Sermon Tone Analysis

John 1:35-51

Today we are going to continue our study of the gospel of John.

We will be focusing on chapter 1, verses 35-51.

As you find your place in your Bibles, let’s remind ourselves of what has been presented in the study of John’s gospel so far.

The Apostle John wrote this gospel with a very specific purpose in mind.

John gives us the main truth that he wants his readers to understand by reading what he is writing in chapter 20:31.

31 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.

Everything John writes and everything we will read in the gospel of John has been purposely designed by the Holy Spirit to help us understand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing the truth about Jesus, you can have life forever as children of God.

John builds a case for Jesus as he writes the gospel.

With each chapter, John gives us more information… more evidence about who Jesus is that help us come to that conclusion that Jesus is the Christ… the Son of God… the Promised One of God that has come to fix our sin problem.

In John 1:1-18 we were introduced to Jesus.

We were presented with theological truths proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Light, Creator, Messiah, the Son of God... God in the flesh, full of Grace and Truth.

Verses 19-42 is a section where John the Baptizer is introduced (you studied about him last week).

He is viewed as a prophet and teacher, but rather than gathering disciples to follow him, he is focused on pointing people to the coming Messiah.

Three times in the first chapter of John, he points people to Christ as the Lamb of God.

He is doing his prophetic job of preparing the way for the promised Messiah… the promised deliverer who would finally fix man’s sin problem and provide a way for man to be reconciled with God.

It is interesting to see the case that John is building for Jesus.

John begins by helping us understand who Jesus is theologically.

Then, he helps us understand who Jesus is prophetically.

The idea of the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world was made very clear by the prophet in Isaiah 52 and 53, where the promised suffering servant would lay down his life like a lamb being led to the slaughter to suffer for our sins, our griefs, to pay for our iniquities.

John is telling his readers that this man… Jesus… is somehow at the same time, God, Man, the promised redeemer, the suffering servant, and the lamb of God … and while you might not fully understand it all right now...its true!

And then, if that wasn’t enough, the text tells us that God the Father and Holy Spirit confirmed this by revealing that Jesus is the Son of God.

[Interesting fact — this moment in Scripture (baptism) is one of the only times that we see all three members of the Godhead together in the same scene.

— when we talk about the trinity, this is one example where the truth of a triune God is supported from Scripture.]

After this amazing announcement that Jesus is the Son of God, the narrative continues and the main character in the narrative shifts from John the Baptizer to Jesus.

John has been preparing the way for and pointing people to the Messiah his whole life.

Now, as we come to verse 35 through 51 we will see that John encourages his followers to respond in faith when Jesus calls.

Let’s join the story already in progress as we read verses 35- 51 together.

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 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?” 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 Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

42 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).

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.

He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, 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 anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward 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 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 him, “Because I said to you, ‘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 heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

— Let’s pray —

There are two commands in this passage that are going to give structure to the message today.

First, Jesus commands those wishing to know more about Him to “Come and See!” and then Jesus commands those people who are ready to respond in faith to “Follow me!”.

Let’s look again at verses 35-42 as the narrative shifts from John pointing people to Christ, to Jesus as the Christ.

John has prepared the way for the Messiah, pointed people to Him, and now Jesus takes over the lead role in the narrative.

In verses 35-42, Jesus challenges those who are interested in Him to “come and see”...

This is a call for investigation.

— “Come and see!”

I. Come and See!

A. A call for investigation.

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38 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?” 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 Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

42 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).

Beginning in verse 35 we are told that the next day, Jesus walked by and John again proclaims that He is the Lamb of God! Two of John’s disciples were standing nearby and heard this proclamation.

The text tells us that these two men followed Jesus.

The grammar of the phrase “followed Jesus” in verse 37, tells us that they most likely did not become disciples of Jesus at this moment, but simply began to walk behind him.

They were intrigued by Jesus, this man that John proclaims to be the Lamb of God… the promised Messiah.

In verse 38, Jesus begins to speak and the first question He asks is, “What are you seeking?”

Notice He doesn’t ask them… ‘who are you seeking’?

He asks, “What are you seeking?” Jesus wants these two men to examine their hearts and motives.

Those that were disciples of John the Baptizer most likely understood what it meant to be convicted of their sins and looked forward to the coming of the Messiah who be able to grant the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus wanted the men to be able to examine their motives and clarify in their own hearts, what they really wanted from Jesus.

People seek Jesus for all kinds of reasons.

Some people seek Jesus for good health, financial stability, moral uprightness, community… others seek Jesus because they understand how broken their hearts and lives are because of sin and long to be forgiven.

Jesus asks this simple, but deeply soul searching question… “What are you seeking?

What is your motivation for following me?”

It seems like the two men don’t know how to respond, so they ask a question of their own.

Look at verse 38, … And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

With this question the two men show respect for Jesus by calling Him “Rabbi”, but they are also revealing their desire to spend time with Jesus and see if he is the One that they want to commit their lives to as disciples.

Understanding a little bit about the Hebrew discipleship culture gives a lot of insight into this discussion going on between Jesus and those interested in Him.

Elementary level: boys and girls would be taught and memorize the Torah, the first five books of the bible.

Intermediate level: boys 12-15 would go on to study other parts of the OT (prophets, psalms, historical books).

Advanced level: By this time boys 16 and up would have the majority of the OT memorized and would be in search of a Rabbi that had a walk with God that they wanted to have.

They would follow him….

until the Rabbi would turn and ask a question.

How the boy answered the question would determine if the Rabbi would “call” him to be his disciple.

If the boy answered the Rabbi successfully, then the Rabbi would officially “call” the boy by saying “follow me”.

It is also interest to point out that within the Jewish tradition when you became a disciple of someone, you were a disciple of that person for life.

So, it is very counter cultural for John to point his disciples to Jesus.

These two men, who are interested in Jesus but not yet disciples of Jesus, are probably Andrew and John (apostle), ask Jesus where he is staying in hopes that they could spend time with him.

Look at how Jesus responds in verse 39.

This is one of the two commands of Jesus that we will look at today.

Jesus answers the men by saying “Come and see”!

These two men were interested in Jesus, and Jesus extends them the invitation to come spend time with him and and learn more about him.

Now, the question I have is, what did these two men learn about Jesus by spending the day with him?

I think the actions of Andrew in verses 40-42 give us an idea of what they learned by accepting Jesus’ call for investigation.

Let’s look at verse 40…