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John

Please turn in your Bibles to John 1:35-51. Last week John the Baptist was absolutely clear that he, himself, was not the Christ. Then when he saw Jesus, he directed our attention to him. John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This morning, we’ll see the Lamb of God title referenced again. I mentioned last week that every single title for Jesus used throughout the book is introduced in chapter 1. So, as I read, listen for those various titles. Also, listen for all the action verbs and commands… like come and see, follow, and find. There are quite a few. Reading of John 1:35-51 Prayer A few months ago, Amy and I went to hear Atlanta Symphony. They were performing Rapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. You may or may not be familiar with it, but United Airlines has used it for several decades as their theme song, so you would probably recognize it. It starts with a free-flowing jazzy clarinet solo, which is really its main melody. Then after various instrumental and piano versions of it, the full orchestra adds another melody, a more rhythmic melody – it’s been called the train theme because it keeps a consistent tempo. Then there’s also the romantic theme, which is different from the other two. It has a more of a moving lyrical feel that draws you in. The beauty of Rapsody in Blue is how the musical themes overlap and come up in different ways with different instruments including piano and strings and brass. In many ways, the Gospel of John is similar. Different themes come up and overlap as Jesus’ life and ministry is revealed. One of those is the basic narrative of what is happening. It centers around Jesus’ interactions with his disciples and his teaching and miracles and what was happening in Jerusalem. Throughout the book, Jesus instructs his disciples, confronts the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, and ministers to sinners and suffers. Another layer includes the deep theological truths about God and salvation. For example, we learn about Jesus’ identity, and about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus and God the Father will send, and we learn about being grafted into Christ – how he abides in us and us in him. And then finally there’s a third layer – a third musical theme. It focuses on how to follow Jesus. We are given positive and negative examples – examples of believing and following Jesus and examples of rejecting him and not following him. Last week, John the Baptist modelled humility and what it means to direct others to Christ. Well, our text this morning has the full display of how these themes interact and overlap, you know, kind of like an orchestra…. So, what I want to do this morning is make three passes through the verses. First, we’ll begin with the narrative – what was actually happening as Jesus called his disciples. By the way, it is through the story that God teaches us about who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. So, we ‘ll consider that first. Second, we’ll consider how this text furthers our understanding of Jesus’ identity and purpose – that theme is all throughout. And then the third pass will be the practical. We are each called to bring others to follow him. So, three points. #1 - The observational: Come and See #2 - The theological: Find and Believe #3 – The practical: Bring and Follow 1. Come and See (the observational) So, #1 – the observational. The first thing to observe is how quickly these events have been happening. Remember from verses 19-28 that a delegation had been sent from Jerusalem. They asked John the Baptist about his identity and why he was baptizing. Now look at verse 29. It begins, “the next day.” The very next day, John saw Jesus and testified to who he is as the Lamb of God… on whom the Spirit of God had descended. Now look at verse 35. Same thing. “The next day.” And jump down to verse 43. Again, “the next day.” All this activity was happening pretty quickly and in different locations near and around the Sea of Galilee. Furthermore, as we sensed from the reading, there are exciting things happening. In verse 36, John the Baptist reiterates that Jesus is the Lamb of God. And then the handoff. Two of John’s disciples begin to follow Jesus. They immediately recognized him. And they call him Rabbi, you know, Teacher. We’re told that one of John the Baptist’s disciples was Andrew, who is Peter’s brother. It’s very interesting that we’re not told the other disciple’s name. All the others in this chapter are named. I believe the unnamed disciples is very likely the apostle John. I mentioned a few weeks ago that the apostle never names himself. That was a common practice for narrative writing at the time. In fact, in the book of Acts, written by Luke, he similarly never names himself. Except, we are given glimpses of his involvement. A couple of passages in Acts use the first-person plural pronouns “us” and “we.” Luke was there. In t...