“Come and See” (John 1:19-51)
Today we are going to deviate just a little bit from the Gospel of Luke. And then in a short while we will return to Luke. Why switch Gospels? Because I do not want to leave a gap in the story of Jesus.
The Gospel of John [0:34]
Eusebius, one of the church fathers, has an entire section on the writing of the four Gospels. (Ecc. History 5b) It is pretty boring stuff unless you are looking for something specific. Well, Eusebius says that one of the reasons John wrote his Gospel was to fill in gaps in the story of Jesus. The other Gospels jump from the temptations to the imprisonment of John. So John tells us what Jesus did between the temptations and John being cast into prison. Good stories. And John has a lot of other stories not found in the synoptics.
It is interesting. John says nothing about Jesus’ temptations. It says nothing about Jesus fasting in the desert for forty days. But he does tell us about his journey to Galilee after the temptations. And then to the Passover in Jerusalem. And then back to Galilee. So we are going to do a little work in John for just a while.
John is Questioned [2:00]
Today we are in John 1:19 and following. I will be reading from the Open English Bible. In this little passage we have the first appearance of Jesus after the temptations.
While Jesus was fasting and being tempted, the religious leaders in Jerusalem were talking about the crowds of people going out to listen to the preaching of John. And about the time Jesus returns to Bethany, they have sent priests and Levites to question John. Priests and Levites like John. Did John ever serve in the priesthood like his father? Don’t really know, but it is certainly possible.
And John faces his own temptations. Not from the Devil. The religious authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to question John.
They asked him, “Who are you?”
John answered clearly and simply, “I am not the Christ.”
“What then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he said, “I am not.”
“Are you ‘the prophet’?” (The prophet Moses said would come who is higher than Moses?) John answered, “No.”
“Who then are you? Tell us so that we have an answer to give to those who have sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
“I am the voice crying in the wilderness.” Not the Messiah. Not Elijah. Not the prophet.
What a temptation that must have been.! The temptation to say, “Well, actually, I am.”
Or, just to not give an answer and let them keep wondering if he is the Messiah, the prophet, or Elijah.
But John did not fail. “I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; he is coming after me, yet I am not worthy even to unfasten his sandal.” (John 1:26, 27)
Why are you looking at me? Look around. He stands among you.
Look, the Lamb of God [4:56]
So, Jesus has returned and John sees him standing somewhere nearby. In the crowds. Maybe near the religious leaders. And Jesus did not say a word.
Well the very next day, John identified the Lamb of God. He saw Jesus coming and said to the people, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! I was talking about him...” (John 1:29).
Jesus did not really stand out from a common Jew. Even John did not really know until the voice spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit descended. No one knew until John said, “This is the one I was telling you about.”
Was anyone shocked? Was anyone surprised? How long had Jesus been standing among the people? Days? What about the days or even weeks leading up to his baptism? There must have been a lot of times when the people were just talking together in small groups. How many people had talked to Jesus during those times? We don’t know. But they did not know who he was. But they know now. Everyone knows now.
Come and See [6:38]
The next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples, he looked at Jesus as he passed and exclaimed, “There is the Lamb of God!” (Verse 35)
The two disciples heard him say this, and followed Jesus. But Jesus turned around, and saw them following. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
“Rabbi,” they answered, “where are you staying?”
“Come, and you will see,” he replied. “Come and see” was a common expression of the rabbis. The two disciples called Jesus “Rabbi.” They asked the rabbi where he was staying. And the rabbi said, “Come and see.”
When a rabbi said, “Come and see,” it had a very special meaning. Jesus is not really telling them to come and see where he is staying. Not really. For a rabbi to say “Come and see!” was an invitation to come and gain understanding. Come and gain sight. Come and see. (Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, 67)
So this is a real play on words by Jesus. They have asked where he is staying, and he uses this exact expression which means, “Come and gain understanding.” So they went and spent the day with Jesus and their eyes were opened.
So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him.
The two disciples were John and Andrew. They spent the rest of the day with Jesus at the place where he was staying. And Andrew went and found his brother Simon, who Jesus gave the new name Peter.
“We have found the Messiah.” We have been looking for the Messiah. And we have found him.
The Prophet [9:02]
First there were two disciples. Now there are three. And before Jesus leaves for Galilee, there will be five.
Two and then three. And the next day Jesus called Philip to follow him. And Philip went and found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. And the one the prophets wrote about. Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph. (John 1:45, 46).
Now there are five. Can you even imagine? We have found the prophet. Moses said the Lord would raise up a prophet like himself. And the people must listen to everything the prophet says. And anyone who does not listen to the prophet will be cut off from among the people.
We have been waiting since the days of Moses. A lot of prophets have come and gone. But none of them was the prophet. And now we have John the Baptist, but even he is not the prophet. Now, we have found the one! Jesus is the prophet Moses wrote about.
I had a woman in my Bible class years ago who demurred when I said Jesus was a prophet. “Jesus is not a prophet, Jesus is the Son of God!”
Are you aware that even Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet. True, Jesus was more than a prophet. He was God’s son. But we really do not want to say that Jesus was not a prophet. Of course he was a prophet. A prophet is one who speaks for God, and Jesus certainly did that.
As the writer of Hebrews said: God, who, of old, at many times and in many ways, spoke to our ancestors, by the prophets, has in these latter days spoken to us by his Son. (Heb. 1:1)
We have found the prophet. And we have found the one the prophets wrote about. There is a lot written in the prophets about the Messiah and his kingdom. And now we have found him. The glory of Israel and the desire of nations. The shepherds found him lying in a manger. And how excited they were. And now five of John’s disciples have found him.
Nathanael Believes [12:19]
Well, actually, Nathanael was a little skeptical at first. But he had not seen Jesus. He had not talked to Jesus.
“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Can the Messiah really come out of Nazareth? Can the glory of Israel really come out of Nazareth?
Well, Philip said, “Come and see.” Again that rabbinic expression. “Come and see.” Come and have your eyes opened. Come and gain understanding. Come and see what I have seen.
And he did. He believed! He believed because Jesus recognized Nathanael as soon as he saw him. And he knew his character: An Israelite who has no deceit! And Jesus told him he saw him under the fig tree when Philip called him.
How could this man see me? How could he know me? I wish we knew more about what Philip was doing under the fig tree. My thought is that something happened which Jesus saw. Whatever it was, Jesus could see that Nathanael had no deceit in his heart.
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked Jesus. How do you know my name? How do you know my character? I saw you under the fig tree. I saw what happened before Philip called you. At least, that is the way I read it.
And Nathanael declared: “Rabbi, (Rabbi) you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.” (John 1:49).
From Trickle to Crush [14:40]
So Jesus has five disciples. First three. Then five.
First comes the trickle. Then comes the flood.
Sometime later Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. They went to the land of the Gerasenes where Jesus healed a demoniac. In fact, he healed two. When Jesus returned the people in Capernaum were waiting for him. They saw him leave and they waited for him to come back.
As Jesus was on his way to the house of Jairus, Luke says the “crowd almost crushed him.” (Luke 8:42).
First came three disciples, then came the crowds. First came the trickle, then came the crush.
The Law and the prophets were preached until John. Since then the good news of the kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing their way into it. (Lk. 16:16)
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Well, a lot of people seemed to think so. Harlots and tax collectors. Samaritans and sinners. But not the religious leaders who sent the priests and the Levites to question John. (cf. Matt. 21:31)
Well, Jesus crosses the Jordan River with his five disciples and they are making their way to Galilee. Little do the disciples know what lies ahead.
“Where are we going, Jesus?”
“We are going to a wedding feast and you are going to meet my mother.”
And there are some things I want to teach you.
Come and see!
Rick Walker
Vinekeeper Bible Podcast
Vinogradar Church of Christ
Kyiv, Ukraine
