They
said to him “Rabbi,
where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” John 1:39
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 intent Lamb of God,ion 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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