LISTEN TO JESUS - JOHN THE BAPTIST'S DISCIPLES FOLLOW JESUS HOME

LISTEN TO JESUS

JOHN THE BAPTIST’S DISCIPLES

FOLLOW JESUS HOME

What seek ye?

John 1:38

Come and see.

John 1:39

Thou art Simon the son of Jona:

thou shalt be called Cephas,

which is by interpretation, A stone.

John 1:42

John 1:35-37 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Susie: The day after John the Baptist had declared that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus chooses to walk by him again. 

Susan: Perhaps Jesus walked by at that moment because He knew John would take that opportunity to say something, to prophesy about Him once more. 

Susie: Two of John’s disciples were standing there, and John said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 

Susan: Or as we would say, “Look! There He is, the Lamb of God!” These two disciples of John the Baptist, hearing him say this, chose to follow Jesus. 

Susie: John did not try to stop them since his stated purpose was to point others to the Lord, not himself. 

Susan: The fact that they followed Jesus meant that John was fulfilling his divine purpose . . .

Susie: . . . of preparing a way for the Messiah.

John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Susan: Jesus asked them what they were looking for. 

Susie: Some translations have Jesus asking, “What do you want?” They addressed Him as Rabbi or Teacher, a term of respect indicating that they thought they could learn from Him and asked where He was staying.

Susan: They knew that Jesus possessed wisdom they did not have, and they wanted to learn from Him. 

Susie: They may or may not have understood John’s meaning when he called Jesus “the Lamb of God.” However, their teacher, John the Baptist, sent them in His direction which was enough commendation for them to seek Him out.

John 1:39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

Susan: He invited them to follow Him and find out. He asks us to walk with Him as well.

Susie: The detail here indicates that John the Apostle (the writer of this Gospel) was the other disciple of John the Baptist who followed Jesus along with Andrew.

Susan: John’s first meeting with Jesus was so life altering that he remembered the precise hour of the day it happened. 

Susie: The tenth hour would be 10:00 a.m., so they spent the entire day with Jesus.

John 1:40-41 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Susie: This first meeting with Jesus was enough to convince Andrew that He was indeed the Messiah, and he rushed off to share this news with his brother Simon.

Susan: Andrew was extremely excited about Jesus and wanted to share this great news with his brother before sharing with anyone else. At first, Andrew kept it all in the family. 

Susie: When we have exceptionally good news, shouldn’t we want our family to join in the joy with us? He told Simon that he had found the Messiah, the Christ . . .

Susan: . . . both of which mean the Anointed One. 

Susie: Every Jewish man would know about the promised Messiah who would be the Son of God.

John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Susie: Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. The Bible does not tell us . . .

Susan: . . . whether or not Simon came enthusiastically or was dragged kicking and screaming.

Susie: It only says that Andrew brought him. Jesus promptly renamed him Peter which means rock. His renaming of Peter is actually prophetic because later he would become the one to shepherd new believers. 

Susan: Peter seemed an unlikely leader because he was a simple fisherman, had a hot-headed temper, and often had tunnel vision.

Susie: He would leap to follow the Lord walking on water but then would lose focus quickly and start sinking . . .

Susan: . . . as he stared at the obvious problem of the waves rather than the solution standing in front of him. 

Susie: Jesus gave him a name indicating how Jesus would transform him as they walked together. He would not truly become “rock-like” . . .

Susan: . . . (steady and dependable) . . .

Susie:  . . . until the Holy Spirit filled him on the day of Pentecost.   

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     Jesus asks us what we are seeking, what we want, even though He already knows He is the answer to whatever we seek

·     Jesus encourages us to take a close look at Him. The disciples literally followed Him home, but we have the opportunity to follow what is recorded about Him in the Bible

·     Just as He told Peter he would be transformed into a new man, He makes us new when we trust Him

·     John and Andrew spent hours with Jesus the first time they met Him, seeking to soak up all He had to offer. We need to spend time with Him in prayer, by reading His word, and by listening to biblical teaching.