Day 3 - John 1:35-59
04 Jan 2017
It is one thing to proclaim the greatness of Jesus, it is another to watch your own disciples abandon you for him. At the start of today's passage that is exactly what happens. John cries out "Behold, the lamb of God", and two of his own followers leave him for Jesus. That is precisely the reaction John wanted and expected.
Jesus then calls more disciples - Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael. They all follow Jesus because they see who he is. John's disciples recognise he is "the lamb of God", and a teacher. Andrew rushes to Simon Peter because he knows Jesus is the Messiah - the king God has promised, Philip recognises that Jesus is the one who was prophesied by Moses and the prophets, and Nathanael knows that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. True discipleship always involves seeing who Jesus really is. You can't follow someone you know nothing about.
However, these men don't leave everything and follow Jesus because they have worked out who he is by themselves. John shows us that before they know Jesus, Jesus already knew them. He is in control. He is the one who initiates the relationship. In those days people chose their own rabbi to follow. Here Jesus is the one doing the choosing.
So just notice - Jesus asks searching questions of John's disciples and calls them to spend time with him (vs 39). Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter (vs 42). Jesus found Philip (vs 43). Jesus recognises what is in Nathanael's heart - that despite appearances (his sarcastic comment in verse 46), he is a true believer (vs 47).
Like these disciples, the that fact we too follow Jesus doesn't first of all depend on our decision or ability to understand who he is. It began with Jesus knowing us, and calling us in such a way that we were able to respond, and tranforming our lives.
Jesus makes a wonderful promise to Nathanael at the end of the chapter. Although these disciples have begun to see who Jesus is, there is far more that they will see and understand. They would have been very familiar with the dream that God gave Jacob of a stairway between heaven and earth (in Genesis 28). Jesus says here that link between God and us is not a "thing" like a ladder. It is a person - Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. That is who he is and why he has come. The rest of the gospel spells out why and how this is the case.