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John 1:35-51 "Come and See"

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas"(which is translated, A Stone). (John 1:35-42)

It is not surprising that John’s disciples left him so quickly and went to follow Jesus. John had done his task well, "making straight the way of the Lord". He had told his followers all along that One who was greater was coming. I am surprised by the difference between this first meeting between Jesus and the disciples, and what that meeting would look like today. When Jesus turned and saw these two men following Him, He asked, "What do you seek?" I love this! They were not seeking the truth, the meaning of life, the answer to their problems. They were not seeking love, healing of broken hearts, comfort or counsel. They were not seeking power over disease or evil spirits or miracles. They were seeking Him. "Teacher, where are You staying?"
Our society has got this exchange backwards. We look at people as disposable. They are a source of something that we want, a supplier, a customer, an information source. Once we have got what it was we were seeking we then hope that they move along quickly to make room for the next person in line. Many of us approach Jesus in just this way. We come to Him seeking answers to the difficult questions. I checked out an Christian internet chat room a couple days ago. It was about 5:00 in the afternoon here, but 3:00 in the morning in America. There happened to be a Japanese man online who was telling some Americans that he could not believe in this God of theirs. He lives in America and has just lost his 20 year old daughter to a three year fight with cancer. He can’t believe that a God of love would do this. And yet at 3:00 in the morning he is in a Christian chat room seeking answers.
We come to Jesus seeking love. We come to Him seeking power because we have found there are many things in this life that we are powerless to do ourselves. We are seekers, we are needy, but are we seeking the right thing? Are we like butterflies, fluttering in close to the flower for a sip of nectar only to flit off again when we are full? Are we like the multitudes who were happy to receive bread for their stomachs but unwilling to receive the One who gave His body to be broken and His blood to be shed for them? "What do you seek?" Let me tell you, if you finally find the answer to your question, another more difficult question will come. Even if you find love in good friends, a wonderful spouse, darling children or grandchildren, you will find that there is still a need that is not yet satisfied. If you receive a miracle, a healing, deliverance from the forces that overwhelm, I have to tell you there are many more things that will come that you will not be able to handle on your own. You can treat Jesus as just one more information/love/power source to be used on the way to the next thing in your life. Or you can answer back to His question, "Where are You staying?"
He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day. Jesus does not do "take-out". He does not deliver. Sure, He comes right to your door and He knocks. Wherever you are, whenever you want you can call on Him and He is there. But He does not just leave the goods and rush off to His next stop. Instead He waits patiently for an invite to come inside and join you in the meal. Jesus never just gives you what you want and leaves. He wants to add something more, draw you out, expand your vision. We think we know what we need. And Jesus is happy to give us what we need, but He goes beyond that adding things into our lives that we never even imagined. You see the questions and the needs that we have are defined by our experience. Our children have a great need for AA batteries. They long for batteries and if they cannot get them it is a sure sign of the end of the world. Why, because it is the week after Christmas and most of their toys require batteries to operate. But children 50 years ago had no need for batteries. Children in the jungles of the Amazon have no need for batteries. They have never even imagined the things. Jesus adds new experiences into our lives that fulfill one set of needs but at the same time open us up to a whole new world. We start to long for the things that God longs for. We start to look past ourselves and love those around us. We forget about our own troubles and search for ways to help others.
One of the two disciples, Andrew, first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" and he brought him to Jesus. Peter was a fisherman, rough, uneducated, impulsive, violent and headstrong. When Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" ( which is translated, A Stone). Notice that Andrew had only spent one day with Jesus. He had not spent years in study and meditation. He was no expert on the Messiah. And yet he went to his brother and brought him to Jesus. Folks, most religious people spend a lot of time contemplating themselves. They are very inward focussed and care little about the rest of the world. But if you spend time with Jesus exactly the opposite will happen. You soon forget yourself and run off to find your brother. Your questions and needs begin to pale, they are not as pressing, as those of others. But for this to happen you have to come and see and remain with Him. You cannot take and run, you must allow Him to come inside. When He comes inside you might be surprised. He might not say "Simon, you unreliable troublemaker, repent and learn discipline in your life." Instead He might call you something that you never dreamed you could be. He might say, "You shall be called Cephas" (A Stone He might change you from what you used to be to be a strong support that others will be able to depend on in the future.

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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." And Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

Nathanael was a straightforward kind of a guy. He was the kind of person who is so serious about their faith that you can make a joke and they think that you are trying to tell them some new spiritual insight. Nathanael knew his Bible and he knew that the Messiah was not supposed to be from Nazareth, but Bethlehem the city of David. Not only that Nazareth was just a small country town of no importance in the Bible whatsoever. I love Philip’s response to Nathanael’s negativity, "Come and see". I wonder Who he learned that line from? Of course it was Jesus. I believe that this really should be our first line of evangelism. You see we Christians have bought into "meeting the needs of seekers", we listen to their questions and do our best to give them answers. We listen to their hurts and do our best to give them comfort and love. We see their diseases and addictions and we do our best to heal and to set them free. But dear Christians, our best, is not all that much better than their best. More than our help they need Him. We try to solve all the problems before we bring them to see Jesus. But what happens is that they go away clothed and fed and satisfied, until they feel a need again. We end up training spiritual butterflies who never land. Philip didn’t even try to answer Nathanael’s objections. He knew in his heart that Jesus was the Christ and he knew that if Nathanael met Jesus the objections wouldn’t make much difference anymore.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael, answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (John 1:43-51)

Nathanael came and saw a man who knew everything about him. It was common for Jewish men to spend their prayer time under the shade of a fig tree. Imagine how surprised Nathanael must have been that Jesus had seen him in his quiet time alone with God under the fig tree. Christians, please don’t miss this! Philip didn’t see Nathanael at prayer. It was before Philip called. Philip could not know what was going on in the depths of Nathanael’s heart, but Jesus did. Jesus knows the depths of every man’s heart. We cannot even hope to understand the man whose daughter died of cancer, or the woman whose daughter is in rebellion or the girl who has been so abused that she cannot see anything of value in herself at all. Even if we have been through similar things, they are only similar at best. But Jesus knows everything about us. All of our love, all of our wisdom, all of our power is not enough for these people. They need Jesus. As we come and see, and receive Jesus into our lives and remain with Him we will be changed. We will forget about our own troubles and instead long to help others to experience the love and wisdom and power of Jesus Christ firsthand. Not only through us, but as they too receive Him into their hearts and remain with Him.

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