John 1:35-51
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro/Background
Last week we talked mostly about John the Baptist
His life could be summed up in 2 primary - humility and boldness
He was so humble in that he pointed everything to Jesus
He could have bragged about his family, his background in the priestly order, that he was the cousin of the Messiah, or that his ministry was going amazing and a ton of people were following him
But he never did, he always pointed everything to Jesus.
And when Jesus showed up to get baptized, he said that he wasn’t worthy to even tie His shoes, much less baptize Him
He also was bold
He wasn’t afraid when people were asking him questions on why he was living the way he was, or why he kept talking about Jesus and pointing people to him
The people around John knew what his life was about - a great example for us to be bold in our faith.
Tonight we’re going to talk about more followers of Jesus - the disciples
We’re going to study how He called 5 different men to follow Him - John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael
A disciple is someone who is a student, or a follower. So to be called to be Jesus’ disciple meant these guys were called to follow Him and be His student
Life was going to be focused on their new Rabbi (teacher) and they would follow His teaching and go where He called them to go and do what He called them to do
That’s the same call Jesus has for us - to be His disciples. To study His teachings, to go where He calls us to go, and to do what He calls us to do
Lesson - John 1:35-51.
Verses 35-39
So John the baptist was hanging out with a couple of his disciples.
We’ll see one is Andrew here in a few verses, and most Bible teachers this the other is John, the writer of this gospel.
John never refers to himself by name, so that’s why he skipped out here
So John the Baptist is with other John and Andrew and he sees Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God”
John the Baptist said this last week about Jesus too
Lamb of God refers to the sacrificial lamb that the priests would offer to God to cover their sins. So this title Lamb of God speaks to the upcoming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to forgive us of our sins
So John the Baptist basically hands his two boys off to follow after Jesus
Again, humility. This meant John the Baptist’s mission was over, probably a hard thing to wrestle with
But in humility he did it b/c following after Jesus is so much more important than getting people to follow us
Jesus then asks them this really interesting question, “What do you seek”
“What are you looking for in life Andrew and John?”
That’s a question that He’s asking all of us. What are you truly looking for in your life. That’s only a question you can answer. No tricks, no games, nothing superficial, what do you want in life?
The reason Jesus asked them is b/c He is the only one that can truly satisfy the longings of our soul. Nothing or no one else can do that
Verses 40-42
So we’re introduced to Andrew here by name and we learn that he has a brother named Simon Peter
After Andrew starts to follow Jesus, the first thing he does is go find his brother and tell him to follow Jesus too.
He says, “We found the Messiah/Christ!”
Jesus Christ is His name + title - Christ = Messiah = Savior
Andrew brings his brother to meet Jesus
Another great example for us to follow. As disciples of Jesus, we need to be bringing other people to Him too!
Jesus meets Peter and immediately changes his name from Simon (means, “shifting sand”) to Cephas (or Peter, means, “a stone”)
Jesus is all about the business of changing lives
Simon, you once were unsteady, unstable, not reliable, irritating (sand gets everywhere!)
But now with Me, you are steady, solid, a firm foundation, durable
That’s what He wants to do with each one of us. He wants us to come to Him as we are, but then He doesn’t leave us that way. He wants to make us a new creation that can be used for His good works.
He doesn’t set the bar ahead of time (“do these good things then you can follow me!”), He just calls us to be His disciples and when we commit, that’s when He starts to work
Verses 43-46
So we meet a couple of other new disciples here.
Philip lived in the same city of that Andrew and Peter did - Bethsaida
The other gospels tell us that Jesus and Philip had met before, but this was the moment He officially called him to be a disciple.
And it’s such a simple command, “follow Me”
That’s really all Jesus is calling us to do, follow Him
And Philip does the same thing Andrew did and goes and finds someone to tell about Jesus
He goes to Nathanael and says, “We found the Messiah! It’s some dude named Jesus from the town of Nazareth”
If you remember your Bible, you remember that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, lived there for ~2 years, then moved to Egypt to avoid being killed by Herod the Great. He came back to Israel and moved to Nazareth, the tiny little town that Mary and Joseph came from.
That’s where He grew up, in a tiny little nothing town that had a reputation for nothing
Nathanael even mocks the idea that something good could come from that town.
Just like CU - can anything good come from that college???
I love Philip’s response though, “Come and see”
This is an amazing strategy for us when we want to witness and share Jesus with our friends
As you try to tell others about Him, invite them to come and find out who Jesus is.
Tell story of IBS and Pizza @ CSU Navs
Verses 47-51
So the next day Nathanael is hanging out and Jesus comes walking up to him
He says something like, “look at this guy! This is a good dude here”
Nathanael says, “uh, do we know each other?”
Jesus replies, “Yeah, before Philip came to tell you about me, I saw you sitting under a tree”
This isn’t just a “Oh I saw you by that tree yesterday” this is actually a lot deeper than that
You see Rabbis (teachers) in this day would have their students (disciples) do their quiet times in the Word underneath a fig tree
So when Jesus says “I met you under the fig tree,” He’s saying to him that He’s been the Messiah that Nathanael had been reading about in scripture his whole life
The Bible doesn’t come out and say it, but I have this feeling that the day before, right before Philip called Nathanael to be a disciple of Jesus, that Nathanael was doing his quiet time and reading about something on the promised Messiah
God speaks to our lives through His word. This isn’t story time, or a history lesson, or a pep talk. God’s word is living and useful for us, and that’s how He communicates to us!
I can’t tell you how many times God has so clearly spoken to me and a situation I’m facing through His word
Be faithful to spend time in it every day - another trait of a disciple!
So when Jesus brings this whole scenario up, Nathanael is blown away - “You are the Messiah!”
Jesus responds, “Look, I just said I saw you reading your Bible under a fig tree and you’re all in as a disciple? You ain’t seen nothing yet”
We will see exactly what Jesus is talking about over the next several weeks as we continue through John
Small Groups
Sample Small Group Questions
Sample Small Group Questions
What does the word disciple mean? What are some things that a disciple does?
One trait of a disciple is that they are inviting others to follow after Jesus too. We saw several great examples of that in our study tonight. Talk about one example that we studied tonight and how it encouraged you to share Jesus with someone else.
A disciple’s life is changed by Jesus after follow Him. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and talk about what that verse says on having your life changed by Jesus.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Why doesn’t Jesus require us to change our lives first before we can follow Him?
The third trait of a disciple we talked about tonight is reading His word. Why is that such an important part of being a disciple of Jesus?
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17. What are the benefits of reading God’s word according to those verses?
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
How are your daily quiet times going?
If you have been doing them consistently, share an encouragement with the group on how you make time for it each day.
If you haven’t been doing them consistently, what are some things you can try this week to get time in God’s Word each day?
Prayer Requests and Group Prayer
ADVERTISEMENT