JOHN 1:35-39 PODCAST
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 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?” 39 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). ~ John 1:35-39
According to our text, John the Baptist identifies the Lord Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” In order for us to have a personal relationship with God, we must first have that which separates us from God dealt with. The only real access we have to the Living God is through the doorway of forgiveness of sin. When we come to God and confess our need for Him, then we have an open door into the Kingdom of God. We will never enter into a personal relationship with God until we recognize the Lord Jesus as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Someone once said, "Jesus will not be all that we need until He is all that we have."
In Christ Jesus, God sent the final sacrifice for sin that would end all other sacrifices. Jesus would die in our place the way the Lamb was sacrificed in the Old Testament in the place of the sinner. In our text, two of John the Baptist's disciples recognized and followed Jesus.
One of those disciples was, Andrew, the brother of Peter. Everyone asks, "Who was the other one?" We are not told; his name is not given here. Yet, it probably was Andrew's brother, Peter. It could have been John or his brother James. I don't thin it really matters. The point is: these two who have followed John the Baptist, followed Jesus because they recognized Him as the long awaited Messiah.
Following the Lord Jesus is not heroic. We follow him not the way David’s mighty men followed him to serve him and protect him as their revered sovereign. No. We follow Him the way sheep follow the shepherd, because we need His protected and provision.
In response to the question of these two, Jesus asked them, “What do you seek?” Those are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John and they are very remarkable. According to this, they are also the very first words Jesus uttered in his public ministry; and they come in the form of a question.
These four words go right to the heart of life. In them Jesus asks the most profound question in anyone's life: "What are you looking for?" Did you ever ask yourself, "Why am I here? What do I really want out of life?" That is the most penetrating question you can ask yourself.
The Lord Jesus nailed those men immediately with the question, "What do you seek?" Not, "Whom do you seek?" That would be the natural question to ask under the circumstances. No, Jesus asked What? What are you looking for? What do you really want? That is the supreme question in life: What do you want?
They responded, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” Andrew probably asked this question, since he appears in the gospels as a very warm, friendly, approachable human being. He is the one who received the little boy who had five loaves and two fishes when Jesus fed the five thousand. He is the one who brought Peter to the Lord. He is very approachable, but he is very cautious and careful.
The in v.39, the Lord Jesus "said to them, “Come and you will see.” That is an invitation to investigate. Like anyone being invited to follow the Lord Jesus, these two were men who needed time to investigate. So they came and saw where he was staying. What they found was not that fascinating, they mention nothing about the place. It, now, was about the person, and they could not tear themselves away from the Lord Jesus. According to John, it was 4pm. From this encounter, Jesus now has two disciples.
This is what it means to be a Christian. To follow Jesus Christ on a given day. Being a Christian is one who has entered into a personal relationship with God. This means, we are actively looking for God in our lives, every day. We are interacting with Him and He with us. It's not about what we do, it's about our connection with God. Christianity is believing God is not only there, but that He is here in my life right now. It is a life of faith in God's involvement in our lives.
This faith is not our way around pain, it is the way through pain. Faith doesn't get rid of the opposition, it invites it over for dinner. Faith doesn't give us the winning point at the last second, it ties the game and sends us into overtime. This faith doesn't give us the solution, it forces us to find it in a personal relationship with the Living One.
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