“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).”” —John 1:29-39
WE SHOULD SEEK HIS
“The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” —John 1:35-36
The words of John the Baptist had an immediate impact and we know that because of their reaction
“The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus.” —John 1:37
These two disciples remind us that the first and foremost reason for coming to Jesus is the search for salvation and cleansing through His sacrificial death on the cross.
We Need To Seek His Cleansing Because We Are
Earlier in the chapter, we find that word of John the Baptist sudden popularity had reached Jerusalem and has stirred things up so much that Priest and Levites were sent to investigate what was going on.
They quiz John the Baptist – Are you Elijah who come back from Heaven? Are you some kind of Prophet?
In John 1:20, John had said, “I am not the
John had made it clear that he was not the one who would save Israel from their sins but there was one coming that was mighty to
These two disciples left John and followed Jesus because they both realized that more than they needed the
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” —Acts 4:12
WE SHOULD SEEK HIS
When these first two disciples approached Jesus, they rightly desires cleansing, but they didn’t stop there.
Look at how they addressed Him
“When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” —John 1:38
In that day, those who were experts in the Law and the Word of God were called Rab, which means
The title used here, “Rabbi”, means
For someone to address another person as Rabbi meant that they recognized them as their personal master, or the one from whom they would take instruction and direction. That’s what Andrew and John are doing!
WE MUST SEEK HIS
“When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” —John 1:38
Obviously, there were a lot of things these men wanted, but mainly, they just wanted to be with
Their desire was simply to be in His presence and share His company.
As Christians, our ultimate pursuit should be to simply live in the
Andrew and John didn’t invite Jesus back to their home. They wanted to go to His.
It was not so much that they wanted Him to be a part of their lives, as they were interested in being a part of His.
QUESTION: What is it that you want out of Jesus?
“I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death” —Philippians 3:4-10