The Lamb of God Has Come, Now Follow Him (John 1:35-51)

Big news requires a big response.

When World War II ended in Europe there was dancing and celebration in the streets. Hitler had been defeated and it was time for tremendous celebration. Bad news is likewise met with a big response. I’ll never forget watching those planes fly into the World Trade Center on the News that morning. There was tremendous mourning around our entire country. That was entirely appropriate. Nationwide tears following a disaster like that is completely appropriate.

Big responses are also required at big personal news or events. Guys asking their girlfriends to marry them expect a big response from their wives. This is a life changing event. Tears and a big yes are totally appropriate at this point. A “whatever” would not at all be a welcome response. I was incredibly nervous about asking Amanda to marry me but was joyous when she said yes. News of Haddon and Lydia’s future births was incredibly joyous for us. We celebrated the news of their coming births. We were joyous when they were actually born as well.

The news that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world requires a big response from us. The Lamb of God has come, now follow Him.

Last week we discussed John the Baptist’s declaration that Jesus was the Lamb of God that came to take away our sins. Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice for sin. Our sin was placed upon Him and He bore God’s wrath in our place. Now, this is what we discussed last week. But this news requires a response. Our response to this message is to turn from ruling our own lives and trust in Christ. Turn from being our own master and boss to placing our faith in Him. If this is our response then we will be people who are following Christ.

Jesus is the Lamb of God, follow Him.

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.

John 1:35-39 ESV

Come, Follow Me (John 1:35-39)

John the Baptist had just shouted that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What do you think the response to that message should be? I think following Jesus is the exact response that I would expect to see. These men are following John the Baptist and he stops and says that this person is the Lamb of God. It only makes sense that they would turn from the direction of life that they were living and followed him.

That is the essence of repentance. Repentance is defined as a change of mind. This change of mind will necessarily lead to a change in direction. They have devoted their lives to the teaching of John the Baptist and now they will devote their lives to Christ. They have been hanging out with John the Baptist, following him and now they follow Jesus and ask him what seems like a weird question, “where are you staying?”. Jesus’s response is “Come and you will see.” They called Jesus “Rabbi” which meant teacher and asked Him where He was staying. They wanted to be with Jesus. They wanted to be in His presence. Their calling Him “Rabbi” leads me to believe that they wanted to learn from Him and be a part of whatever He was going to be doing. They had repented and were now trusting and following the Messiah.

This is what we are called to do. The declaration comes to us. God the Son has come and paid the price for sin. He has made a way for us to be in a right relationship with God. He has risen from the dead. Because of what He has done we can be united with God our Creator. Our response is quite simple. Our response is to repent and believe. It is to turn from ruling our own lives, turn from being our own boss, turn from the road we are on and trust in Christ. When we trust in Him we will follow Him, just as the disciples did in this situation.

Is this the decision you have made? Have you heard the declaration of God’s grace and mercy upon you and turned to Him?

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.”

John 1:40-45 ESV

Come, Follow Jesus (John 1:40-45)

The disciples of John trusted Christ and immediately started doing something significant. They started telling others to do the same. They started declaring the glorious message of who Jesus was to those around them.

In the Early Church few names would mean more than Peter. He was a leader in the Early Church, along with the other disciples, but something was different about him. Peter is mentioned within the interactions with the disciples quite a lot. Peter also wrote some of the books of the New Testament. And Mark was a good friend of Peter’s. I believe, along with many other people, that Mark could just as well be called the Gospel According to Peter. The reason that Andrew’s name is followed by “Simon Peter’s brother” is to mark out just who we are talking about. This is the conversion of a very big name in the Early Church. Andrew declares to his brother something quite profound. “We have found the Messiah”.

Israel had been looking and waiting for the one who would rescue them. They didn’t yet realize what the rescue would look like. They still thought that it had something to do with rescuing the people from Roman occupation, but Andrew knew already that Jesus was the Messiah. And he went and let Peter know. It also is a very excited telling of who Jesus is.He excitedly went to tell his brother the good news. And Peter responded by going to Jesus accompanied by his brother and he trusted in Christ. And here Jesus says, you shall be called Cephas. This is the Aramaic word for stone. The Greek word for stone is “petros”. And his name is now Peter.

Jesus then moves on and is preaching with a few disciples in tow. He finds Philip and says “Follow me”. We’re not told what all Philip heard besides “follow me”, but we do know that he left everything to turn and follow Jesus. Then, Philip goes to Nathanael and says that they have found the prophet greater than Moses and the person who the Prophets predicted would come. In other words, we’ve found the Messiah. He is “Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph”.

What I want you to see in this is the response of the disciple. When we find out the greatest news of all our response is not to keep it hidden deep within. Or at least it shouldn’t be. What did I do when Amanda said yes? I talked with my family and posted it on Facebook. We made it “Facebook official”. This is the greatest news on Earth. My sins can be forgiven in Christ. This is news that is worth telling and that is the response of a disciple.

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!” 

John 1:50-51 ESV

Count The Cost And Weigh The Decision Then Follow Jesus (John 1:50-51)

There seems to be nothing admirable in Nathanael’s original response. I mean seriously, when told that the Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth his response is “Can anything good come from Nazareth.” There is a bit of elitism going on here that was probably commonplace in this time.

Nazareth was not a well-to-do town. It would be akin to someone hearing of you and saying, “Can anything good really come out of ________?” Fill in the blank with whatever town you may be thinking right now that has that kind of reputation…apparently that is the reputation of Jesus’s hometown. Not only was Nazareth not a well-to-do town but the people in it were not very devout. Few of them got out to celebrate the Jewish Festivals. Even though Jesus’s parents did, it wasn’t that common.

Philip convinced Nathanael to come and see Jesus. Jesus saw him, from a distance and said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” I’d be like, “Dude, why do you think that you know me?” Which is very similar to what Nathanael said. “How do you know me?”. Jesus’s answer is terrifying. Before Nathanael talked to you I saw you hanging out under the fig tree. In a day when there are no video cameras or cell phones to get information places quickly this is crazy stuff. The only possible explanation was that Jesus had the ability to see and know all things. So, the response that Nathanael gave was immediately different than “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. It was, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

I want you to know two things. There is a sense in which you need to count the cost of following Jesus and not jump into this decision too soon. Jesus actually warns people to count the cost of following Him before deciding to follow Him. If you still need to do some researching and studying to see if you want to follow Jesus then do so. But you’ll find what Nathanael found and that is that you will find Jesus to be a tremendous Savior. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. A pause to decide whether or not making such a huge decision is incredibly important. Repentance and faith in Christ shake your entire world. But I want to say this as well. You never know what will happen tomorrow. Paul tells us that today is the day of salvation. Simply put, we do not know what may happen next.

So, even though Nathanael’s response seems bad. Well, honestly, to be prejudiced toward someone because of where they come from is bad. And if I were Nathanael I probably would have wondered the rest of my life whether or not Jesus heard what I’d said about Him. He probably did if He saw me under the tree. But a bit of hesitancy to consider the cost is not at all a sin, but is something that you might need to do. Because this big news requires the biggest of responses. You’ll give up your entire life in response to what Christ has done and find that it was absolutely worth it.

If you are feeling hesitant as you read this then I would love to chat with you. Just send a message to me through our website and I will chat with you. Or, you can respond to this post if you don’t mind it taking place publicly.

R. Dwain Minor