John 1:35-51

Relax, Read and Reflect
Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen

Jesus' First Disciples

³⁵The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

³⁹"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter^a]'>).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

⁴⁶"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."

⁴⁸"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

⁴⁹Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

⁵⁰Jesus said, "You believe^b]'> because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." ⁵¹He then added, "I tell you^c]'> the truth, you^d]'> shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus starts to gather his disciples, and the first ones have been following John. Andrew introduces Jesus to Simon- Peter, and Christ then decides to call him Cephas, which means rock. (Is Jesus starting to call his disciples by pet names?)

I think it is interesting that Andrew asks where Jesus is staying, but the text does not say where that is, it just says that the first Disciples go there. The next day they pick up Phillip and he tells Nathanael (Bartholomew) that the Messiah is this Jesus from Nazareth. I love Bart's response, "can anything good come from Nazareth?" When Jesus tells him of a meeting under a fig tree where Jesus was evidently not present, Bart believes. Jesus tells them basically that "they ain't seen nothing yet!"

Questions:

1. Do you think John, (the Baptist,) was angry when Jesus took his disciples?

2.How hard must it have been to just start following Jesus? When he walked by Phillip he went with them. He did not go home, he did not pack, he just went.

3. Where do you think Jesus was staying? Where does He stay now?

Prayer- Lord, give us the strength to follow you when you call. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.