Come and see!

Introduction:

1. When we moved to California, I came out 7 months in advance of Bev.
• She had a school contract to fulfill.
• Our son was in his last year of high school.
2. The experience was surreal.
• We had a marriage of 22 years. Most of our time had been spent together.
• I found myself seeing and experiencing things that I wished she could see.
3. Midway through the 7 months of separation she came for a long weekend visit.
• I took her to San Francisco, her first time to be there.
• You've got to see Golden Gate Park. You've got to see the Golden Gate Bridge. You've got to see Chinatown.
• My enthusiasm was overflowing. I wanted her to experience what I had experienced.

I. This is the Lamb of God:

1. I was talking recently to a friend in City government. We were talking about some matters relative to the Chamber and the City. In the conversation he said, "I believe 2 things. There is a God. I am not Him." John said essentially the same thing to priests and
• Are you the Messiah?
• I am not; I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
2. The next day John saw Jesus and said, Here is the Lam of God; this is the one I've been talking about. John 1:29-30.
3. The next day John was with two of his disciples, and he reiterated what he had said previously. Look, here is the Lamb of God. John 1:35.
4. John's confidence and enthusiasm about Jesus were instrumental in his relationships with others.
5. Believing Jesus is who he claims to be causes a set of personal consequences.
• Imagine what John did as a result of believing he was a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare for Messiah. John 1:23.
• Ethical consequences. Life changes. Deciding for ministry.

II. Come and see:

1. Come and see is what you say when you've seen something extraordinary.
2. We took friends to Europe with us because we wanted them to see.
• Come and see the Eiffel Tower.
• Come and see the Louvre.
• Come and see Dachau.
• Come and see St. Marks Square.
• Come and see the Colosseum.
3. So in the first chapter of John there are come and see stories.
• John the Baptist recruits his own disciples, John 1:39.
• Andrew recruited his own brother Peter, John 1:41.
• Philip recruited Nathanael, John 1:45.
4. Come and see is possibly the best thing you can say to someone. What is more convincing than:
• Having someone you trust who says Come and see.
• Or seeing it with your own eyes.

III. Seeing the value of a thing:

1. Jesus told two parables which illustrate the nature of discipleship and perhaps what is happening with the come and see folks.
• The first parable, Matthew 13:44, is about a fellow who stumbles on a treasure hidden in a field and practically breaks his neck to purchase the field.
• The second parable is about a business man who finds a pearl of such great price that he sells everything to purchase it.
2. Dallas Willard writes that These little stories perfectly express the condition of sould in one who chooses life in the kingdom with Jesus. The sense of the goodness to be achieved by that choice, of the opportunity that may be missed, the love for the value discovered, the excitement and joy over it all, is exactly the same as it was for those who were drawn to Jesus in those long-ago days when he first walked among us.

Conclusion:

1. Because we have the stories of these people, we know what the trajectory of the lives of these disciples was. The decisions made on this day led to discipleship and often death.
2. But Jesus said, No one who looks back after putting his hand to the plough is suited to the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62.
3. The entire pooint of the passage is that as long as one thinks anything may really be more valuable than fellowship with Jesus in his kingdom, one cannot learn from him. People who have not gotten the basic facts about their life straight will not do the things that make learning from Jesus possible and will never be able to understand the basic points in the lessons to be learned.
4. Anyone who really sees Jesus is impressed with him. They say, come and see. And that is the first step in a life of discipleship.