Encountering Jesus

John 1:35-43

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

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”).

PHILIP AND NATHANAEL

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.”

1. A Question (What are you looking for?)

I really love the question Jesus poses to the two disciples of John the Baptist who start following him after their leader has told them, “Look, here is the Lamb of God.”

Well, these followers of John hear this, and they decide to leave John behind, to switch horses in midstream as it were, and take off after this new person.

Jesus turns around and sees them tagging along behind him, (who knows how close or how far they physically are from him at that point, but they are in hearing distance) and he turns and says to them, “What are you looking for?” What do you want? What are you seeking?

So many of us go through life searching - looking for the thing that will make us happier, enable us to live a fuller life, solve all our problems. We are on the lookout for that thing that will give our lives more meaning, that will point us in the right direction, that will make us feel like we’re not doing so badly at this game called life.

The world, of course, offers its solutions -- buy more stuff, find fulfillment in relationships, look out for yourself, try this self-help routine or that diet -- and while our lives may be filled with good things, that deeper longing yet remains. Something important is still missing.

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

― C.S. Lewis

Jeremiah 29:13

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 29

13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7-8

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 7

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

John 6:35

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.

(Self Evaluation) What am I seeking after?

Call to Prayer