The four
Gospels are required to give us an understanding of the formation of a
disciple. We appreciate this as we follow the lives of the first men to check
out Jesus and then throw their lives into His service. Similar principles apply
today.
What
caused Andrew and the other disciple to get to investigate Jesus more closely?
The words of John the Baptist aroused their interest by the statement ‘Here is
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’’ The term ‘Lamb of God’
so permeated their upbringing and National psych it drove them to know more
about this Jesus. Can you reflect upon some incident, or person, that motivated
you to give a more detailed consideration of the Man from Galilee?
Why did
they ask Jesus about his lodgings? Presumably, they had the intension of
dropping by one day. Jesus took their inquiry and turned it into an invitation,
“Come and see.” He didn’t bombard them with irrefutable proofs about Himself
and His ministry. Rather, Jesus gave them ‘breathing space’ to simply get to
know Him even though Jesus knew them. This also applies to His dealings with
us.
I wonder
what they saw! What did they hear? What did they ask? Whatever took place they
wanted more, and they needed to share what they had found. Andrew’s conviction
about Jesus is revealed in his comment to Peter, “We have found the Messiah.”
That is intriguing. Building on John the Baptist’s words, whatever Andrew
asked, or answers Jesus gave, a conviction was born. Over the next three years
Andrew and the others would have that statement of faith severely tested. This
will be true for you and any others who come to the same conclusion on the
evidence presented.
From a
prophetic statement of John a monumental movement began because Jesus simply
said “Come and see.” A look down the time tunnel of history sees similar
incidents occurring when individuals have an encounter with the Messiah. Such
names as Augustine, Francis of Assis1, Martin Luther, John Wesley, C.T. Studd
and a myriad of others spring to mind. You will, undoubtedly, have your own
list.
As you
read the account of the first disciples in John chapter one there is a going
intensity in understanding this Jesus. Simon has a major make-over with his
name. He will be called Cephas which means a piece of stone. It would be some
time before the unstable components of his character were forged into the
significance his new name. That is something similar to our experiences. When
we meet the Master and yield to Him we are given a new name. However, it will
take the daily pressures of life interacting with our faith in Christ for our
new name to ring true.
On what
was probably the third day Jesus begins to move back to Galilee. Why did Philip
respond to Jesus invitation “Follow me?” How did he come to the conviction that
Jesus was the fulfilment of what Moses and the Law pointed to? In sharing it with Nathaniel this conviction
aroused what today would be a politically incorrect comment “Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?”
Once
again the personal encounter with Jesus and Nathanael illustrated the grace of
the Lord. In combining the six individual encounters with Jesus there is a
movement of conviction summed up by man under the fig tree. “Rabbi, you are the
Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Easy words! Words Jesus accepted but
He knew they would be tested later. For us, when we come and see this Jesus and
place our trust in Him, our words will be tested. We can go further than the
original six statements whilst agreeing with them. For we believe Jesus is the
crucified and risen Saviour of the World, the promised Messiah, Son of God,
Lord of Glory. We have bowed by faith before Him and in the words of Thomas
called Him “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).
All that
began for us, as it did for the disciples because Jesus through His servants
says similar words to us, as to the original six “Come and see!”
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