Saturday, August 6, 2011

John 1:35-42

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek”? They said to Him, “Rabbi” (Which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (Now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simons Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone.) ~John 1:35-42

We have been talking for a few weeks about the Harold of Christ, John the Baptist. Today we leave John the Baptist and the story of “The Gospel According to John” begins to follow Jesus from here on out, which I for one have been looking forward to for some time now. Here in verse 35 we have the first two men that were lead to Jesus by the witness of another man. John bore witness that Jesus was the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, which He was the very Lamb of God and these two men believed. They are converted Baptist. I am a member of a Baptist Church but my hope is not in the Baptist Church, it is in Jesus the Messiah of God, so all of you who are holding on to your church as the way to eternal life, need to turn to the true Way, Jesus the Messiah of God. The text names Andrew and tells us that he is the brother of Simon Peter. The other man’s name is never mentioned, that is because he is the writer of “The Gospel According to John”; he is the Apostle of our Lord, John. Now how do I know that these two men were converted? Because they confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the text tells us in verse 41 that the first thing Andrew did after spending the day with Jesus was to go and find his own brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” Andrew I love this guy! Of all the Apostles, he was not someone great; you will not find in the bible a gospel according to Andrew or any Epistles written to the churches by him, for all we know he was illiterate, but we do know this, he was always bringing someone to Jesus. He brought Peter to Jesus, he brought the boy with the five barley loaves and two small fish, the Greeks came to Phillip asking to see Jesus, Phillip came to Andrew and Andrew brought him to Jesus with the request of the Greeks. He was always bringing someone to Jesus. Let us all be like Andrew and bring someone to Jesus.

Now after Andrew and the other Apostle had spent the day with Jesus, it seems out of place the writer would mention what time of day this accord, (now it was about the tenth hour). Why do you suppose that he would mention it? Because the writer was the other disciple and that was when he met Jesus. He met Jesus that day at 10:00 in the morning, forever changing his life, all that would happen throughout his life from that point on was about Jesus, that was the moment he met Jesus, that was the moment he became a new creature. My greatest desire is to see Jesus, to be in His presence and worship Him. These two men spent the entire day with Jesus; can you imagine what that must have been like for them? These two men spent the day with Jesus, I look forward to the fact that one day I will spend all of eternity with Jesus.

All week long I was asking people, in person, on facebook, and twitter; why do you believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah)? I asked in several different ways and was looking for a very specific answer from people. First of all know Carnal man comes to Jesus, he must be brought to Jesus, and after being brought to Jesus, God reveals to you that He is the Messiah. So who or what brought you to Jesus? What was your Ahhha moment? Mine was this, the complete transformation of the Apostles. One day they were fearful men, concerned only for themselves running for their lives then suddenly, they were without fear of men, boldly proclaiming Jesus as the Lamb of God, the only Way to the Father for all men; even if it meant imprisonment, or death. And it was when I saw this, that God gave me a new heart. He removed my unbelieving heart of stone and replaced it with a beating heart of flesh, I was born again, I believed, and it was only when I believed and received the Faith that only God can give, that I realized my completely sinful state before God, and my need for a Savior, and then and only then could I Repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For Andrew and John it was when they stood with John the Baptist and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Do you have an Ahhha moment? Has someone lead you to Jesus Christ wither it be someone you know, a pastor, or even someone in the bible, and after doing so, has God transformed you into a new creature, are you born again?


Mike Peek