Lessons from John 1: John the Baptist Points to Jesus
In these last verses we see John the Baptist pointing people to the person of Jesus Christ.
Verse 35 leads us right into the 3rd day where John the Baptist was with two men whom he had been discipling. (One is later identified as Andrew and the other is believed to be John the Apostle and writer of this gospel.) The scripture tells us that when they heard this they turned and followed Jesus.
Why did they leave John the Baptist and follow Jesus? Because John knew it wasn’t about him. Instead of trying to hold onto these men, he humbly and graciously sent them on their way.
We must always remember that we are not following a man or a woman, but God. And sometimes He leads us in other directions for His glory and the good of others.
Well, Jesus sensed that these two were following after Him and so He turned and asked them a question we should all ask ourselves: “What do you want?”
In other words, why are you here? What is it that you are hoping to get out of these lessons!
Jesus is the answer!
Maybe you are empty and lonely and need a better hope and future than the one you are headed for right now. Then Jesus is the answer!
Maybe you are frustrated with life and don’t know where to turn. Then Jesus is your answer!
Maybe you are depressed or maybe you feel as though your marriage is about to collapse or your child is driving you crazy with his or her disobedience. Then Jesus is the answer!
Maybe you have nothing left to give to anyone including yourself. Jesus is the answer.
I hope that if you don’t know Jesus, you’ll find Him through the study of His Word. Or maybe you know Him, but you want a deeper and more personal relationship with Him. I can assure you if you study His Word daily and diligently, He will reveal more of Himself to you and you will fall deeper in love with Him. You will be enabled to follow Him in obedience in whatever He is calling you to do.
Come and See
These men turned to Jesus, and Jesus turned to them and He asked them to define their goals and they asked Him to be their teacher by recognizing Him as Rabbi. Then they asked, “Where are you staying?” They obviously wanted more! He replied as He does to all true seekers, “Come and you will see.”
Verse 39 tells us they went and saw where He was staying, and spent the day with Him. Can you just imagine their questions and conversation with Him? It must have been glorious!
Now verse 40 leads us into the 4th day where Andrew is identified as one of the two in the previous verses. One of the first things Andrew did after recognizing Jesus as the Lamb of God was to go find and tell his brother Simon the good news, “We have found the Messiah.” And Andrew then brought Simon to Jesus. We don’t know if Simon came willingly or if he was nagged or dragged, but he did come.
Some of you might be reading these blog posts because you too were nagged and dragged. Or maybe you were invited to read and just wanted to see for yourself these Bible lessons you heard about.
However you got here, God knew that you would meet Him here, just like He met Simon.
Verse 42 tells us that when Simon was brought to Jesus, Jesus looked him in the eye and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” which, translated, is Peter.
Jesus not only knew who Simon was, He knew who he would become. That is why He gave him the name Peter which in the Greek means “rock.” Even though the gospels do not present Peter as a solid rock throughout, he became a solid rock in the days of the early church. (You can learn more about Peter in the book of Acts.)
Yet, by giving Simon a new name, Jesus introduced a change in Simon’s character that would be the result of knowing and believing in Jesus as his own personal Lord and Savior.
Verse 43 leads us into the 5th day where Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach