John 1:35-51. Come and See
Jesus Walks In: How Do You Respond?
Imagine Jesus walks into whatever room you’re in right now. How do you respond?
This was a real scenario for John the Baptist and a few of his friends. They’re hanging out in Bethany, just near the Jordan River. Imagine you’re there with them. Jesus turns up, the eternal Word of God, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe. How should you respond?
Check out how John and Jesus’ first disciples respond.
1. Recognise Jesus
Our passage starts on day two of a seven-day sequence.
Day 1: John the Baptist is questioned by the Jewish leaders (1:19-28)
Day 2: John the Baptist declares Jesus the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29-34).
Day 3: John identifies Jesus again as the "Lamb of God" and two of John's disciples begin following Jesus (John 1:35-42).
Day 4: Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51).
Day 7: Jesus attends the wedding at Cana (John 2:1).
Having seen him the previous day, John points him out to two of his disciples, Andrew (see 1:41) and an unnamed disciple (maybe John the Gospel writer himself). John chapter 1 has a lot to say about Jesus’ identity. He’s already been identified as the Word (1:1), God’s Son (1:14) the Lamb of God (1:29) and God’s Chosen One (1:34).
The Lamb of God. In 1:36, John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God again, just as he did on day one: “Look, the Lamb of God!” Back in 1:29, we discovered that he is called the Lamb of God because he has come to take away the sins of the world, just like the sacrificial lambs in the Old Testament, which were offered to atone for the sins of Israel (see Exodus 12:3–14). John the Baptist knows this, but wants to make sure his followers understand this. John the Gospel writer wants us to recognise this about Jesus too.
Rabbi. Upon starting to follow Jesus, John’s two disciples call Jesus “Rabbi,” the Aramaic word for teacher. We’re probably given the Aramaic word because that was the language they spoke (John’s Gospel is written in Greek, which was the most commonly spoken language internationally). This highlights the authenticity of John’s account. It’s kind of weird to call someone you’ve just met “Rabbi.” It’s not like calling your high school teacher “sir” or “miss.” It was usually a term given to teachers with established street cred and some formal training. The fact that they call him Rabbi so suddenly here (see 1:49 as well) highlights that there is something special about this teacher.
Messiah/Christ. Moments later, we’re given another Aramaism. In 1:41, Andrew, one of John’s two disciples, goes and finds his brother, Simon, whom we know as Peter, and whose Aramaic name was Cephas. Andrew tells Simon/Peter/Cephas, “We have found the Messiah.” John (the Gospel writer) then adds that the word “Messiah” means “Christ.” “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name—it’s his title. Messiah comes from the Hebrew word “Mashiach”, which means “anointed one,” or “person who gets oil poured on their head because they are king (or prophet or priest).” Messiah translates into Greek as Christos, which then translates into English as Christ.
When Andrew calls him the “Messiah,” he probably has in mind Psalm 2, which portrays the Messiah (2:2) as God’s specially anointed king (2:6), who is declared to be his Son (2:7), ruling over Israel (2:6) and the nations (2:8) with authority (2:9), and offering refuge to those who submit to his rule (2:12). Calling Jesus the Messiah or Christ is a big call.
The Prophesied Prophet. Jesus is also recognised as the Prophesied Prophet on day four of our seven-day sequence. Jesus finds Philip (1:43), Philip finds Nathanael (1:44) and tells his friend:
“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Various Old Testament prophecies point to Jesus, especially in books like Isaiah, which are almost too many to count. The “one Moses wrote about in the Law” is probably a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses talks about a prophet greater than himself who people should listen to. The coming of this prophet was a big deal to people, which is why the Jewish leaders asked John the Baptist if he was “the Prophet” back in 1:21.
Son of God and King of Israel. At first, Nathanael is sceptical about Jesus. In verse 46, he says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” There were prophecies about the Messiah coming from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Isaiah 11:1 cf. 1 Samuel 16:1) and ending up in Jerusalem on David’s throne (Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 2). Nothing was expected to come from Nazareth, so you can understand Nathanael’s initial reaction (he doesn’t yet know that Jesus is from Bethlehem). In verse 47, Jesus recognises that Nathanael is a good bloke: “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” When asked how Jesus knows this, Jesus replies, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you” (1:48). We’re not told how Jesus knows this, nor do we know why this was so significant in the situation. However, you have to wonder if Jesus had to draw upon some supernatural knowledge for this. After all, Jesus’ knowledge blows Nathanael out of the water. In verse 49, he says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” This is a remarkable turnaround from just a few moments earlier. All of a sudden, Nathanael recognises who Jesus truly is. He identifies Jesus as a Rabbi, the Son of God, and the king of Israel. The latter two references most clearly take us to Psalm 2, which depicts the Messiah as God’s Son and king in Israel.
The Son of Man. To ensure that Nathanael truly understands his identity, Jesus explains that he is the Son of Man who will act as a ladder between earth and heaven. In verse 51, Jesus says,
“Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
The title Son of Man is found in Daniel 7:13–14. There we read:
13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
The Son of Man is from heaven. He has a crazy amount of authority, glory and power, and people from all over the world worship him. The bit about angels of God ascending and descending reminds us of Genesis 28:12, where Jacob dreams about the OG “stairway to heaven,” with God passing on a message down to earth in the presence of ascending and descending angels. So, when Jesus says the stuff about angels ascending and descending from heaven, Jesus is saying something like, “Nathanael, I’ve got a message for you from God up in heaven. That message is me. The angels are my support crew. I’m the Son of Man, which Daniel talks about in chapter 7. You seem to understand that I’m a big deal. Bro, you have no idea who you just met.”
So, how do we respond when Jesus walks in?
We need to recognise that Jesus is a big deal. He’s the Lamb of God, the world’s greatest ever Rabbi/Teacher, the Messiah/Christ/King of Israel/Son of God from Psalm 2, and the crazy powerful Son of Man from Daniel 7 with an angelic support crew. Jesus is a big deal. We need to recognise that.
2. Follow Jesus
And when we recognise this, it only makes sense that we follow after Jesus. That’s what the disciples who transfer from Team John to Team Jesus do back in verse 37 when John tells them Jesus is the Lamb of God:
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
They follow him. But what does that mean?
➡️ Following Jesus means spending time with Jesus. Jesus invites them to “come and see” where he’s staying (1:39). “So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.” They spend time with him. They get to know him. For Andrew and the other disciple, this meant spending time in the presence of Jesus’ physical body, listening to the words he spoke to them, and speaking with Jesus. For us, spending time with Jesus means spending time in the presence of Jesus’ church body, listening to the words he has spoken to us in the Bible, and speaking to him in prayer.
➡️ Following Jesus means sharing Jesus. Did you notice the first thing Andrew did when he met Jesus?
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
After following and spending time with Jesus, Andrew shares Jesus with his brother Simon. How can he not?
Philip does the same thing. Jesus finds him in Bethsaida and says, “Follow me.” How does Philip respond? The same way Andrew responds. He goes and finds Nathanael and tells him all about Jesus.
Like Andrew, he has just met the Lamb of God, the world’s greatest ever Rabbi/Teacher, he’s the Messiah/Christ/King of Israel/Son of God from Psalm 2, and he’s the crazy powerful Son of Man from Daniel 7 with an angelic support crew. Having realised who Jesus is and having spent time with Jesus, he can’t help himself. He has to share it with the people he loves most. This includes his brother. So he brings his brother to Jesus. He introduces them. He can’t force them to become BFFs. But he can offer an introduction. So he does. That’s just what you do when you follow Jesus.
We can’t physically introduce Jesus to people. But we can tell them about him, and we can introduce them to his words as we read the Bible.
➡️ Following Jesus means letting Jesus change us. In verse 42, we read:
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Simon has known Jesus for one glance. And from that very first glance, Jesus starts changing him. He changes his name. In fact, he gets two new names, the Aramaic name Cephas and the Greek translation of that name Peter (both mean “Rock”). Jesus will change much more than Peter’s name—he will change everything about him. Jesus will change his identity. His entire life. Even his death.
Jesus changes Nathanael’s mind. Nathanael goes from scepticism to star-studded bewilderment in less than one conversation (1:47-49). It’s really got nothing to do with Philip’s skill. He just introduces Jesus. The change happens because Jesus does his thing. When you truly meet Jesus, you can’t help but want to know and follow him, and when you come to know and follow Jesus, Jesus changes your mind.
Jesus wants to change us too. He wants to change our identities and how we view him. He wants us to see ourselves the way he sees us, with the identities he has given us. He wants to change our minds so that we see him not just as some dude that people talk about but as the Lamb of God, the world’s greatest ever Rabbi/Teacher, he’s the Messiah/Christ/King of Israel/Son of God from Psalm 2, and the crazy powerful Son of Man from Daniel 7 with an angelic support crew.
Discussion Questions
Pray and Get Going
1. Jesus walks into the room. How would you respond?
Read John 1:35-51
2. What do people realise about Jesus as they meet him?
3. What do the different titles mean? (How do passages like Psalm 2, Deuteronomy 18:15 and Daniel 7:13-14 help us make sense of these titles?)
4. How do the various people respond to Jesus?
5. What does following Jesus look like for the characters in the story?
Implications
5. What changes when we realise who Jesus truly is?
6. In this story, following Jesus means spending time with Jesus, sharing Jesus and being changed by Jesus. What does this look like for us? How can we get better at following Jesus?
Pray and Give Thanks
