Deciding to Follow Jesus

Deciding to Follow Jesus

John 1:35-51  

 

Illus. To follow…

 

As we turn to John 1:35-51 this morning, we’ll learn about the decisions five of Jesus’ disciples made to follow Him. Up to this point, they were known as disciples of other people, whose lives were focused on other things, but as we see the circumstances surrounding their hearing the words “follow me” from Jesus, insights are given to you and me. Like these disciples, our stories are unique. Like these disciples, we may at one time have been focused on other things, but like these disciples, we must make a decision when we meet Jesus and hear the words “follow Me.” From their stories, we will look specifically at the place we are standing, what we are seeking, the mission He has given, and the changed life that comes from Him. Each disciple has a different story, a different reason for meeting and following Jesus, and I believe that these stories are helpful for us all this morning. Some are still deciding, and others have decided to follow Jesus. Whichever posture describes your current status, I believe these verses have been given to help all of us!

Leading up to these verses, John introduced us to Jesus by declaring that He was the Word in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He continued by telling us that all things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being. He told us that in Him was the life, and the life was the Light of mankind. (John 1:1-4) 

 

 John 1:11-12, He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

 

As the chapter continued, John not only pointed to Jesus as fully God, but also as fully man. That he was full of grace and truth. He wrote about the testimony of John the Baptist, who spent his life telling all who would listen that the Savior, the Messiah, is Jesus Christ!

 

John 1:29, …He saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

 

As we continue in our study this morning, we first learn of two disciples who would listen to what John had to say about Jesus Christ, and then made the decision to follow and live their lives on mission for Him!

 

Read: John 1:35-51

 

From verse 35, we learn that John was standing with two of his disciples, but their situation changes when they see Jesus and step in His direction. They were following John the Baptist, but everything changes when Jesus comes on the scene. This leads us to the first decision one must make when deciding to follow Jesus.

 

1. Step His Direction When You See Him

 

John 1:35-37, Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

 

• Throughout John chapter 1, we have been drawing the distinction between John the Baptist, and John the Disciple who is wrote the book of John.

 

• The John referred to in verse 35 is John the Baptist and the verses leading up to verse 35 pain the picture of him as one who pointed to Jesus as the Messiah Day after day in his life.

 

• John the Baptist was a powerful preacher. So much so, that people in that day were wondering if he was the Christ. He responded directly, and repeatedly that he was not the Savior, yet still he was a powerful preacher and one who came to prepare the way for Jesus (John 1:19-28).

 

• John, though not the Messiah, had followers, he had disciples, and here we learn about two of them.

 

• They are called John’s “disciples”…They were his followers, his students, his learners.

 

• We will learn more about them as the story goes on, but what we see immediately is the fact that they were standing with John the Baptist as his disciples, but then John tells them to “behold, the Lamb of God!” and they step His direction.

 

• When John saw Jesus previously, he said the same thing.

 

• In verse 29, John said, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

 

• He knew that Jesus was the perfect, sinless, spotless lamb, and that it was Him, and only Him, who could take away the sin of the world.

 

• “Behold..” John said. It means to see, to look, to direct your attention.

 

• John testified about Him, spoke about Him, taught about Him, lived for Him…and when He had the opportunity, he pointed people toward Him.

 

• Behold, look, that is Him! He is the One I have been speaking about! These disciples hear the words John shares about Jesus, and “they followed Him.”

 

• The word for “they followed Him” is “akoloutheō” it means to become His disciple.

 

• When deciding to follow Jesus, this is an essential step. To move from the place you have been standing, to forsake whoever you have been a determined disciple of, and devote your life to following Jesus.

 

• In other words, if following Jesus means to line up behind Him, and I have to get out of the line I have been standing in.

 

1 Corinthians 1:12, …Each one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

 

John 12:26, If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also…

 

• John the Baptist said, “look, behold, see” the Lamb of God! He is the One, He is the Savior…and they followed Him!

 

• They stepped His direction! And that is the first step for anyone choosing to follow Christ, when they see Him, they must step His direction!

 

• John pointed his disciples in Jesus’ direction. John says, “you have been my disciples, you have been following me, but He is the One to follow!” We will see John once again in chapter three, and it will be the same theme… “I am not the Christ” (John 3:28)… He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

 

Illus. Following.

 

John 1:37-39, The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the tenth hour.

 

• Once the disciples go Jesus’ direction they are asked a question and then they make the decision to stay with Him.

 

1. Make the Decision to Stay Once You Seek Him

 

• Jesus’ first recorded words in the book of John form a question “What are you seeking?”

 

• These disciples step Jesus’ direction to start following Him, and when He sees them, he asks a question…

 

• What are you seeking? What are you looking for? What do you want?

 

• Like many of the questions asked by God to His people, Jesus was not asking because he needed the information, rather, it was a probing question, He wanted them to think about their answer.

 

Illus. Questions.

 

• The disciples stepped in His direction after standing with John and they were now choosing to follow Him, but what was it they were seeking from Him?

 

• This was good question for them, and a great question for us. Jesus wants to probe deeper.

 

Illus. What is it?

 

• Jesus saw the disciples following behind and wanted to drill deeper…What are you seeking?

 

• Their answer to the question was “Rabbi, where are you staying?”

 

John 1:39, He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the tenth hour.

 

• When they asked Jesus where He was staying, it was not because they wanted to find out where to send a birthday card now that they had found Him…It was because they were seeking to stay with Him.

 

• They could have responded, “we would like to stay with you at some point,” become your followers soon.” But they didn’t. They simply said, where are you staying?

 

• That word “staying,” is a word that means to live, to remain, or to abide.

 

John 15:4, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

 

• Jesus, where are you staying… “Come and see!” and they stayed with Him that day.

 

• Jesus said come and you will see and the text says, so they came and they saw.

 

• For the disciples, this would be the beginning of their journey of following Jesus, to stay with Him that day.

 

• I like that it is phrased that way…They stayed with Him that day. We know they would remain with Him for years, but that journey, started with one day.

 

Psalm 27:4, One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…

 

• The disciples made the decision to not only seek Him, but stay with Him, and this is an important decision for us who seek to follow Jesus today.

Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

 

• The word “wishes” is elsewhere translated “desires.” It is a term that indicates intent, will, or to have in one’s mind.

 

• “If anyone wishes, or desires to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross.”

1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a, “you are not your own; for you have been bought with a price.”

Illus. It’s yours.

When you sell a vehicle, you don’t just give away the vehicle, you also sign over the title to that car…

The title then reads who has control over that vehicle. They determine where it goes and what happens to it from that point forward…

And when you sell it, you hand over the keys, you give up the right to run and drive that car going forward…

• When you give your life to Jesus, you give Him the title as Lord in your life. Jesus takes not simply the wheel momentarily, He takes over.

 

Illus. Bearing your cross.

 

• Jesus gives us the steps, if anyone wants to follow, they must surrender their lives, take up their cross, and then follow Him.

 

• The order is important because if a person doesn’t surrender self, all the things they once desired will one day get in the way.

Illus. Lined up!

 

• After Jesus gave a difficult teaching in John 6, we read in John 6:66 that as a result many of his disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him.

 

John 6:67, So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

 

III.  Remember Your Mission to Bring Others to Him

 

John 1:40-42, 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 translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

 

• In verse 40 we learn the name of one of the disciples is Andrew. Many believe the other to be John the Apostle as he never names himself in this book and other disciple mentioned remains unnamed here.

 

• As the attention is turned to Andrew and his brother Simon Peter. Andrew began following Jesus and he immediately makes it his mission to share about him.

 

• Andrew is consistently seen bringing others to Jesus in the. Here he brings his brother, in John 6, he will bring a boy with five loaves and two fish to Him, and John 12 He will be told about a group of people desiring to see Jesus and He brought their request to Jesus.

 

• There is not a great deal of detail surrounding what Andrew did, but one thing that is consistently seen is that Andrew consistently brought people to Jesus.

 

• He makes the mission to share Jesus personal.

 

• He knew who He had found saying, “we have found the Messiah!” and it wasn’t enough for him to just know…Rather, he had to go and tell!

 

• He had found the Savior of the World…There was no staying silent!

 

Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

• Andrew knew who he had found, and he did not want his brother missing out. He made it his mission to bring others to him.

 

• We only know a few things about Andrew, but we know a great deal about his brother Peter. And this points us to the fact that there wouldn’t be a Peter without an Andrew.

 

John 1:42(a), He brought him to Jesus.

 

• In verse 43, Jesus goes to another city, finds Phillip, said to him “follow Me,” and we immediately see Phillip on mission to bring others to Jesus as well.

 

John 1:43-45, The next day He (Jesus) decided to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”

 

• Phillip and Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) are two more of Jesus’ 12 disciples.

 

• Jesus went to Galilee and “found” Phillip. Upon finding him, Jesus said the words “Follow Me!”

 

• The word “follow” was written in the present tense. Jesus was saying to Phillip, follow me and keep on following me.

 

• Phillip immediate begins following, and just as he was found by Jesus, he goes and finds Nathanael.

 

• He told Nathanael, we have found the one Moses wrote about…We have found the Messiah! Phillip, like Andrew, did not stay silent!

 

Illus. Amazing!

 

John 1:46, Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

 

• Nathanael’s question reflects a general opinion of Nazareth in those days. It was an out of the way village in the region of Galilee. Galileans were considered unsophisticated, and Nazareth was considered the lowest on the list. Additionally, Nathanael was from Cana which was nearby, they were next town rivals, “can anything good come from there?”

 

• Come and see! Nathanael went to see, but before he could see, we learn in verse 47 that Jesus saw him, and Nathanael’s opinions, posture, and life, would be changed by Jesus.

 

1. Choose the Changed Life That Comes from Him

 

John 1:47-51, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 

• Jesus saw Nathanael and said, this is who you are! Nathanael was perplexed at how Jesus could know. Nathanael was skeptical at first, but Jesus met Nathanael where he was and let him know that He has always known where Nathanael was!

 

• Jesus saw Nathanael, he knew who he was, and Jesus knew that Nathanael was in for greater things!

 

• It wasn’t just Nathanael that he pointed toward the future, we saw similar when Jesus met Peter in verse 42.

 

John 1:42(b) Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

 

• Jesus “looked” at Simon Peter. It is a word that means he set his gaze on him, he looked intently at him. And he used language that is true for all who make the decision to follow Jesus after being introduced to Him… “You are…You will be.”

 

• Jesus not only changed Peter’s name, He changed his life. Jesus saw not simply who Peter was, but who He would become.

 

• Jesus changed his name from Simon, which means listener, to Peter, which means “rock or stone.”

 

• Peter was not a “rock” when Jesus met Him, but after deciding to follow Him, listening to His instruction, and remaining a determined disciple of Him, Peter would become that very thing.

Illus. Transformation.

2 Corinthians 5:17, If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

 

 

John 1:35-51