John 1:19-51 Part 3
What do you seek?
John the Baptist directs two of his disciples to look at Jesus John 1:36. He doesn’t want to keep them to himself, he points out Jesus. The two disciples are immediately captivated by this man. They had been waiting and expecting Jesus, the promised Messiah, as they had been taught, so when John said `Behold the Lamb of God!`they immediately left John and followed Jesus, there wasn’t a debate, shall we, shan’t we, they just followed.
What we see and what we subsequently learn when we follow, will compel us to share the gospel and to find others. These two disciples had to first be willing to follow Jesus, who in turn engaged them in conversation. God first wants the willing heart before He asks “what do you seek?” John 1:38. We don’t need to have the doctrine all sorted out, just the willingness to follow.
These two did not just stop at following, they were not frightened off by Jesus turning around and asking “what do you seek?” they engaged him in conversation, they were intent on finding out more, intent on clarifying John’s claim that this truly was the ‘Lamb of God’. We all need to enquire and engage Jesus in conversation otherwise we will never progress from being the disciple of a man (may be a good man who may even be a prophet) to being a disciple of Jesus. Andrew had recognised that Jesus was the Messiah partly because John pointed Him out, but mainly because he engaged Jesus in conversation. We can only know that Jesus is the Messiah by revelation not by hear-say. We, like the two disciples, need to ask Jesus “where are you staying?” We need to have a desire to spend time with Him in order to find out more about Him. The heart of God says “come and see”. What an invitation, these two men were invited into the very place where Jesus was staying. The passage tells us that it was the tenth hour (about 2 hours before sunset) and they remained with him that day. John 1:39. It was in this time that they found out for themselves what John had said and witnessed was actually true. John’s story had become their story which was His (Jesus) story. The conversation changed their lives to the point that they had to tell somebody.
Andrew realised that he could not keep this new found discovery to himself and so set out to find his brother Simon, and on finding him brought him to Jesus (John 1:41-42). I wonder how much time Andrew had to spend with Simon to get him to meet Jesus? The fact is that Simon was persuaded by his brother to come and see for himself. We can’t make Christians of people but we can persuade them to come and see and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest. Jesus saw Simon and changed his name. An encounter with Jesus will do this, the direction of our life will be changed, we will no longer be catching fish for survival but we will be living to catch fish for God’s kingdom.
When asked, by Jesus, the question “What do you seek?” do we ask “where are you staying?” and on hearing Jesus’s answer “come and see” do we willingly follow the invitation? Does what we see and subsequently hear compel us to go and find others and bring them to Jesus?
