SHARE CHRIST
In an earlier article “Love Like Christ”, we saw the love of Christ –and our love for Christ- led us to love others and ground every aspect of those relationships in love. The best way we can love others is to introduce them to Jesus – the One who leads us to love them. We have a responsibility to introduce our friends to Jesus. There are times when it is not the right opportunity or we think it isn’t. There are times all of us need more courage or a push to witness to others. We need to ask God’s Spirit to lead us to those we need to introduce to Jesus and to give us the boldness to do it. Let me share something that may or may not be a secret- the longer the time between our witnessing, the harder it is to have that boldness to share Christ.
Read John 1:35-39
John’s Gospel began with a very impressive introduction stating that Jesus was the Word. Now John set his Gospel in historical context by linking the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with that of John the Baptist. In verse 35, John (this is John the Baptist) calls Jesus “the Lamb of God” –the One sent from God to take away the sin of the world (1:29). True to his purpose as forerunner, John sought to transfer the loyalty of his followers to Christ. John the Baptist’s job was to point people to Jesus, their long-awaited Messiah. Today people are looking for someone to give them security in an insecure world. Our job is to point them to Christ and to show that He is the One whom they seek.
Here the two disciples used several names for Jesus: Lamb of God (1:36), Rabbi (1:38), Messiah (1:41), son of God (1:49), and King of Israel (1:49). As they got to know Jesus, their appreciation for Him grew. The more time we spend getting to know Christ, the more we will understand and appreciate who He is. We may be drawn to Him for His teaching, but we will come to know Him as the Son of God. Although these disciples made this verbal shift in a few days, they would not fully understand Jesus until three years later (Acts 2). What they so easily professed had to be worked out in experience. We may find that worlds of faith come easily, but deep appreciation for Christ comes with living by faith.
One of the disciples was Andrew (1:40). The other was probably John, the writer of this Gospel. Why did these disciples leave John the Baptist? Because that’s what John wanted them to do –he was pointing the way to Jesus, the One John had prepared them to follow. These were Jesus’ first disciples, along with Simon Peter (1:42) and Nathanael (1:45). When the two disciples began to follow Jesus, He asked them, “What do you want?” Following Christ is not enough, we must follow Him for the right reasons. To follow Christ for our own purposes would be asking Christ to follow us- to align with us to support and advance our cause, not His. We must examine our motives for following Him. Are we seeking His glory or ours?
In verse 38 following Jesus’ question, the disciples underscored their hunger and commitment to spend time with Jesus- their desire for Him to become their teacher. They sought a personal encounter with Jesus. His response was the invitation of a lifetime, “come and see”.
Read John 1:40-45
Andrew accepted John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus and immediately went to tell his brother, Simon, about Him. Andrew gave Simon a startling announcement: “We have found the Messiah” (v.41). There was no question in Andrew’s mind that Jesus was the Messiah. Not only did he tell his brother, but he was also eager to introduce others to Jesus (6:8-9, 12:22). How many people in your life have heard you talk about your relationship with Jesus?
As an indication that the Gospel of John was intended for Gentile as well as Jewish readers, the writer explained that “Messiah” was in the Hebrew as “Christ” was in Greek, the term for the Anointed One of God. This seems to indicate that Andrew found his brother Simon before that other unnamed disciple found his brother. Likely, it means that the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother to share with him what he had discovered –the Christ. Were we as excited as Andrew and shared Christ with someone? It is significant that the first one to hear about Jesus from either of these two disciples was Simon. Christ would give Simon a new name, for he would have a new character. Simon would be understood in terms of his future (after Simon Peter did some growing in Jesus).
The previous activity had been in Judea. On the day following the encounter with Simon Peter, Jesus went from Judea to Galilee. Galilee was to the north and was known as “Galilee of the Gentiles” because of the concentration of Gentiles in its population. Much of Jesus’ ministry was in Galilee.
Jesus took the initiative in calling Philip, who was from Bethsaida the hometown of Andrew and Peter, to follow Him. The invitation was simple: “Follow Me” (v.43). Following Jesus is the nature of Christian discipleship. In obedience, one relates to the Savior through faith and follows Him throughout life. True to the nature of the Christian faith, Philip shared his experience with Christ with another. To Nathaniel he announced that the One to whom the whole Scripture gave witness had been found. He identified Him as Jesus of Nazareth who was known as the son of Joseph.
To whom else did Philip share Christ (Acts 8:26-40)? (Ethiopian Eunuch) And what was the lasting result? (Ethiopians today still talk about Philip and many are believers in Christ because of Philip’s visit with the Eunuch.)
Read John 1:46-49
Nathaniel’s reply was one of the funniest comments in the New Testament. However, it likely reflected provincial prejudice, a proverb that put down Nazareth, or the judgment of a student of Scripture who had found prophetic references neither to Nazareth nor a son of Joseph. Nazareth was despised by the Jews because a Roman army garrison was located there. Some have speculated that an aloof attitude or a poor reputation in morals and religion on the part of the people of Nazareth led to Nathaniel’s harsh comment. Nathaniel’s hometown was Cana, about four miles from Nazareth. Philip’s invitation was the invitation to discipleship. Nathaniel was about to understand this invitation also. When Nathaniel heard that the Messiah was from Nazareth, he was surprised. Philip responded, “Come and see for yourself”. Discipleship must be personally experienced.
Upon seeing Nathaniel, Jesus immediately assessed him as an Israelite of transparent character, one in whom there was no guile. This astonished Nathaniel who asked how He could have known that. Jesus answered that He had seen him under his fig tree before Philip had called him. While he may actually have been at home under a fig tree, the reference also reflects an Old Testament figure of the ideal setting for the study of the law.
Nathaniel turned from skepticism to faith. Rather than the derisive term of the son of Joseph, he addressed Jesus as the Son of God who was the king of Israel. Jesus predicted that Nathaniel who had come to faith by such a simple revelation would see even greater things. Why, it would be as though the very heavens would open and God’s truth would be communicated from heaven to earth. Rather than the ladder in Jacob’s Old Testament vision, the Son of Man, Christ Himself, would be the medium of revelation of heavenly things to earthly folk.
Fortunately, for Nathaniel, he went to meet Jesus and became a disciple. If he had stuck to his prejudice without investigating further, he would have missed the Messiah! Think about those who “miss” the Messiah today!! We must now let the people’s stereotypes about Christ cause them to miss His power and love. Invite them to “come and see” who Jesus really is. A dishonest person will feel uncomfortable. An honest person will feel comfortable with the thought that Jesus knows him or her through and through. We can pretend to be something we are not. God knows the real us and wants us to follow Him.
The gospel came to us through the first-person testimonies of one or more individuals whom God placed in our lives. Just like Andrew found his brother and pointed him to Jesus, and just like Philip found his friends and invited him to meet Jesus, each of us can do the same for our family members, our friends, and our neighbors.
