John 1:35-51: Discovering Jesus

John 1:35-51 – Discovering Jesus

This morning, we’re going to continue our series going through the Gospel of John passage by passage. And as we prepare to jump into our text this morning, I’d like to ask you all a question. This is a time for some audience participation. Raise your hand if you made a New Years’ resolution this year. How many people do we have who’ve made a resolution to change something about themselves or their lives in 2017? Okay, now raise your hand if you’ve managed to keep your New Years’ resolution for the past week. Not too bad. It seems like most of us are still going strong seven days in. However, not to discourage anyone, but I’m sure most of us know the statistic that the majority of New Years’ resolutions unfortunately will be broken by February. So you’ll be beating the odds if you’re still able to raise your hand in one month. And if I were to ask you all same question around this time next year, only 8% of those who made resolutions would be able to raise their hands. 

However, there is a way that we can have true change in our lives—deep change, lasting change, change that’s so profound we really will never be the same again. Please turn with me to John 1. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 735. John 1:35-51: The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 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?" He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Here’s the main takeaway I’d like us to get from this text: Discovering Jesus changes everything about your life. New Years’ resolutions may help us modify an external habit every now and then, but it’s only as we discover Jesus that real change happens. And in fact, discovering him changes everything about our lives. That’s the main thing to get this morning. And in our text, we see three ways discovering Jesus changes you. Number one, discovering Jesus makes you a new person. Number two, discovering Jesus gives you a new purpose. And number three, discovering Jesus causes you to see from a new perspective. New person, new purpose, new perspective. 

Discovering Jesus Makes You a New Person 

First, let’s look at how discovering Jesus makes you a new person. In verse 41, Andrew finds his brother Simon and tells him “We have found the Messiah.” Then look at verse 42: “He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter).” So Jesus changes Simon’s name. And by changing Simon’s name, he’s declaring what Simon will become. 

 Back in those days, names were very meaningful. They were intended to say something about the person. And to a lesser extent, we still do that today. For example, Becky and I named our first son “Caleb,” which means “wholehearted.” Our prayer for him is that he will be wholehearted in his service to Jesus. We then named our second son “Silas,” who was Paul’s missionary partner in the book of Acts. We want Silas also to be faithful and active in serving the Lord. And then, some of you have heard that our baby soon to be born is a girl and will be named “Grace” with the hope that one day she’ll receive the grace God offers through his Son Jesus. And back in ancient times, names were even more significant than they are today. People paid even more attention to their meaning and significance. So when Jesus tells Simon that his name will now be Peter, he’s declaring something about him—something good. The name Peter literally means “rock.” It’s a name appropriate for someone who’s steadfast, immovable, loyal, and consistent. Simon may not have those qualities now, but Jesus is basically saying, “That’s the kind of person you’ll be soon enough. Right now, you may be Simon. You may have all the dirty laundry Simon has and struggle with the hindrances and sins Simon struggles with. But when I’m done with you, people are going to call you Peter, because I’m going to make you a totally new person. So it won’t be you fixing yourself; it’ll be me fixing you. I will make you Peter.”

You know, I think a lot of people view Christianity as basically a series of steps we can take in order to improve ourselves. We just have to think positive thoughts and start listening to the right people and try really hard. And if we do that, there’s nothing about ourselves that we can’t change. It’s basically the same message you find in the self-help section of the bookstore, just with a little bit of Christian lingo thrown in there that supposedly makes it “Christian.” But that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God not only calls us to be a certain way but also makes us what he calls us to be. That’s why the early church leader Augustine prayed, “Lord, command what you will and grant what you command.” “Command what you will and grant what you command.” In other words, “Command whatever it is you desire, but then grant me the power to do what you desire—because I can’t do it on my own.”

And that’s what Jesus is promising to do for Simon. He tells Simon he’s going to make him into a whole new person. And history tells us that he did. Of course, it took a little while. Later on in the Gospel of John, chapter 18 records Peter denying that he even knows Jesus three times right before Jesus is crucified. He fails Jesus at a critical time. He acts the opposite of the way someone named Peter should act. But after that, he shows a level of dedication to Jesus the few people in all of church history have shown. He preaches the famous sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2, which marks the beginning of the church. He then continues to boldly proclaim the gospel even when the Jewish religious leaders imprison him and beat him and threaten to do worse. And then, he continues to serve the Lord for decades after that until, as history records, he’s eventually crucified and dies as a martyr because he simply won’t step telling people about Jesus. Tradition says that he requests to be crucified upside down because he’s not worthy to die the same way Jesus died. That’s someone who deserves the name Peter. 

And that’s how radically Jesus is able to change someone. He takes people who are hopelessly entangled in sin and in various destructive tendencies that dominate their lives, and he changes them in a fundamental way. And he can do that for you too. You don’t have to be a slave to your past. Regardless of what you’ve done or what’s been done to you, you can become a new person just like Peter. The thing you have to realize is that Jesus does the work, not you. I was once talking to a friend of mine named Jon-Eric about Jesus. And Jon-Eric told me something I hear a lot of people say. He told me that he can’t come to Jesus now because he’s too sinful. There’s too much that’s messed up in his life for him to come to Jesus. But that’s not the way it works. You don’t clean yourself up before coming to Jesus any more than you get yourself healthy before going to the hospital. No, you go to Jesus with a repentant heart and a willingness to admit your need, and you put your trust in him to save you. You see, even though you’ve committed some very serious crimes against a holy God and fully deserve God’s judgment, Jesus died on the cross to take the penalty for all the sin you’ve ever committed. Everything bad you’ve ever done has already been taken care of at the cross. Jesus suffered God the Father’s judgment for it so you wouldn’t have to. And then he rose from the dead to defeat all of that garbage once and for all. And if you’ll simply purpose in your heart to turn away from sin and start trusting Jesus, Jesus will change you just like he changed Peter. But it has to be on his terms, not yours. 

Discovering Jesus Gives You a New Purpose 

Now, moving along in our text, not only do we see that discovering Jesus makes you a new person, we also see that discovering Jesus gives you a new purpose. It gives you a new purpose. And that purpose is the same purpose we talked about last week with John the Baptizer: making Jesus famous. We see that in two places in our passage this morning. In both stories, someone who discovers Jesus passes on that discovery to someone else. Look at verse 41. Andrew started following Jesus, and then what did he do? Verse 41: “He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).” And then in verse 42, “he brought him to Jesus.” Andrew understood that he couldn’t keep this news about Jesus a secret. He had to tell people! So he started with his brother Simon and introduced him to the person who would forever change his life. Then we see something very similar happening down in verse 45. Philip has just begun to follow Jesus. And what does Philip do the first chance he gets? Verse 45: “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’”

So from the very beginning, the very first people who followed Jesus understood that following Jesus involves telling others about him. As one scholar observes from this passage, as soon as these men become disciples, they also become missionaries. And it was such a natural thing for them to do. They didn’t need to attend a seminar about how to talk to people about Jesus. They didn’t have to read a hundred books about it. They just did it. And so often, it’s just that natural to share something that truly excites you. If you’ve been a Christian for a number of years, let me challenge you to think back to the time when you first discovered Jesus. What was it like? How did you feel? I know for me, when I first discovered Jesus, nothing else seemed to matter. It was all I could think about and all I felt like talking about. And yet, so often, we lose that lose that initial zeal. We get swept away by a current of a thousand and one other things that all seem so pressing. But why does it so often turn out that way? Shouldn’t part of our growth as Christians be growth in joy and gratitude and enthusiasm for the Lord? And shouldn’t it be just as natural as it was at first—and even more so—for us to share that joy with others?

Also, as we think about Andrew bringing Peter to Jesus, consider the impact he had on the world by doing that. Interestingly, Andrew himself doesn’t appear to be a very impressive leader. Even though he was one of the twelve apostles, he doesn’t really stick out as having exceptional leadership ability. He was just an ordinary guy. I mean, look how he’s first introduced in verse 40. He’s referred to as “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.” Talk about living in the shadow of your brother! That’s the best way the author can think of to describe him. But even though Andrew himself may not have done great things, he brought Peter to Jesus, and Peter did great things. That’s why one commentator calls this act of bringing Peter to Jesus “as great a service to the Church as ever any man did.” So even you never do anything that makes the history books, think about the impact you can have through the people you lead to the Lord. 

Back in the nineteenth century, there was a man named Edward Kimball. If you haven’t heard of him, that’s not surprising, because hardly anyone has. Edward was just a regular guy who happened to teach a Sunday School class for his local church. And he must have had a lot of patience, because he taught Sunday School for the young boys of the church. I used to teach a middle school boys class myself for several years, and let me tell you, it was interesting. Middle school boys can be quite a handful sometimes. There were weeks I probably experienced more sanctification by dealing with those boys than I did through the lesson I was teaching.  But Edward Kimball taught that class. And one boy in particular seemed to others like a lost cause. So Edward made an intentional effort to pursue him individually, even outside of class, and talk to him about the gospel. One day, he actually went to the shoe store where this young boy worked and talked to him about Jesus. And that visit actually resulted in this young boy embracing Jesus. And do you know that young boy’s name? His name was D. L. Moody, later recognized as one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the church—certainly the greatest of the nineteenth century. God used D. L. Moody to lead tens of thousands of people to Jesus. Some even estimate that as many as a million people may have come to Christ through Moody’s preaching. And the story gets even better. God used D. L. Moody to bring a man named Wilbur Chapman to salvation, who was then used to bring a man named Billy Sunday to salvation, who was then used to bring a man named Mordecai Ham to salvation, who was then used to bring none other than Billy Graham to the Lord. And all of this happened because one man named Edward Kimball was faithful in sharing the gospel with one of the boys in his Sunday School class. 

Listen to me: You may think it unlikely that God will use you to bring the next Apostle Peter or D. L. Moody or Billy Graham to salvation, and statistically speaking, perhaps it is. But you can still have an enormous impact on this world simply by leading others to follow Jesus, who then lead others to follow Jesus, who then lead still others to follow Jesus as well. Think about how your impact could multiply. As the old saying goes, think about how many apple trees are contained in a single apple seed. And discovering Jesus gives you a deep passion to have that kind of impact on other people. It gives you a desire to do what we see Andrew doing here in John 1—telling people around you how they can discover the wonderful things you’ve discovered in Christ. That becomes your purpose.

Discovering Jesus Causes You to See from a New Perspective 

And lastly in our text, not only does discovering Jesus make you a new person, and not only does it give you a new purpose, but it also causes you to see from a new perspective. Verses 46-51: “Nathanael said to him [that is, to Philip], "Can anything good come out of Nazareth? [Jesus’ hometown]" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

So as we can see in verse 46, Nathanael starts out quite skeptical. He asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” a question that probably reflects some kind of local rivalry. But when he comes to Jesus, Jesus says to him in verse 48, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Now, scholars aren’t sure that exactly that means. A common theory is that it was common to read and study in the shade of a fig tree and that Nathanael had some kind of profound spiritual experience while doing that under a fig tree. But even though we’re not sure exactly what Jesus was talking about, Nathanael apparently knew exactly what Jesus was talking about. And in a single moment, Nathanael’s view of Jesus is changed entirely. He sees that Jesus possesses supernatural knowledge, and he immediately says to him in verse 49, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” So one moment, he’s asking if anything good can possibly come from Nazareth, and the next moment, he’s calling Jesus the Son of God and the King of Israel. 

And it works the same way with us. Jesus may not physically stand in front of us and audibly tell us something that reveals supernatural knowledge like he did to Nathanael, but he reveals himself to us nonetheless. That’s the only way anyone’s ever truly converted. Jesus personally reveals himself to us. He opens our eyes and makes himself real to us and enables us to believe the gospel. It’s a supernatural occurrence. And from that moment on, we see Jesus from a completely new perspective. No longer do we see him as merely a historical figure or a source of inspiration or a great teacher. No, we see him for who he is—our Savior and our King. And not only do we see Jesus from a new perspective, we see everything else in life from a new perspective as well. It’s like we’ve been given new glasses, and these new glasses change the way we view our struggles, our successes, our sins,  our purpose, our careers, our money—everything. These new glasses cause us see all of it in light of God’s will, God’s priorities, and God’s gospel mission.

Conclusion

So my invitation to you this morning is the same invitation Jesus gave to Andrew and his companion in verse 39, and it’s the same invitation Philip gave to Nathanael in verse 46: “come and see.” It’s that simple. “Come and see.” You can spend years investigating and asking questions and going back and forth in your mind. But at the end of the day, the only way to know conclusively that the gospel is true and that Jesus really is who he claims to be is to “come and see” for yourself. Receive his offer of salvation even today. Put your trust in him to rescue you on the basis of who he is and what he’s done on the cross, and experience for yourself the same joy, peace, and forgiveness that Jesus offered to his first followers here in John 1. 

And if you’ve already done that this morning, let me remind you than when you discovered Jesus and became a new person and received a new purpose, and came to see things from a totally new perspective, that’s not a one-time thing. That’s not something that you look back on and say, “Oh, yeah, I did that.” No, those are changes you walk in day in and day out for the rest of your life. You have to actually live like the new person you are and embrace the new purpose you’ve been given and cultivate the new perspective you’ve obtained. And I’ll be honest: as our society continues going the way it’s going, I can’t promise it’ll always be easy to live out your newness in Christ. There will be times when you will be misunderstood. There will be some people who’ll think that you’re kind of weird. Don’t let that surprise you. Jesus tells us we can expect things like that to happen. But the more you experience the newness Jesus offers, the more you know that Paul’s words in Philippians 3 are true, when he wrote, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”