Follow, Follow, Follow

John 1:35-52

When did you follow Jesus?

What was the precise moment you followed Jesus? How much did you really get then? How much did you really understand then?

It was partial. You were mistaken. You were confused. You had some bad theology. And you followed Jesus in new ways at different times.

We come to Jesus with doubts and assumptions. Jesus calls us, knows us, and will show us more.

We come to Jesus partially. Always.

He knows us perfectly. Always.

John’s Disciples

John 1:35-51

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

Recall that Jesus had already been baptized by John, and John had already said this about Jesus. Now he is calling out “Lamb of God” to his apostles. What he meant by it was not everything we understand by it, that he is the sacrificial lamb of God, but it was clearly a special designation and one that intrigued them.

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

I love this. Jesus walking along, turns around “ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?!!!” “What do you want?!”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

As John so often does, there are to layers here. They ask, literally, where are you “abiding”… and he answers “Oh, you are going to see!”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Different story in Luke 4.

Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law

Jesus teaches Peter (the master fisherman) how to fish… at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

And the full revelation of Peter’s name doesn’t come until later in Jesus’ ministry. But Jesus already sees his heart.

And Jesus calls him in such a way as to make him that which he calls him.

The picture we get of the disciples is not a one-time call. It more closely resembles our own experience of following Jesus. They heard about Jesus. They had a brother or friend drag them to see Jesus, meet Jesus in some way. They found out a little about Jesus. Then a little more.

Somewhere among those encounters they started considering themselves “followers”… but that relationship deepened. At some point the disciples became “full-time” followers, leaving their full-time jobs to just follow Jesus.

And all the time, they brought doubts and misunderstandings. They had partial understandings of Jesus. They didn’t get it all.

But they came to Jesus anyway… and no matter how confused they were, how partial there understanding and how committed to following him… Jesus saw them truly. So at this very earliest moment, where maybe Peter is still just curious, Jesus can call him the rock, a rock upon which, or upon his testimony he can build his church.

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Who is Nathaniel?

And notice the theology here. Yes, we have some possible Messianic recognition. But it’s Jesus of Nazareth (and he is known by that) but not Jesus of Bethlehem. And Jesus son of Joseph… not so much.

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

Straight up racist Nathanael. At least prejudiced. Nazareth was the wrong town, it was possibly associated with too much Jerusalem influence, an outcast from the Galilean region.

But it is pretty silly given how close these seem to us now.

Map of Galilee over Denver

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Jesus sees racist, prejudiced Nathanael… and he does not reject him for his doubts. For his skepticism. For his questions. In fact, he praises him, and the only referent we have for that praise is Nathanael being so upfront with his skepticism.

Jesus sees the heart. And he isn’t scared of Nathanael’s skepticism or questions. As we’ll see.

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

What was Nathanael doing under the fig tree? Because he is really impressed by this fig tree thing. Was it his secret fig tree? Was he eating the figs? Napping? Recent archeological evidence shows that Nathanael was the national hide-and-seek champion and this was his favorite hiding spot.

We don’t know. But as Jesus has seen Nathanael’s heart… he has also seen his actions.

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Master… you are the Son of God. We read these words and thought “he gets it”. But Son of God probably meant something like “very godly person” in the same way “son of iniquity” or “son of a … gun” (or other words) means someone who is not very nice. Son of God might mean something like righteous person.

But King of Israel. This was a term Jesus was very reluctant to embrace because it was so incredibly politically charged. It was true… but His Kingdom was going to be a very different thing than they expected.

So Nathanael speaks some true words, he speaks truer than he knows. But at the same time, he reveals some massive misconceptions of who Jesus is, of his purpose, of his plan. He is impressed by Jesus immediate miracle of knowledge… but it is shallow, partial, and confused.

Nathanael came to Jesus with his doubts. He is wrong and confused about who Jesus is.

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Buddy… you haven’t seen anything yet!

Come to Jesus, you haven’t seen anything yet

No matter where you are in your following of Jesus. Maybe you have just heard the name. Maybe you have been getting to know Jesus for years.

You come to Jesus with misconceptions. With doubts.

You come to Jesus confused about who he is. I come confused about who he is. He still surprises me. He can still surprise Pastor Rod. It is as if we cannot fully model an infinite and eternal intellect, a person beyond time and space. Fancy that.

But we follow what we do know. We follow because he continues to show that he is worthy, that he is beyond us, but he is for us. He loves us. He loves you. He loves me.

We come to Jesus again and again. Just as Peter did. We follow at new levels. In new dimensions. With renewed passion, with new life chapters and experiences. We make daily choices to get up and follow Jesus, discover him, and follow him as our Master.

And we treasure the signs we have seen of Jesus at work in our lives.

We come to Jesus partially

But I think we can take Nathanael’s words to heart. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Jesus knows you perfectly

Jesus calls us prophetically

Jesus promises more

Our Church Hasn’t Seen Anything Yet

We have a story of how we have been following Jesus. In our vision. In worship, in service, in fellowship, in holy living, in edification, in outreach. And we have many things right. Like John the Baptist, like Peter and Andrew, like Nathanael, and often we probably speak better than we actually know.

And we have all the Jesus moments, all the times he has shown up for us and to us, the ways he has spoken to us and through us.

But I believe Jesus looks at us, loves us. Nathanael literally means gift of God… can Jesus look at us and say “you are a gift to me…” and you haven’t seen anything yet.

You will see heaven open up and angels descending and ascending on the Son of Man.