We are continuing with our conversation with Jesus today, a conversation with Jesus about who Jesus says He is, either directly, or indirectly through His conversations in the book of John with others. As I was researching my passage this week, it came to my attention that the passage we’re looking at today is the first encounter we have in the book of John between Jesus and those who received Him and became His disciples. It’s not a testifying of who Jesus is from someone who experienced Him, like we saw with John the Baptist, it’s an actual dialogue between Jesus and people who would come to follow Him.
This morning I’d like for you to join me in John 1:35-42 as we continue to have our own conversation with Jesus. “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. 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. 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).”
The conversation begins with John the Baptist, again proclaiming that Jesus is the Lamb of God. We talked about what that means last week, that He is the sacrifice that forgives our sins once and for all, that He is the One that is without sin, holy and blameless and without blemish.
At John the Baptist’s testimony, we’re immediately told that two of those who would become disciples heard what John proclaimed about Jesus and they followed Him. They just up and followed Him. Why? Some might say that they sensed the divine nature of Jesus and decided to follow Him because they could see Jesus was miraculous and amazing. But, I don’t think so.
I think they were simply curious about the claims that they had heard about Jesus through John, and they were responding to those claims.
You may very well find that many people you come into contact with as you go through your day-to-day life are just like this. They’ve heard about Jesus, maybe even know some of the story of Jesus, maybe even know something about who He truly is, and deep down there is a curiosity about Him. Most are too timid, unsure, afraid, or not confident enough to carry the conversation any further, but they’re curious.
This is where Jesus meets people. Not with grand miracles and displays of His power, not with huge gestures, not with flowery words that are rehearsed so precisely. He met people right where they were, in their natural human curiosity, maybe even their skepticism that drove them to find out more, as we’ll soon see as well. And what did He do? He invited them to come ask questions, and through conversation, invited them to see what they would learn.
In fact, when the two disciples heard Him speak and they began to follow Him, He saw that they were following Him, and He turned to them and asked the same question He asks every single one of us: “What do you seek?” Wow. What do you seek?
See? No miracles, no speeches or sermons, just conversation. What do you seek? What do you want with me? Why are you following me? Not because He was annoyed with them or didn’t want them to follow Him, but because He desired a relationship with them built on trust, faith, and them knowing who He is just like He knew them. He was inviting them to think about what they were seeking in Him.
This is really neat, in verse 35, when we’re told that these two disciples were standing with John, the Greek word for standing, and the verb tense that is used tells us that something was in progress as they were standing with John. It tells us that they were in a moment of waiting for that…something. They were standing in expectation. They were expecting, waiting for something to happen.
There’s that natural curiosity again. We see it in humans everywhere. We’re curious about how things work, how the science of the universe and created world works; we’re curious about human emotions and our anatomy, how we were put together; we’re curious enough to try to figure out and analyze why things don’t work a certain way when we think they should. We’re just naturally curious. The disciples were standing, waiting for something. Curious. Expectant.
And Jesus, because He knows us so well, and knew the disciples so well, invited them to consider the question, “What do you seek?”
He asks us the same question. “What do you seek?” What are you seeking? What do you hope to find in Jesus? Is it some divine miracle? Is it a sign that you’re looking for? Is it confirmation of His existence? What do you seek?
It’s a question worthy of our carefully considered answer.
The disciples answer, helps us understand a little better about what they were seeking. “They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher),” Teacher.
It was a term of respect. It tells us that they believed, based off the testimony of what they had heard from John the Baptist, that Jesus could teach them something, that they could learn something from Him or be guided by Him in some way. Teacher tells us that they were willing to learn what they did not know.
What do you seek? They sought a teacher. Though that was not their direct answer to Jesus’ question that was how they addressed Him, and He did not contradict what they said about Him. He is in fact, the TEACHER. Jesus is the Teacher.
We use the word “revelation” sometimes in the church. People get weird about that word, especially when we’re talking about the vision that John, not the Baptist, had on Patmos, that we call the book of Revelation. But what is a revelation? It’s the revealing of something that was once unknown, or hidden.
Last week, I revealed to you that I do not actually like the taste of coffee by itself, that I have to dress it up to make it taste okay to me, because really, what I’m after is the caffeine, and coffee is the most effective way to get that. I think there were only two or three of you who knew that about me before I said it. So, I revealed to you something that was once unknown, or hidden.
Even the book of Revelation is just that. It’s the revealing of some things that are yet to come that we did not know. That is the revelation.
Revealing something that was once unknown, or hidden. That is what teaching is! Revealing something that was once unknown, or hidden, right? If I teach you something, then that means it was something you didn’t know until I taught you.
Jesus, the Teacher, is the One who reveals.
John 21:1, “After these things Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He revealed Himself in this way:” What does Jesus reveal? Himself. He teaches us about Himself, shows us who He is.
2 Corinthians 4:10-11, “always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.” What does Jesus reveal? He reveals His life in us. He teaches us about the way He desires for us to live life in Him.
John 17:25-26, “Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” What does Jesus reveal? He reveals the Father. He teaches us about who the Father is, and makes Him known to us.
Jesus is the Teacher. He is the place of revelation. If you want to know who He is, you must come to Him.
What do you seek? They sought the Teacher.
But their answer was this, “Where are you staying?” Seems like an odd way to answer that question, right? What do you seek? Uh, well, uh, teacher, where are you staying?
It seems odd, but what they were asking is where He could be found. What do you seek? Where can we find you?
Jesus had only just begun to reveal Himself to the world, but already, His disciples responded to His revelations just by desiring to be with Him, to find Him. I’m sure they had other questions, but instead of asking them, they just showed a desire to know how to find Him. What’s really amazing about this, is that being a disciple of Jesus isn’t an issue of how wise we are or how mature we are, but rather by our willingness to just go and do whatever we can to find Him.
In fact, isn’t that Just what Jesus said? Luke 11:10, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” Seek Him, and you will find Him.
Jesus responded to them in this moment the same way. What do you seek? Where can we find you? And He invites them, “Come and you will see.”
In His conversation with the disciples, in His conversation with us, He wants us to come as we are, just come and see who He is.
Then a whole new conversation begins here in John. One of the disciples, who we find out is Andrew, tells his brother Simon Peter about Jesus. He said, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).” Again, Jesus didn’t contradict what was said about Him.
Jesus is the MESSIAH. Anointed One. The Christ. They didn’t fully realize what this meant just yet, but that’s often how it is when we come to Jesus seeking to find Him. We don’t know what we will find out, and we might not fully get it at first, but He tells us the truth and He keeps inviting us to know Him.
They didn’t necessarily think that Messiah meant that Jesus was divine in nature, or that He existed before creation, but they would have expected that the Messiah would be divinely empowered to accomplish God’s plan for His people. They remembered the anointed ones of Israel, that Kings, and priests, and prophets were anointed with holy oil. They thought that He had come to be King, and that He would have God’s power to do that.
But really, He was anointed to give life. Divinely empowered, yes, because He is the divine, but He was anointed to give us life. Our King, Prophet, and Priest who reveals the Father, teaches us, and gives us life. Messiah, anointed one, because He is the source of truth and life and revelation.
To further demonstrate that point, Jesus turned to Simon Peter, after Andrew called Jesus the Messiah, and He gave Simon Peter a new name: Peter. With that name change, Jesus was proving that only He had the ability to take a person, as they are, scarred and flawed and imperfect and broken, and give them new life, a new name, and a new identity in Him. Messiah. So much more than they imagined or hoped for.
If you read on in John 1, you’ll see that Jesus’ revealing who He was to the disciples, and their testimony to others about who Jesus is, turned even the most skeptical man, Nathaniel, into a believer. He became convinced that Jesus is the Son of God.
That’s what it takes. Believers who talk about Jesus to non-believers, talk about who He is, and drawing people to come and find Him. Conversation. It’s as simple as that.
Have a conversation with non-believers. Tell them who He is.
He is the Lamb of God. He is the Son of God. He is the Teacher. He is the Messiah. And so much more.
What do you seek?