John 1:35-51 The First Guys

John the Baptist had two men who had been following him and absorbing his teachings.  They were John, who wrote this book, and his friend Andrew.  As they walked, he'd seen Jesus and identified Him to them as "the Lamb of God", meaning God's sacrifice for our sins.  When he'd said this, they left him and went to follow Jesus.  My commentary said, "John the Baptist was happy when people left him to follow Jesus, because his ministry focused on Jesus."

"When Jesus asked them, 'What are you seeking?', He was forcing them to define their purposes and goals ... He revealed their own hearts to them ... usually God prepares a person before He calls him," my commentary said.  Just think about this very thing occurring in our own lives!  In time order, it would be God preparing a person to receive Him, then Jesus asking us, "What are you seeking [out of life]?", forcing us to define our purposes and goals.  Then, He reveals our own hearts to us, which shows us both what we want and how we're not getting there because of our current beliefs and actions!

John later gets his brother James and brings him to Christ.  John's friend Andrew goes immediately to bring his brother Simon.  "Simon's interview with Jesus changed his life.  It also gave him a new name -- Peter in the Greek ... 'Thou art .... thou shalt be' is a great encouragement to all who trust Christ.  Truly, He gives us the power to become."

I can just hear Jesus telling me, "You are _______ (this now) ... but you shall be _________(in the future, now my present)."  And I know that that happened.  At the time, I never could have believed it.  I had settled on His being my Savior, but I had completely missed the part about Him being my Lord.

The next day, Jesus traveled and found Philip in Galilee.  Philip just happened to be from the same town as Andrew and Peter!  They knew each other!  Then Philip found Nathanael, who spoke of the general belief everyone had at that time that nothing good could ever come out of Nazareth.  Jesus actually rewarded that statement by saying that nothing false would come from Nathanael because he always spoke his mind!  

Nathanael asked Jesus, "How do you know me?"  And just like this instance, I think many of us once doubted that God knew anything about us, only to discover that, because He is God and He created us and knew us from the beginning, He knows us better than we know ourselves!

Jesus then told Nathanael that He is the Son of Man.  That title is used 83 times in the Gospels.  "The title speaks of both the deity and humanity of Jesus ... As Son of Man, Jesus is the living link between heaven and earth," my commentary said.  Jesus even used the illustration of Jacob's ladder to show that very thing, later driving the image home by saying, "No man comes to the Father, but by Me," the ladder between heaven and earth."

I really loved what I read and heard from God today.  God's been refreshing my link with him, and today was no exception.  Keep it up, Father!  I'm loving it!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford