Come and See

John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  34:46
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Intro
What do you want? What do we all want? People want a lot of things.
We live in a dark world, full of evil people doing evil things. A dark world full of sickness, and decay. Decay. Everything is going down hill. There are moments when things seem to improve, but ultimately, things are deteriorating. Our nation. Our families. Our health.
As we gather with family at Thanksgiving, it is a great blessing to be together. But, how quickly when we gather do the thoughts and conversations turn to the hurts, the difficulties of this world and our lives?
What I love about Thanksgiving is that while we gather, and know the hurts of this world, the nature of the holiday is to remember the blessings, the good things which are also there. The things with which God blesses us, and reminds us that we are not alone!
The book of John is a great source of encouragement, as well, because it is a reminder that though we live in a dark world, there is hope. There is light!
Jesus, the Light, the Life. We need light and life today.
John came as a witness to the light. The way we know something is true, is because someone who knows shares it with us. John knew. He had the Holy Spirit within him from the womb. He was given signs from God himself. He saw those signs, and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt who Jesus was; the savior of the world! The lamb of God who would finally take away the sin of everyone in the world!
John came as a witness so that people would believe through his witness. And, so that anyone who believes would become none other than a child of God! Wow! The Creator of all, the Lord of All is the Father of those who believe in Jesus!
Today’s passage tells us of two that heard John’s witness, John’s testimony, and believed.
John 1:35–42 NIV
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Prayer

“Look, the Lamb of God!”

This passage is the next in a series of days. The first day recorded by the Apostle John in this, his gospel narrative, was when priests and Levites were sent by the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem to determine who John was.
John did not fail to testify, give witness, that he was not the Messiah, nor the prophet, nor Elijah. He drew attention to the fact that a great one was already among them.
The next day, or the second in this sequence of days as recorded by the Apostle John, was when John the Baptist declared, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Then, he goes on to explain the sign God gave him, and how he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was God’s chosen one, the savior of the world!
Now, the next day after that, John the Baptist again sees Jesus, and once again, declares, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
I believe the Apostle John was one of the two disciples that heard John the Baptist declare this. He likely was an eyewitness to each of these days, and now, he and Andrew once again hear John’s declaration about Jesus being the Lamb of God.
A disciple is someone who attaches them-self to a particular teacher to learn from them. John and Andrew had attached themselves to John the Baptist. This guy had won them over. They believed he had something to teach them, and they wanted to learn.
Finally, on the third day of him referring to Jesus as the one he came to point out, because Jesus is greater than he is; Jesus is the one God had chosen to save the world. Jesus is the Messiah! Finally, they realize, John wants point them to Jesus, not to make them followers of himself. John was all about pointing out Jesus, so people would believe in Jesus, not John.
Ah-hah! The light bulb goes on, and what do Andrew and John do?

They followed Jesus

What does it mean that they followed him?
The word ‘to follow’ is used in many instances as a synonym for a disciple. One who follows after. One who learns from, and imitates the one they are learning from.
We are all followers. We may idealize the person who is their own. We may idealize the independent one. But, really, we are all followers.
Pie example.
We all follow. We don’t even realize we are followers most of the time. We think we are doing our own thing, when the reality is we are followers. We have learned from someone. We follow that example. We live like the one we follow.
Galatians 5:16-26 talks about how we follow one of two leaders.

“What do you want?”

This is when Jesus asked them what they wanted. You see, people follow different leaders for different reasons. Jesus had this as well. Remember when he fed the 5000? You can find an account of that in John 6. People went out to Jesus. He taught them, and then he fed them miraculously. He provided food for them in the wilderness as a sign of who He was—the very God who provided for their ancestors in the wilderness.
That night, Jesus went to the other side of the lake. In the morning the people followed him. He called them out because they were following him for food for their bellies. He challenged them to want more that just temporal, physical nourishment. He reminded them that their ancestors ate the manna and died. The real need is not just for the physical life in this world, but for eternal life! Life with God now, and for eternity!
Jesus knows that people follow for a lot of reasons. Most of them temporally-minded, not eternity-minded.
So, Jesus asks these two men who are following him, “What do you want?”
“Rabbi, where are you staying?”
They called him, “Rabbi.” John explains that this means ‘teacher’. They recognized there was something about Jesus. John had said he was the ‘Lamb of God’. What is that all about? Who is this guy that John says was before him? Who is this that John says is greater than he is? Who is this that John would say he was not even worthy to untie the thong of his sandal?
They came to Jesus, and the thing they wanted was to learn. They wanted him to teach them. They wanted to know him, and learn from him.

“Come, and you will see.”

This is possibly my favorite portion of this passage. “Come, and you will see.”
Jesus did not inquire, “Who are you?” He didn’t say, “Why should I tell you?” He didn’t say, “What are your qualifications?”
The fact is, Jesus already knew these men. He is God! He knows everything. An example of this occurs just after this when he says He saw Nathanael under the fig tree. Jesus being God, knew these guys.
He could have said, John, I know you. You are a hot-head. You are not worthy of being my disciple. He did not say, “John, I know that you will not be faithful. Even after I invest in you for three years, you will not stay up to pray with me and support me. You will run and hide when I am betrayed.”
But instead of saying those things, Jesus, full of grace and truth, says, ‘Come.’ He invites them to be with him.
This is the invitation God has been giving since He created man.
Isaiah 1:18 NIV
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Isaiah 49:9 NIV
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.
Matthew 4:19 NIV
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Matthew 11:28 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 14:29 NIV
“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matthew 19:14 NIV
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
God has been saying, “Come,” for a long time. He knows all about us. He knows how sinful we are. He knows how unworthy we are. He knows how we will fail him. He knows, and he still says, ‘Come.’ He wants us!

They spent that day with Him

So, after his invitation, they spent the day with him. They wanted to learn, and they knew he was the one they wanted to learn from. So, they spent the day with him.
How important is that? Well, they could have spent some time on the road with him, and then said, “Thank you. That’s good for now. We see where you are staying.” But they did not. They knew they needed to learn from him, so they spent the time learning from him.
Have you ever known someone who needed help, yet, when it was offered, they wouldn’t take it? Actually, We are all guilty of being like that aren’t we? We know we need help, but we don’t want to take the time to receive. We don’t want to be reliant on someone else. We think, I can do this.
How many of us treat Jesus like that? We say we need Him. We call him, Rabbi, teacher. We know he has life, and offers to give us what we need, but we don’t really take the time to learn from him. We don’t really spend time learning from him. We follow all kinds of other teachers, but don’t take the time to learn from him!
What an example Andrew and John give us. They not only acknowledged that they knew Jesus was the one they needed to learn from. They actually took the time to learn from him.

The first thing he did

Then, after spending the evening with Jesus, learning from him, what is the first thing they did? They went out and told the people they knew. We have found the Messiah!! We have found the one that God promised! We have found the source of hope! We have found the source of life and light for us in this dark world!
They could not keep it to themselves! They were excited at finding light and life! They knew their families and friends needed this, so the first thing they did, was go and tell!
But the emphasis was not on them knowing. The emphasis was not, “I have the answers! I can tell you.” No, the emphasis was on…

He brought him to Jesus

The emphasis was on Jesus! Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, so Peter could learn from Jesus! The emphasis was not on them being able to explain everything to their friends and families, but on bringing them to Jesus to learn from Him!

What about me?

Am I following?
What am I seeking?
Do I look to Jesus as my teacher?
Do I spend time with Him?
Who am I looking to tell?
Homework:
Read John 1 again.
Read John 1:43; 8:12; 12:26; 21:19, 20, 22. What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does Jesus mean when he says, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life?”
Read John 1:35-42. Jesus asked the two following him, “What do you want?” There were many people Jesus met, who wanted different things. List out some of the people Jesus met who wanted something, and what they wanted. Peruse the gospels to make the list. Did they receive what they wanted? Even though they may have received what they wanted, were they truly better off? Were they still in this dark world? What did these two men want? What do you want?
Read John 1:35-42. These two men came to Jesus to be taught. They called him, ‘teacher’. When you go to Jesus each day, do you truly come to be taught, or to fulfill some ritual? Ask Jesus to give you a heart to learn.
Read John 1:35-42. These two men came to spend a good amount of time with Jesus. How much time do you spend with Jesus each day?
Read Galatians 5:16-26. There are only two options in life. Live by the ____, or live by the ____. We are all followers. Who do you and I follow each day? Do you find the fruit of your actions being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Who are you following? Ask God to give you a heart to follow him!
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