Jesus Invites Us to See Where He Lives

STS1140d

Jesus Invites Us to See Where He Lives

Tom: Well, for a number of weeks—actually, over a year—we’ve been going over the Gospel of Salvation. So important, so critical. And now, Dave, as you know, we’re going through the Gospel of John, because this is one book of the Bible, and certainly we don't want to place one over the other, but at least in this gospel, this Gospel of John, the emphasis is on salvation. This is the book that most Christians give to non-Christians, just this gospel, because of all the verses that have to do with who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and so forth.

So, we’re going to pick up with John:1:34And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
See All...: “And I saw [and this is John the Baptist speaking], and I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God. (35) Again the next day, after John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”

Now, Dave, this is interesting. These were disciples of John, based on…what? On the idea that he was the forerunner of the Messiah? Or,…

Dave: I don’t know that they necessarily understood that, although that’s who He said He was.

Tom: But they were attracted to what He was doing: calling those to repentance, right?

Dave: Right. He must have been teaching, I would think, from the Old Testament, and calling Israel back to the Bible, back to the Word of God. He was not a rabbi. He was kind of a rough character in homespun clothes, and apparently didn’t even come into the cities. He stayed out there. The people had to come out there to him. So, he certainly was not part of the religious establishment. That may be part of what attracted the people, because they had seen the hypocrisy of these people. They loved the chief seats at the feasts. They loved to be called “rabbi, rabbi,” and they would stand praying in a conspicuous place. They would even sound a trumpet before them when they went to give a gift into the treasury for the temple, and so forth.

So, maybe John was a breath of fresh air! His down-to-earth simplicity and sincerity of his love for God, and the message that he preached. And he was preparing them for the Messiah, and he must have been teaching from God’s Word, so I think that perhaps was the attraction.

Tom: “Then Jesus turned…” Here we have these disciples of John…

Dave: Let me interrupt you again. It’s interesting. We read back in verse 29, “The next day.” And we know that that was the next day after John had baptized Him, because John didn’t know who He was until He saw the Spirit descending upon Him as He came up out of the baptismal waters. So that’s the day after.

So, Jesus, somehow, seems to be—I wouldn’t say “hanging around.” He must have had something that He was doing. He hasn’t yet started His public ministry, and maybe Jesus is lingering now as part of the crowd, listening to John, I don’t know. And then, in verse 35, again, the next day—so that’s the day after that, so that would be two days after the baptism, John stood to his disciples, and Jesus is apparently walking by, and that’s when he again says, “Behold the Lamb of God…”

Tom: Right. Verse 36.

Dave: That’s the picture now. Jesus hadn’t started His public ministry. He’s unknown to anyone. Certainly the rabbis do not know who He is and do not respect Him. And all John knows is, this is the Messiah! And now he says, “This is the Lamb of God.” That must have been—wow! That must have gotten the attention of everyone.

Tom: Right.

Dave: But apparently not of everyone. Two disciples of John’s now followed Jesus.

Tom: Dave, I know from my own experience, some people—one individual in particular who was Jewish—and this verse, “The Lamb of God”—the idea of the Lamb of God cut him right to his heart. He understood that from his Jewish background. You can imagine what these two were thinking. This was not just a title. It had so much behind it in terms of their understanding, even at that point. The Lamb of God! They knew!

Dave: Verse 34 says, “I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.” And you go back to the end of chapter 20, verse 31—well, verse 30: “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name.”

“The Son of God,” of course, a virgin birth, Isaiah:9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See All...: “Unto us a child is born,”
 (that’s the babe born in Bethlehem); “unto us a son is given” (that’s the eternal Son of God). “The government will be upon His shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the Everlasting Father,” so if we don’t—as we’ve pointed out from the gospel before, if we don’t believe Jesus is God, then, He’s not our savior, because only God can save us.

Okay, so here we have: He’s the Son of God, and He’s the Lamb of God!

Tom: Right.  Now, these two disciples, it mentions in verse 37: Jesus turns to them. (I’ll just read it.) “Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?” Now, Dave, we’ve been talking about that the last two weeks. “Seeking after God.” These men were seeking. They weren’t believers yet. They weren’t saved. But they were seeking Him.

Dave: Mm-hmm. And it’s…I don’t think they understood a great deal. This is the Son of God. This is the Lamb of God. So they say, “Master, where are you staying? Where do you live?” Well, of course, we know Jesus had no house. He said, “The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests; I have nowhere to lay my head.”

I don’t know. Was He staying with someone? Or was He sleeping on the ground somewhere?

Tom: Dave, I don’t want to make too much out of this, but when Jesus says, “What seek ye?” and they reply, “Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou?” I don’t want to read too much into this. It seems that they were interested in Him, and they wanted to be where He was.  I guess it’s no more than that.

Dave: Well, He’s…it says, “John saw Him as He was walking,” so apparently He’s heading somewhere. They want to go with Him. They want to spend some time with Him, which we should desire. Spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer. But they were drawn to Him. I’m sure drawn by His very character. But by what John the Baptist said, and Jesus says, “Come and see.” Why does it say this? Why does it give us this little anecdote here? I think it’s a lesson for all of us to have this desire to be with the Lord—to learn of Him. They wanted to talk to Him. They wanted to hear Him say something. So far as we know, Jesus hadn’t said a word yet. John has pointed Him out, but Jesus hadn’t said anything. And I think they’re hoping—hoping to hear from Him. And they must have heard something, because you know that Andrew, he goes and gets his brother Peter, and tells him “We’ve found the Messiah!” Maybe you wanted to read those verses, Tom.

Tom:  Right. But, Dave, before we get to that, I just want to underscore what Jesus said, “What seek ye?” This is the heart of what we’ve been talking about for the last couple of weeks.

Dave:  Yeah.

Tom: We have to seek Him, and we are able to seek after Him.

Dave: Mm-hmm. “Why do you want to follow Me,” Jesus is saying. “What do you want out of this?”

I remember Oral Roberts—a chapter in one of his books. The title of it is “What’s in It for Me, God?” I think too many of us come to God with that attitude. “What are you going to do for me?”

So, Jesus is asking, “What are you seeking? What do you want from me? What do you want me to do for you?” And He’s probing their hearts.

Tom:  Right. Getting them to search their own hearts in this.

Dave: Yeah. “What’s your motive? What’s this all about?” And they say, “Where do you dwell?” and He says, “Well, come and see. Come on, guys. Come along. I’ll teach you, I’ll take you under My wing, under My tutorship, under My instruction, and we’ll see whether you are going to be true followers.”

He must have had quite a conversation with them that night, because the next day, Andrew runs off to find Peter, and he says, “We’ve found the Messiah!” So, something happened that really convinced them beyond just the words that John the Baptist spoke.

Tom: Yeah, Dave. Let me quote that verse. I’ll start with 40: “One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and said unto him, ‘We have found the Messiah,’ which is being interpreted ‘The Christ.’” And we’re out of time…

Dave: He brought him to Jesus.

Tom: Right. And here’s a simple lesson. If we want to know the true and living God, we’ve got to seek after Him, and God will guide and direct our hearts, our steps, in all of this.

Dave: And then we will want to bring others to Him.

Tom: Amen.