Come & See: John 1:19-51 Reflections

Read John 1:19-51

After his baptism, John the baptism, who is with his disciples, sees Jesus passing by and point him out proclaiming, “Look, the Lamb of God.” As soon as John’s disciples hear John say this, they leave their teacher John to follow Jesus. We have to remember, that John’s disciples, or followers, have spent numerous occasions with their teacher hearing him speak of the coming Messiah. If the purpose of John’s ministry was to testify to this coming Messiah, of course it would only make sense that John’s disciples would follow Jesus. Imagine if you spent all day with someone you deeply admire and respect and all they did was talk about the greatness of someone else who you’ve never met. When you finally got the chance to meet this person, wouldn’t you too want to spend time with them if at the very least for the opportunity to understand for yourself what they hype was all about? This is the situation that John’s disciples find themselves in (which begs the question for those of us who believe, how do we represent God to people who do not know Him? Do we hype Him up as someone who is worth getting to know because His very existence and presence in our lives has completely transformed us? Is our faith about a life changing relationship with the risen Savior or is our faith merely a routine or set of beliefs that we abide by out of habit? If our awareness or relationship with Jesus is merely lackluster and nothing worth boasting about to our friends, and even strangers, maybe we haven’t really experienced the splendor of His majesty—maybe we need a fresh encounter with the risen Savior and living God who is offering us life and life more abundantly in Him.)

In awe of Jesus presence based solely on John’s testimony, John’s disciples follow Jesus hoping that they too may get to know him. Jesus sees them following and doesn’t dismiss them, but rather he presents them with a question. “What do you want?” The disciples responds, maybe somewhat befuddled, unsure of what to ask for “Rabbi, where are you staying?” This may seem like a strange question, but it seems that in asking him where he resides, they disciples may be asking for a chance to come to get to know Jesus. This encounter sort of begs the following question, if you had a chance to encounter the Savior of the world and he turned around to ask you “what do you want?” What would you say? What or who has brought you to Jesus? What are you looking for? Did you hear someone talk about him and come to see for yourself what the hype was all about? Is there something that you’ve been looking for in other places that you have yet to find so you’ve decided to give Him a try? Like Jews at the time, is there an expectancy you’re looking for that you’re hoping may be fulfilled in Him?

Whatever it is, in the same way that Jesus responds “come…and you will see” (vs. 39) to the disciples and then invites them to spend the day with him. Regardless of our motives for approaching Jesus, Jesus may be inviting us to do the same—to come and see; to come and spend time with him; to come and get to know him. We learn here that Jesus is invitational. He doesn’t supply the disciples with a list of commands, but rather He invites them to come and get to know Him.

We are not told exactly what happens during the course of the disciples spending the day with Jesus, but whatever it is, we know that it must be spectacular enough for Andrew to go and find his brother Simon and proclaim that “[they] have found the Messiah” and then go bring him to Jesus that he chain of events that is taking place and the pattern that is developing? John the Baptist has testified to the awesome wonders of Jesus, his testimony has led his disciples to want to get to know Jesus, they go for themselves to see who this Jesus is and what he’s all about, and they then have a life changing encounter that leads to testify to others about the greatness of the Messiah and call others to come see for themselves what He is all about. Believers who have had a life-changing encounter with Christ are called to participate in this same pattern of testifying to the greatness of the Messiah and life-changing experiences we’ve had or are having with Him. This is, in fact, the call of the Great Commission (Acts 1:8) to live as Jesus’ witnesses to the ends of the Earth testifying to all we’ve seen and experienced in Him. Is your relationship with Christ life-changing enough to call others to experience for themselves the goodness of the Messiah? What keeps us from witnessing?

Immediately upon looking at Simon, when his brother Andrew brings him to Jesus, we are told that Jesus changes Simon’s name to Cephas or Peter. In the synoptic gospels, we are told that Peter means “Rock” and that Jesus proclaims that Peter is the rock upon which he would come to build his church. And surely enough, Peter becomes one of the apostles responsible for the spread of the good news and the foundation of the early church. What is the significance of a name change? Historically, and still today in many cultures, names are chosen with so much care and intentionality because of the significance they carry. Oftentimes, it was believed that one’s name was meant to speak to his or her purpose and identity. And yet, the people often responsible for choosing one’s name is more often than not one’s parents, family members, or those who have authority over the baby or individual.

Jesus finds Philip and calls Phillip to follow him. Philip in turn goes and finds Nathanael testifying that he has “found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (vs. 45). Here, we see that Philip too, after spending time with Jesus is convinced that this is no ordinary man, but rather that Jesus, is indeed the coming Messiah attested to by Jewish prophets. Once again, we see the pattern of people encountering Jesus and calling others to know him. And yet Nathanael is not easily convinced. Nathanael is skeptical questioning, whether “anything good [can] come from [Nazareth]” (vs. 46). In spite of his skepticism, Philip invites Nathanael to “come and see” for Himself. I believe that this is the same invitation that we are invited to extend to our friends who are skeptical about Jesus’ identity—to come and see form themselves if Jesus’ is worth all of the hype. When Nathanael encounters Jesus, Jesus tells Nathanael about himself. Jesus has already seen him from afar and knows who he is before he even introduces himself. How does it feel to know that before you even come to Jesus, he has already seen you, he already knows you, he has been seeking you out, and in a way, he is waiting for you to come and know him for yourself—maybe even in spite of your skepticism?

From this simple encounter, Nathanael’s mind is blown. He becomes convinced that Jesus is indeed both the Son of God and the King of Israel. Jesus has gone beyond Nathanael’s expectations and surprised him, but Jesus does not stop there. Jesus promises that he will see “greater things” than that—that “very truly,” he will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” It is amazing how even being fully aware of Nathanael’s skepticism, Jesus pursues Him and meets Him in the midst of His doubts. Nathanael is not repudiated for having doubts, but rather he is still invited to follow Jesus with the promise that as He walks with Jesus, He will see not just great things but the miraculous that will indeed convince him that Jesus is the Son of Man or the Messiah that has come to Earth. (Son of Man is not a term that refers to Jesus’ humanity, but rather it is a term that refers to His divinity and is associated with the Messianic prophecy in Daniel 7:14 when one like a Son of Man will come to Earth in glory and splendor.) Those coming to Christian faith from a more skeptical point of view may take comfort in Jesus’ interaction with Nathanael because Jesus is inviting you too, in spite of your skepticism, to know that if you come on this journey with Him—if you commit to walking with Him—you too will become convinced that Jesus is the Son of God who knows you as you are. And just as Jesus spoke into Nathanael’s life and revealed His identity to Nathanael knowing that it would change Nathanael’s life, He would like to speak into your life and reveal Himself to you that your life too may be changed. Jesus is inviting you on a life-changing journey, are you willing to come? If so, what do you expect that it will be like? If not, what hinders you?