Most of us have heard the saying that we can’t bring anything with us to heaven, but that isn’t completely correct. There is one thing that we can bring to heaven, and that is other people we have led to the Lord. Our reading today from the Gospel of John tells of a couple of early disciples of Jesus who sought to bring either a relative or friend to Jesus. Let’s look at this passage together.
As our passage opens John the Baptist is with several of his disciples when Jesus walked by. Immediately he points Jesus out to his disciples, calling Him the Lamb of God, the one who would be God’s sacrifice for sins. He knew his ministry was ending, and that his disciples should now follow Jesus, so he points the way for them (vs. 35-37). Andrew and John turn and begin to now follow Jesus.
After his first day with Jesus, Andrew was not content to keep Jesus and His salvation message to himself. Andrew was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and he immediately went to tell his brother Simon Peter (vs. 40-42). Throughout his approximately three years with Jesus, Andrew brought several people to Him. It was Andrew who brought the young boy to Jesus who had a lunch to share (John 6:8-9). Also Andrew, along with Philip, brought some Gentile Greeks to see Jesus (John 12:20-22). Andrew knew the truth, and he didn’t want to keep it just for himself, he wanted to share it with others.
Imagine if Andrew had never told his brother, Simon Peter! Peter became one of the primary leaders of the early church, wrote two Epistles, and was the primary source Mark used when writing his Gospel. Jesus gave Simon the new name of Peter, meaning “rock” in Greek (vs. 42). He was not much of a rock during his time with Jesus, but during the time of the early church he became a solid rock. We may never know what the next person we bring to the Lord will do for Him, but they never will if we don’t bring them.
The day following Peter joining the growing group of disciples, Philip goes and finds his friend, Nathaniel, and tells him about Jesus, as well (vs. 45). Nathaniel’s response was not immediately all that positive. When he heard that Jesus came from the village of Nazareth he was quite scornful (vs. 46). “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Judeans looked down on Galileans as backwards, poor, and uneducated. Many Galileans despised Nazareth, for much of the same reasons, so Nazareth was considered by most as the bottom of the barrel. Like so many of us, Nathaniel was judging and jumping to conclusions. Rather than argue with him and perhaps permanently turn him off, Philip was wise, and gave Nathaniel an invitation to come and see for himself. Philip knew that Jesus would not disappoint his friend, Nathaniel.
Fortunately for Nathaniel, he listened to Philip and came to see and meet Jesus, rather than clinging to his prejudices. He could have missed out on meeting the Messiah! Nathaniel hesitated because of what he thought of His hometown, which is not a very good excuse. Perhaps some of you reading this have hesitated coming to Jesus because of some prejudices or preconceived notions that really have nothing to do with Jesus at all. Maybe you turn away from Jesus because you don’t care for some of the people at the local church. Maybe some people who have called themselves Christians have mistreated you. Do you have an honest and seeking heart like Nathaniel did? We invite you to come and see Jesus, just like Philip invited Nathaniel to. Don’t be distracted by incidental issues, but come and see Jesus.
Jesus is called by several names in this passage - Lamb of God (vs. 36); Rabbi or Teacher (vs. 38); Messiah (vs. 41); Son of God (vs 49); King of Israel (vs. 49). Just as these disciples did, get to know Jesus, and we will understand who He is.
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