Friends and Neighbors

35The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. 38Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter). 43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" 48Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50Jesus answered, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 51And 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." - John 1:35-51

How can we help our friends and neighbors come to know and love Jesus? Three keys that help us help others - preparation, investigation, and invitation - are revealed in this account of Jesus gathering His first followers. Let’s go through this text together and consider each key plus some side notes as we come to them.

The first thing we see is John intentionally losing two disciples to Jesus. Here is an important side note for us. We need to be Christ-centered not church-centered. What if John had been ministry-centered instead of Christ-centered? Would he have been free to gladly lose two of his best to Jesus? I think not, and we might have been without a Gospel of John, because John was likely one of the two disciples who left to follow Jesus. Churches are to be co-laborers for our Savior not competitors saving our ministries.

Next we see Jesus’ first words in John and get our first look at the interlocking keys of investigation and invitation. Notice how Jesus engages them with a question and then uses their response to extend an invitation. “What do you seek?” opens His investigation. They answer to know where He is staying, which brings Jesus to His invitation, “Come and see.” Notice that their answer to Jesus’ question did not express the depth of their desire. They were not just after His travel plans. They wanted to travel with Him. Jesus was investigating to draw out their desire to be with Him in order to satisfy that desire with an invitation to do so. We would do well to ask people, “What are you seeking?” They probably will not say, “a Savior to rescue me or reconciliation with God,” but they may say, “purpose or peace or joy, etc.” Of course, we know those to be some of the fruits of a relationship with Christ. They will not ask for the root (Christ). They will ask for the fruit (meaning, love, peace), and when they do, we can invite them to “come and see” just how fruitful a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ can be.

Next we read they stayed with Jesus for a day, which brings up the key of preparation. There is no substitute for investing in time with Christ. Time with Christ grows confidence in Christ. It was after they had spent time alone with Jesus that they went out declaring Him to be the long-awaited Messiah. What hinders your time alone with Christ? TV? Computer? Busyness? We habitually fill time with the same noise as those without a relationship with God! Why? We do not have a void to drown out, and it is definitely harder to hear God’s “still small voice” with our music so loud our ears are ringing. We need to fast from the noise that keeps us from enjoying soul-refreshing, heart-preparing, time alone with God.

After spending time alone, start close to home. Andrew first went to his brother. When he brought Simon to Jesus, Jesus forecasted encouraging change when He told the impetuous Simon, “You shall be called Peter (a rock).” It helps to keep our focus on what people can become in union with Christ (Peter the rock) rather than on who they are outside of Christ (Simon the impetuous).

Finally, let’s notice how this works when dealing with skepticism. Philip announced to his friend Nathanael that they had found the Christ. Nathanael -“a true Israelite”- had a hang-up with Jesus being from Nazareth. Instead of arguing, Philip says, “come and see.” People like to be invited. They don’t like to be corrected. So, don’t fight - invite! When your investigation uncovers hang-ups (those who never hear, bad things to good people, etc.), don’t stall in endless debate. Agree to deal honestly with honest questions, but invite them to investigate further. Invite them to “come and see.”