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What Are You Seeking?

John 1:35-51

Innovator ? someone who sees a need and seeks ways to fulfill it

Early Adopter ? someone who eagerly embraces change prior to most people

Early Majority ? who goes along with change when they see some others do it first

Late Majority ? comes along a little begrudgingly when it seems everyone else is doing it

Skeptical Guardian ? ?we?ve never done it that way? people who are hard to convince

Confirmed Traditionalist ? those who will never give up the old ways

 

In the rest of John 1 and into chapter 2, we see examples of the above when people confront the change that Jesus brings to the world. When it comes to belief, most of us fall into one of these definitions and so sometimes have a harder time than others when it comes to accepting Jesus Christ.

 

35

 

John was an innovator. God revealed to John that change was coming and he became an agent of that change, revealing Jesus Christ to the world. Sometimes all it takes is pointing out who Jesus is. John simply says: ?Behold the Lamb of God.? That?s a pretty loaded statement, of course, and would have instantly brought to mind the Passover Lamb, except this is a man. But notice the effect this has on two of his disciples:

 

36 ? 42

 

I love the first words of Jesus in this gospel: ?what are you seeking.? Is that not the question Jesus asks us? What are you seeking? Answer carefully. All they say is ?what hotel are you in?? Then Jesus says ?come and see.? I love this. Jesus doesn?t grill them with questions or demand answers, he just says ?come and see.? That?s all he does for us as well. If you are seeking something?and maybe you don?t even know what you want exactly?Jesus just invites you to come on over to his place and have a chat. It was 10:00am, by the way. John uses the Roman clock, which is like ours.

 

Anyway?Andrew is one of these guys (John was the other) and what he finds is enough to convince him that Jesus is the Messiah. Andrew is an early adopter. He sees change coming, and embraces it. For some, that will be their experience when they learn of Jesus Christ. I learned of a story like that from one of our deacons this week. He shared with me the account of a woman who sat next to a guy on a plane and had the audacity to take out her Bible and read it. The resulting conversation led him, an adjacent passenger, and probably a whole bunch more people to the Lord. There was discussion but no lengthy period of wrestling?just belief.

 

So Andrew goes and gets his brother Simon. Jesus takes one look at him and says ?so you are Simon?? Right then and there he changes his name to Cephas, or Peter. Simon comes from the Hebrew Simeon, which means ?hearing.? The root word means ?to hear intelligently.? Cephas (Aramaic), or Peter (Greek-Petros), means ?stone?.

 

Peter started out his life with Christ more as Simon?he heard and understood things many did not, but he was not much of a rock to lean on. I think Peter is also an innovator. Peter?s problem was that instead of being on the leading edge of change he was on the bleeding end and didn?t wait for God to catch up with his great ideas!

 

We?ll talk about this more as the story unfolds but notice what Jesus says: ?You are Simon ? you shall be Cephas.? Whatever faults and weaknesses we have now, Jesus sees us, as He will recreate us?into His image. That?s comforting.

 

43 ? 46

 

I love this story. It?s like these guys have been looking for something all their lives that they finally found?or perhaps it was that they found something and then realized they had been looking for it and didn?t know it. But they accept outright that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law, Moses, the Prophets, and was the Messiah. Given the guff the Pharisees give Jesus later on, it?s such a breath of fresh air to see people so readily accept him. These guys are early adopters. They eagerly accept change because they were primed for it through the Law and Prophets.

 

47 ? 51

 

So there is this great interaction with Nathaniel. Nathaniel, when he hears that Jesus came from Nazareth says ?can anything good come from there?? (By the way, Nathaniel is likely Bartholomew mentioned in the synoptics). Why did he say this? Nathaniel came from Cana, about 4 miles from Nazareth. There was a Roman garrison there and perhaps the influence of that culture on the town led to the comment. Also, a Messiah was to come from Bethlehem, not Nazareth. Perhaps Nathaniel is a skeptic at first, not trusting change until proven beneficial. Some people are like that too. They hear the gospel but can?t really see how it benefits them, possibly because they don?t know really what dire straights they are really in!

 

Notice that Philip didn?t argue with Nathaniel but simply said, ?Come find out for yourself.? Jesus reveals to Nathaniel that he knows him in a way others did not. He was a man who was honest and said it like he felt it. Then Jesus reveals the depth of His knowledge about Nathaniel. ?Under the fig tree? was actually a euphemism for studying the Scriptures. Jesus told Nathaniel that he knew his character and his every move! He knows ours too. That can be scary, but it?s also comforting because Jesus still calls us to follow Him as well.

 

So instantly, Nathaniel recognizes Jesus as the Son of God and now adds the ?King of Israel?.

 

Jesus says ?you ain?t seen nothin? yet!? The reference to ?son of man? was a Messianic reference from Daniel the Prophet. The angels ascending and descending on him would have immediately brought to mind Jacob?s dream in Genesis 28. He is saying that 1) they will gain insight way beyond what Jesus has just shown them but into the things of heaven itself, and that 2) Jesus is not just king of Israel but of the whole universe ? a new kingdom has come!

 

Conclusions

 

Are you searching and don?t even know it for identity? When someone mentions Jesus what is your reaction? Are you curious? Are you seeking? You may not think you are, but you are. And what you are seeking Jesus has. Go to where He?s staying?read about Him, learn about Him. You may find the lights going on your head and in your heart that He is the answer to all your questions, the solution to all your puzzles, the hope of all your dreams.

 

Maybe you sort of dismiss Him outright?how could anything good come from this Jesus guy? He?s the one in charge of all those Christians, right? Aren?t they a bunch of narrow minded bigots? Come and see.

 

What?s your attitude towards change? Are you more of an early adopter or a skeptic? Change is hard but when you find something that really makes sense, it makes sense to grab a hold of it with all you can! Just be careful that you are actually grabbing on to the truth. You know that today because the truth reveals itself in God?s Word, the Bible.

 

Or perhaps you are a skeptic. It?s okay being a skeptic, like Nathaniel, as long as once you realize you have the truth you accept it. It?s not even that bad being a confirmed traditionalist if you are confirming the truth. The Pharisees were confirmed traditionalists but not of the truth. Once you let Jesus get you, once you believe, then it?s good to hold on to that truth no matter what.

 

Is Jesus calling you? Is Jesus telling you that He knows you, yet loves you? Maybe its time to come and see.