Come and See
John 1:35-42
Today is Renewal Sunday.
The church leadership came up with a new
slogan for this year: “Know Christ
and Make Him Known.”
No doubt you remember last
year’s slogan: “Plug In.” Our goal was to encourage our church
congregation to plug into one of the ministries that can help them grow
spiritually. I am glad to inform you
that more than 70 individuals did plug into one of such ministries.
This year we like to continue
to plug in to God (Know Christ) because there is no
graduation from that “school”; besides, we will emphasize the reach out element
(Make Him Known).
I chose passages from the Gospel
of John. Our verse is, “Come … and you
will see” (John 1:39). Come and see. This statement is used in the Bible by
different people. It is a slogan of
invitation. We see this in the Word of
God when Jesus invites people, and the disciples and the believers invite
others. First, one has to invite someone,
and then one has to have something to demonstrate to that invitee.
The first encounter is
with Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist. We read
in John 1: 35-39, “The next day John (the Baptist) was there again with two of
his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing
by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard him say
this, they followed Jesus. Turning
around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means
Teacher), "where are you staying?" "Come," he replied,
"and you will see."
Here we see how John the Baptist encouraged his disciples to leave him and
follow the “Lamb of God.” John the Baptist knew that his role was to prepare
the way for the Messiah. He did his
role as a way opener for the one who is called the Lamb of God. John’s disciples followed Jesus. They did not understand much. However, they learned to follow a leader. When Jesus saw them, he asked them, “What do
you want?”
A very strange question from
Jesus. “What do you want?” Don’t you think Jesus knew what they wanted?
Of course, he did, but he
wanted to hear from them.
Their response is important. They responded to him, “Rabbi”. They acknowledge Jesus being a teacher. They continued by asking Jesus where he stayed.
They are not interested about the house
or place; they are telling him they want to follow him.
The response of Jesus: “Come and See.”
Different disciples came to
follow Jesus in different ways. Philip
followed Jesus thought one sentence, “Follow me” (43). I wish we all could follow Jesus in this
simple way. My job as a pastor would
have been much easier. We all are different and we respond to the call in
different ways. The two disciples who
were once John the Baptist’s disciples followed him by the encouragement
from John, and by Jesus’ response, “Come and see.”
It is difficult to be a
follower. We all like to be leaders.
Once a university student
applied for a university. As he was
filling the application form, he came across a question that asked whether he
was a leader or a follower. The student answered
that he was a follower.
Some time later, he received
an acceptance letter. The university was
happy to have him as a new student. One of
the reasons of his acceptance was that he was the only one out 1452 applicants who
said that he was a follower and not a leader.
How difficult it is for us to
learn that we need to obey God and be His followers. Remember the response of these two disciples: TEACHER, “Rabbi.” When one acknowledges Jesus as a teacher, it
means one acknowledges being a student.
Come and See.
We will continue in English.