In John 1:35-51 we learn that Jesus came to bring all people to God. He is the ladder Jacob dreamed of, the Son of Man Daniel prophesied about, and the Lamb of God foreshadowed by the Jewish sacrificial system. The glory and magnitude of this revelation is so great that once we have learned and believed it, we cannot keep it to ourselves. We see this in John the Baptist, Andrew and Philip. All of them responded to Jesus by inviting others to come and see.
A Chain Reaction of Testimony
!!! note “The structure of John 1:29-51” This passage starts with “the next day”. John first used this phrase earlier in John 1:29 when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and started testifying about Him. The next day, John points out Jesus again, and two of John’s disciples follow Jesus. The next day, Jesus calls Philip to follow him. John seems to be using “the next day” to structure his narrative in John 1:29-51.
John the Baptist again called Jesus the Lamb of God. At this, Andrew and another of John’s disciples decided to follow Jesus, asking Him where He is staying. Jesus’ response is to “come and see”. Jesus invites them to come with Him and see where He is staying and what He is doing. Jesus is inviting them to join Him, to follow Him.
After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew decided to tell his brother Simon that they had found the Messiah. Simon became the third to follow Jesus, who nicknamed him Peter.
The next day, Jesus calls Philip to “follow Me.” Philip becomes the first disciple in John’s Gospel to be directly called by Jesus. He is probably the fourth to follow Jesus.
Like Andrew, Philip could not stay quiet about the Messiah, and he went and found Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Nathanael was not as quick to follow Jesus though, questioning if anything good can come from Nazareth.
The First Testimonies
These early followers gave Jesus several titles:
- Lamb of God (John the Baptist)
- Rabbi (the two disciples)
- Messiah (Andrew)
- the One Moses wrote about (Philip)
- the One the prophets foretold (Philip)
- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (Philip)
Jesus gave himself titles too:
- Son of Man (Daniel 7)
- The ladder to heaven (Genesis 28 allusion)
Just think about this: in this passage, we are told that Jesus is both a man and God. He is the fulfillment of the Jewish sacrificial system and the ladder connecting men to God. He was prophesied about by Moses, Daniel, and all the prophets.
Each of these testimonies reveals something true about Jesus, but not everyone responded the same way.
Different People, Different Paths
It is interesting that different people responded differently when they heard about Jesus.
Andrew, Peter, Philip, and the unnamed disciple follow immediately. They are quick to believe after hearing about Jesus.
But Nathanael was more hesitant. When Nathanael meets Him, Jesus calls Nathanael a “true Israelite”, prompting Nathanael to ask, “How do you know me?“. Jesus responds by telling him what he was doing before Philip called him. This was sufficient for Nathanael to change his mind and he believes Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel.
No matter how skeptical or quick to believe, Jesus accepts all who believe.
Testify to What You Have Seen
Jesus came as the ladder connecting people to the Father. But He doesn’t personally call everyone like he did Philip. Instead His followers call people to Jesus, telling them about Him and encouraging them to check Him out for themselves.
As disciples of Jesus, we too need to testify to what we have seen just as Andrew and Philip did. But our job is to testify, not to convince. When Nathanael didn’t immediately believe Philip, he didn’t argue. Instead he told Nathanael to “come and see.”
But Jesus isn’t here now for people to come and talk to. Instead we have the Bible and our personal experience. We have the arguments that convinced us. Our job isn’t to convince anyone. It is to tell them what we have learned and what we believe. Our job is to be a witness, to testify to what we have seen. It is not to convince.
But being a witness is not easy. Like Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, I want to regularly pray for courage. Not courage to win arguments, but to boldly share what I’ve seen and believe about Jesus.
Jesus is still inviting people to come and see. Now, He does it through us.