He said, Come and See.
5/2/2012 9:17:04 PM
May 2, 2012~John #9 in series


 

He said, Come and See.  John 1.35-42

How do you know what you are doing, what you are working at, is actually effective—that you are achieving what you are intending?  My daughter is a pharmaceutical rep for Johnson and Johnson, calling on the hospital sector, here in Southern California.  She was recently awarded Region Sales Rep of the Year.  Why?  Because she had tremendous results selling her products by cultivating relationships with her doctors, and following through with great customer support.  How were the results of her hard work measured?  Bottom-line, numbers … she produced.  Not too different with any sales position.  Been there . . . done that!

John the Baptist had a job to do—prepare the way for the Messiah.  How did he do?  Well, let’s take a look:  First--because John was in the ready position, he heard from God that the one whom he was baptizing was the Messiah, the Savior. **Note to self:  when we are in the ready position—tuned to hear God’s voice, he does not disappoint—he speaks to us. 

Second, because John did what he was born to do—preach about the coming Savior—people listened, and responded.  Those people included the first disciples of Jesus.  So when John announced the arrival of Jesus that day, they were ready to follow him.  Take a look:

The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.  Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.

They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”).

Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).”  John 1.35-42, NLT

There is no hint of jealousy whatsoever on John the Baptist’s part, just a passing of the baton—as he realizes that his disciples will now become Jesus’ disciples instead.  I have been asking myself all week why it was that these men would choose to follow Jesus, literally, follow him to where he was staying that night.  John the Baptist had done his job—he had prepared them for Yeshua’s coming, and when they saw that he recognized Jesus as the Messiah, they trusted him—they believed him.  In addition, they no doubt knew what the Scriptures said about the coming of the messiah, and they wanted to see for themselves if this could indeed be the promised one. 

Perhaps they were whispering to each other, wondering what he might be like, when he turned and asked, ‘what do you want?’  And then invited them to ‘come and see . . .’  Isn’t that just like Jesus?  He did not make them chase him, he turned around and invited them; he made a move toward them.  Oh, don’t you love him from the start?  (I mean from the start of his earthly ministry)  If they had tagged along behind, Andrew and Peter would not have learned too much, compared with being invited to be with Jesus . . . now, would they?  But that is like you, and that is like me.  We do not learn what we ought, or what we might, if we tag along behind, or if we lag … but if we accept his invitation as he turns around and looks at us, and says, ‘come and see’, and we join him … oh, we learn a lot!  We learn what he thinks of us personally and individually; we learn the plans he has for us, and what he wants us to do.  We enter into relationship with him.

Hmmm . . . there’s an awful lot in this little passage about the first disciples responding to Jesus!  

Grace to you,

Christine