing of people to Christ started with close companions, even with brothers, who were apparently of similar age and cultural status. Andrew and Philip started with those who knew them and trusted them. This is more difficult than witnessing to a total stranger whom we may never see again, but it is more effective because it can be followed up by a godly life and Christlike attitudes. This suggests that witnessing for Christ is more than speech, however enthusiastic. Speech is worth little unless there are evidences of a measure of Christian character, and unless the one witnessing is a channel through which the Spirit can speak. In the third place, there is the invitation of Christ. Prior to His appeal to Philip, Follow me, there is the picture of the seeking Christ who found Philip. Had Andrew and Peter told him of Christ? (They were from the same city.) Had Jesus learned of Philip and gone in search of him? It is enough for us to know that at the side of every impassioned disciple who testifies of his Lord is the Lord Himself, the seeking Savior, the Shepherd of the lost sheep. The same thing, yet thought of in different terms, is the drawing power of the Holy Spirit. Testifying or witnessing to the person and power of Christ to the unconverted is most effective when the message is an ingrained ingredient of the Christian’s life, and when human efforts are fortified by the anointing of the Holy Spirit

So they followed Jesus. All God expects us to do id follow Him. If we are following Jesus we will automatically point others to Jesus. Our life will point others to Jesus. The Holy Spirit within us is always pointing to Jesus so by default if the Holy Spirit has the right role in our lives everything in our lives will be a testimony of Jesus. One of the two men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother . He located his brother and told him that they had found the Messiah and brought Simon to Jesus.

A Christian’s testimony ought to accomplish what John the Baptist’s testimony did: pointing people to Jesus so that they want to follow him. Notice the domino effect in this passage. Having encountered Jesus, Andrew wanted his brother to experience him too. When you understand who Jesus is, you’ll want others to know him.

John stood with two of his disciples: The Gospel writer tells us that one of these two was Andrew. The other of the two is not identified, but for several reasons it is reasonable to think it was John the Gospel writer himself, who appears several times in his Gospel, but is never specifically named.

 “Who the other disciple was, is not certain: but considering (1) that the Evangelist never names himself in his Gospel, and (2) that this account is so minutely accurate as to specify even the hours of the day, and in all respects bears marks of an eye-witness, and again (3) that this other disciple, from this last circumstance, certainly would have been named, had not the name been suppressed for some special reasons, we are justified in inferring that it was the Evangelist himself.” (Alford)

Behold, the Lamb of God! John already said this of Jesus in John 1:29. Perhaps by this time – after Jesus had returned from His temptations in the wilderness – John said this every time he saw Jesus. To him, it was the most important thing about Jesus.

 And they followed Jesus: The text does not specifically say, but the implication is that these two disciples did this with John’s permission and direction. John the Baptist did not care about gathering disciples after himself. He was perfectly satisfied to have these disciples leave his circle and follow Jesus. It fulfilled his ministry; it did not take away from it.

 What do you seek… Come and see: Jesus asked these two disciples an important and logical question – and a question He continues to ask to all humanity today. For the answer, Jesus directed them to Himself, to live with Him, not to John or anyone else (Come and see).

 What do you seek? “It was not an accident that the first words which the Master spoke in His Messianic office were this profoundly significant question, ‘What seek ye?’ He asks it of us all, He asks it of us to-day.” (Maclaren)  “He probed them to find out whether they were motivated by idle curiosity or by a real desire to know him.” (Tenney)

Jesus did not refer them back to John the Baptist, even though he knew a lot about Jesus. To be Jesus’ disciple, they must deal with Jesus directly. So Jesus invited John and Andrew to be a part of His life. Jesus didn’t live a cloistered, ultra-private life. Jesus taught and trained His twelve disciples by allowing them to live with Him.

Now it was about the tenth hour: This was such a memorable occasion for the writer that he remembered the exact hour that he met Jesus. This is a subtle clue that one of the two disciples who came to Jesus from John was the apostle John himself.