“Come and See.” (Part 2)
Imitating Jesus.
- He left comfort to enter our world.
- He prepared himself for the mission.
- He made Himself available and intentionally developed relationships.
- He responded to those who showed interest.
- He shared the gospel.
John 1:35-46
John 1:38 Jesus 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?”
“Where are you looking for?”
Jesus does not ask who they are looking for, but what they are looking for. It’s almost as if He assumes that like the rest of mankind, they are in pursuit of the thing which will satisfy their needs, give reality to their dreams and substance to their hopes. That is a supreme question in life: What do you want? Jesus didn’t tell them what they were looking for or who they were looking for; He asked them. Jesus asked way more questions than He gave direct answers to questions. In the Gospels, Jesus asked around 300 questions but only directly answered a few of the many questions He was asked. Jesus also sometimes answered questions by asking questions.
Are we asking questions to the people in our lives or just telling them what they want and need? Questions encourage thinking and searching and often help the one being asked to move forward in their seeking.
“Where are you staying?”
They follow his question with a counter question, “Where are you staying?” We can look at this and think it is just about where Jesus is lodging but I think it goes a little deeper than that. It indicates a desire to know more, a longing for something, a searching for something that is missing. Is this a similar question to some of the questions of our heart: “God where are you?” “Is there a God?” “Is there anything beyond this life?”
Come and see.
And the answer to that question and our questions brings us to chair number one, because Jesus turns around and He says to John’s two disciples, and to us, “Come and you will see.” That is an invitation to investigate. “Come and find out. Take your time; ask what you want; make up your own mind.” No manipulation, no arm twisting, no trying to force them; just an invitation to come and see.
Come and see means, come and think. Examine the evidence. Jesus doesn’t demand belief at the moment. He doesn’t sit there and say, well, let me tell you who I am and demand obedience. He says, come and watch me, come and get to know me, come and see how I live, come and see how I speak, come and see what I do.
And then the second time come and see comes up is is when Philip goes to his friend Nathaniel and says, “We found Jesus of Nazareth.” And Nathaniel comes back with an extremely valid and difficult question. Everybody at that time knew that the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem and come out of the line of David. And so, he looks at Philip and he says, “He’s from Galilee, He’s from Nazareth. How could He be the Messiah?” And Philip says what? “How dare you question the Messiah.” No, he says, let’s go find out. Come and see. Let’s study it. Let’s learn it. On the one hand, he does not say what the new spirituality says which is, it doesn’t matter what you believe, figure out what works for you. No thinking necessary. No critical thinking, no assessment. But on the other hand, he does not say to you what very often traditional religion has said and that is, “Just believe what we’re telling you because we told you.” Philip invites him to come and see, to come and think.
We should base our decision to believe or not believe on understanding not ignorance. Are we inviting people to come and see Jesus, to think, to reason, to investigate? Are we inviting them into our lives to walk and talk with them as they ask questions and discover who He is?
How do we see Jesus?
How can we go and see Jesus? How can we listen to Him? How can we look at the evidence of what He said and how He lived? All through the first chapter of John, John the Baptist five or six times, we’re told, he saw, and he spoke. Now sometimes it’s translated said, sometimes it’s translated witness, sometimes translated testify. It’s a word that means, I was actually there, I really saw this and now my testimony is admissible evidence in court. The gospel writer over and over again uses words that are extremely concrete. As you read all the way through every part of this passage, we see that it has the marks of an eyewitness account. Ancient fiction, never use details. Epics, legends, myths, they never use details. This is John’s way of saying this is an eyewitness account. This isn’t a legend. This isn’t something I heard this isn’t something that that has sort of been embellished over the years. I’m giving you an eyewitness account. I’m showing you exactly what He did and what He said. How can you come and see, read the account of the Gospels.
They go and find people and bring them to Jesus.
One of the things that’s so interesting about this is that John the Baptist leads Andrew and the other person whoever it is to Jesus. Andrew leads his brother Peter to Jesus. Philip leads Nathaniel to Jesus. And so, what you really have here is a very important point. Of course there are exceptions, but the rule is in general, the way to find Jesus like this, the way to really come and see Jesus, the way to really know Him personally, is almost always through another person, a friend.
The way for you and I to invite people to see Jesus is by inviting them into our lives. As we get to know them, and they get to know us they can see Jesus in our lives. The way we use our time and resources, the way we treat other people, the joy and the peace through good and bad. As we ask questions, and they ask questions we can point them to Jesus in the Bible.
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Living Hope Ministries 