DISCOVERING JESUS
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 9, 2018 under 2018 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday message; September 9, 2018 from John 1:35-41
Theme: The story of Andrew—Peter’s brother—teaches us how Jesus allows us to get to know Him and grow to trust Him.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
His name is Andrew, and he was the brother of the apostle Peter.
The Bible tells us only a little about Andrew. But what it tells us about him is fascinating. For example, in the story of how Jesus fed the multitudes with a little boy’s lunch, it was Andrew who brought that little boy to Jesus. On another occasion, it was Andrew—along with another disciple named Philip—who told Jesus about some Greeks who were seeking Him. I think of Andrew as someone who was characterized by the way he introduced others to Jesus. He was even the one who first introduced his brother Peter to Jesus.
But how did Andrew himself get to know Jesus? We’re told the story of how that happened in John 1:35-41. It’s a story of what happened after John the Baptist had himself begun pointed other people toward Jesus, and it says,
Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ) (John 1:35-41).
I believe that Andrew’s story is important to us because it shows us a little bit about how someone might be drawn to Jesus and get to know Him.
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People sometimes say that there are many ways to God. And that is simply not true. There are not many ways. There is only one way, and Jesus is that one way. He Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). But even though there is only one way to have a saving relationship with the Father—and that is through Jesus—I believe that there are many different ways that we might come to that ‘one way’.
Some of us, for example, grew up hearing about the Lord Jesus through Sunday school or through the teaching of our parents. We were raised to believe on Him. And in time—by God’s grace—we placed a personal faith in Him and He became our Savior. For others of us, though, it may be that we did not grow up hearing much about Jesus at all. Instead, we lived lives of sin and rebellion; but over time we grew to be convicted of our sin, and realized we needed a Savior. Then somewhere, somehow, by God’s grace, we heard about what Jesus has done on the cross to save us from our sins; and we placed our faith in Him and trusted Him as our Savior. For still others of us, it may be we were on a spiritual journey of some kind—seeking answers to life’s deepest questions. And somehow along the way—perhaps by reading the Bible; or perhaps by talking to friends who know Him—we learned about Jesus. The more we got to know the truth about Him, the more we became attracted to Him. We realized—by God’s grace—that we need Him; and we placed our faith in Him, and He became our Savior.
So; I hope you can see what I mean. There is only one way to God the Father, and that is through His Son Jesus Christ. But there are countless different ways that people might come to know and place their faith in that ‘one way’. Each of us is different and unique; and in the providence of God, it may be that each of us needs our own unique way to be brought by the Holy Spirit to that one true way. I believe that Andrew’s story is the story of at least one of those ways. His story is the story of a man who grew—progressively; and by God’s grace—to know, and love, and trust in Jesus Christ. His story has much to teach us.
And as we look a little closer at Andrew’s story of the discovery of Jesus, I hope that you’ll let the Holy Spirit speak to you this morning. It may be that you have known Jesus for years and years; and if so, I hope that Andrew’s story will inspire you to give thanks to the Holy Spirit for how He led you to the Savior. And I hope that Andrew’s story will encourage you with the many different ways that Jesus may be inviting the people around us to get to know Him. Or, if you started off on a journey toward Jesus, but got drawn off the path somewhere along the way—maybe because you were confused about Him or because you became afraid to draw to close to Him—I hope Andrew’s story will encourage you to get back on the journey, and draw close to Jesus, and let Him show you what He is really like. Or, if you have never sought Jesus at all in your life, I especially hope that Andrew’s story will encourage you with the fact that Jesus welcomes you to draw near to Him, and get to know Him, and discover what a wonderful Savior He truly is.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good,” it says in Psalm 34:8; “Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” And that’s what I believe Andrew’s story encourages us to do—to ‘taste and see’ that the Lord Jesus is a wonderful Savior, and that we are ‘blessed’ if we trust Him for salvation.
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So; let’s look at Andrew’s story. You can see how His discovery of Jesus developed in different stages. And I would suggest that the first stage is one that we might title …
1. ‘BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD’.
That was what John the Baptist had said. If you’ll look at our passage, in John 1:35-36, you will read, “Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’”
You see; it had only been a day before that John the Baptist had made that great declaration for the first time. John had been called by God to prepare the way for the coming of the promised Messiah to His people. John was a fiery prophet of God; and people were coming to Him from everywhere to turn from their sins and to be baptized by him. Some even wondered if he was one of the great prophets of old making an appearance in the world again. Some even wondered if he was the Messiah! In John 1:19-27, we read;
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,”’
as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (John 1:19-27).
The anticipation must have been very high in those days! Everyone was wondering who this ‘One’ may be that John—this fiery preacher—was talking about. But the day finally came when John himself was given the assurance of who Jesus is. Jesus had Himself come to John to be baptized. And when Jesus came up from out of the water of baptism in the Jordan River, the heavens opened up above Him, and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him, and the voice of the heavenly Father was heard from the heavens declaring, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).
And so, we read in John 1:29-34;
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God” (vv. 29-34).
And so; that brings us to our passage this morning—and to the beginning of the story of Andrew and his discovery of Jesus. It was the very next day—the day after John had made that marvelous announcement that Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’—that he was standing by with two of his own disciples. Jesus was coming by again; and the Bible tells us—in the original language—that John looked at Him intensely and earnestly. I would say that John was beholding Jesus with a sense of wonder and awe. What a marvel that the Son of God—in human flesh—was walking by. And it was then that he said again, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
And then, do you see what happened in verse 37? We’re told, “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” They apparently also had gazed upon Jesus; and taking John’s words as their cue, they left John and took up to walking behind the Lord Jesus. I don’t believe that John minded that a bit; do you? In John 3:30, John said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John’s ministry was to point people to Jesus; and to tell them, “Behold, the Lamb of God! Here is the Son of God in human flesh—the Messiah! He has come to take away the sin of the world! This is the One that Isaiah the prophet spoke of!—the Suffering Servant!—the One that God promised would bear our sins!” And when people heard John’s testimony, and they turned from John and began to be drawn to Jesus, then that was what John truly would have wanted.
By the way; that is where our spiritual journey toward Jesus must begin. We need to be told about Him. Our attention must be turned to Him. We need to be told who He is—that He is the Son of God; that He is ‘the way’ and ‘the truth’ and ‘the life’; that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we need to ‘behold the Lamb’ for ourselves!
That’s what John the Baptist was doing for the people of his day. That’s what someone did for me one day. That’s what I’m doing this morning! I hope that, by the Holy Spirit, you will hear the appeal from God’s word this morning and ‘behold the Lamb!” There is no one more important to gaze upon and to study intensely than Him.
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Now; I wonder if you would agree with me that Jesus’ act of walking by at that moment was no accident. He came by specifically to be seen, and to be beheld, and to be declared to those that He came to save. And I believe He even came to draw the attention of these two disciples of John to Himself. When we truly ‘behold’ Jesus, it’s by God’s grace that we do so. It certainly was by God’s grace that these two disciples did so. And they took up and began following after Him.
Who were these two disciples, by the way? One of them—of course—we already know. That would be Andrew. But who was the other? Many Bible teachers say—and I have grown to agree with them—that it was most likely John the fisherman; the beloved apostle who was the human author of this very Gospel that we are reading. John had a habit of putting himself in the story while not identifying who he is. And so, I am taking it that it was Andrew the brother of Peter and John the brother of James who were following along behind Jesus—marveling at Him—beholding the Lamb of God that John the Baptist had just pointed out to them.
And that, I believe, leads us to another step in Andrew’s journey toward Jesus. It’s an invitation that follows after our attention is called to Jesus. I think we can call it …
2. ‘COME AND SEE’.
It must be that Andrew’s heart was gripped with wonder—along with John’s heart also. And as they walked along behind Jesus, they wanted to know more. Verse 38 tells us; “Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, ‘What do you seek?’”
Now; you tell me. Do you believe Jesus asked because He didn’t know? I certainly don’t believe so. I believe that He knew exactly what they were seeking. They wanted very much to know more about Him—this one that John the Baptist declared to them as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And Jesus knew that that’s what they wanted.
I have found, as I read along in the Bible, that Jesus sometimes did this sort of thing with people. He would ask questions of them—not because He wanted to know what they wanted, but rather because He wanted to make them think for themselves about what they wanted. He wanted to draw their attention further to Himself. Do you remember the time when old blind Bartimaeus was crying out to Jesus? Jesus called him to Himself and asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51); and it wasn’t because Jesus didn’t know. It was because He wanted Bartimaeus to think about it and say, “that I may receive my sight!” He wanted Bartimaeus to ask Him for a miracle. And I think that’s what He was doing with these two disciples who were following Him. He wanted them to declare what it was they wanted from Him, so that they would be further drawn to Him.
And what they wanted was to know more about Him. “They said to Him, ‘Rabbi’ (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), ‘where are You staying?’” They had heard what John was saying about Him, and they wanted to become better acquainted Him. They wanted to see His life up close. And it’s very interesting to me that Jesus didn’t just simply give them the address of the place He was staying. Instead, He gave them the greatest invitation that any human being could ever have who wants to know more about Jesus. Verse 39 tells us, “He said to them, ‘Come and see.’”
We’re told that they took Him up on His invitation; and that they stayed with Him that day. This passage tells us that it was ‘the tenth hour’; which, in the reckoning of time that John was using in his Gospel, would have been about 4 pm. Some Bible commentators believe that this means that they stayed with Him for much of the day—all the way until very close to the time when the day was over. Others say that it may be that they came to the place where He was staying at 4 pm; which would have meant that they perhaps had an evening meal with Him and stayed into the night. Either way, what a privilege that must have been! He truly gave them time to get to know Him—plenty of time to ‘come and see’ what He is like.
And this reminds me of how you and I also need to take the time to get to know Him and discover what He is like. I remember hearing something once from Dr. John Mitchell, who was one of my Bible teachers in college. He used to tell us students that we should try to take the time to read a little bit from the Gospels every day—from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He told us that these are the biographies of Jesus; and they were where we get to know what Jesus is like. How would He react to different situations? What would He do? What would please Him? So many people in this world have different ideas about Jesus. Everyone has their own opinion. But what is He really like? We need to know the truth about Him. And we learn these things from looking closely at Him for ourselves. It’s from the Gospels that we’re told the stories of what He is like.
And may I suggest that same idea to you too? If you are feeling drawn to Jesus, and you want to know what He is like, may I suggest to you that you read this very Gospel that we’re looking at this morning?—the Gospel of John? John himself—perhaps one of those two disciples who spent this day with Jesus—said at the end of it that he wrote this Gospel “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
Spend time with Him in the Gospels. Get to know this One who is called ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. You’ll see for yourself what a wonderful Savior He is.
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Now; the time came when—after spending all this time with Jesus—Andrew could contain it no longer. He and this other disciple went away; and verse 41 tells us, “He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ).” He ran out and told his brother Peter. When you’ve come to know the truth about Jesus, you yearn to tell others that you love about Him.
And I believe that we get a hint from this of what it is that Andrew and the other disciple learned about Jesus—and perhaps what it was that they talked about together with Him. I think we have a clue in the fact that he told Peter, “We have found the Messiah!” I believe that Andrew discovered that Jesus truly was the Messiah—the promised ‘Lamb of God’ who would take away our sins—the coming One, about whom the Old Testament Scriptures prophesied. Andrew’s heart became fully convicted of who Jesus truly was. In fact, I would suggest to you that this is the name that we could give to this third step in Andrew’s journey toward Jesus …
3. ‘WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!’.
Consider what a deep conviction this was! Perhaps you remember that, later on in the Gospel of John, Jesus sat and spoke with a Samaritan woman at a well. When it was all done, she ran into town and told people, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). She said, “Could this be …?” Perhaps she was still wondering. But it doesn’t seem to me that Andrew wondered at all. He was sure of it. “We have found the Messiah!”
And just as appears to be true of Andrew’s character in other places of the Bible, he ran out and introduced others to this One that He had gotten to know.
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Now; I need to tell you the rest of the story. All of these things must have been brewing deeply in Andrew’s heart—and in Peter’s heart also. And there came a time—I believe sometime after this evening that Andrew and John spent with the Lord—when Jesus came walking by again. We’re told about it in Matthew 4:18-20;
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-20).
That was how they became Jesus’ apostles—and how He used them to help change the world. But it started off by them first hearing about Him and accepting the invitation to draw close to Him and learn more about Him.
That’s what it is my privilege to do today. I have gotten to declare to you that this is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. I hope you will accept His invitation of love draw close to Him and ‘come and see’ what He is like. And I hope that you too will know that, in finding Him, ‘we have found the Messiah!’
EA
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