Disciples (John 1:35-51)

JESUS' FIRST DISCIPLES (John 1:35-51)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2018

 

When kids first go away to college they often leave parents wondering how well they will do on their own.

A student called his mother one evening from his college dorm and asked her for some money, because he was broke. "Sure, sweetie," she replied. "I'll send you some money.  

You also left your economics textbook here when you were home two weeks ago. Do you want me to send that up as well?" "Uh, yeah, OK" he responded.

After his mother sent the package, his father asked, "How much did you give the boy this time?" "Oh, I wrote a check for $20, and a note that he should ask for $200 next time." 

"Are you going crazy?" her husband asked. "Why would you do a thing like that?"  

"Don't worry," she replied, "I taped the $20 check to the cover of his book, but I put the note between the pages in chapter 15!"

When kids first go away to college they often leave parents wondering how well they will do on their own. "Jesus' First Disciples" were not kids, but their parents may have wondered how they would fare under the tutelage of this new rabbi.

 

Jesus begins his ministry as do other teachers in first century Judaism, by choosing disciples who will live with him and learn from him. It is a time-honored method of education that goes at least as far back as the prophets. He does not necessarily select those with great academic acumen but men with humble backgrounds. Right from the start, though, his disciples recognize that Jesus is different from other rabbis.

 

I. Andrew and Peter follow him (vv. 35-42).

A. He is the Lamb of God.

John 1:35 John was there...with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning 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.

John, although not much older than Jesus, is a teacher himself with disciples of his own. That he is ready, even eager, to transfer two of them to his cousin's tutelage indicates the confidence he has in Jesus' instruction: Jesus probably intends his question—"What do you want?"—to gauge their commitment. It is not unusual for a rabbi at first to discourage potential disciples and thereby test the seriousness of their desire to learn from him.

 

John identifies Jesus as "the lamb of God" (v. 36), a connection he made earlier but with the addition "who takes away the sin of the world" (v. 29), an allusion to the vicarious atonement he will secure by his death on the cross.- The analogy is only partial, however, and breaks down in that the sin offering is inferior to Jesus' offering, the animal sacrifice being temporal and ceremonial whereas Jesus' sacrifice is eternal and soteriological. Despite John's picturesque connection, it is doubtful that any who might have been present at the time understood the allusion beyond a superficial connection.

B. He is the Messiah of Israel

John 1:40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And 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).

Andrew is one of John's disciples, who tells his brother Peter about Jesus. Peter may have been considering becoming a disciple of John but decides to join his brother and become a follower of Jesus, especially after both brothers receive a personal invitation:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matt 4:18-20)

Peter and Andrew probably have some contact with Jesus before abandoning their occupation. Still, it is an abrupt change.

 

Some believers today use 'Christ' as if it were the rabbi's last name: Jesus Christ. It is not. 'Christ' is a title that designates Jesus' relationship to Israel as one God appointed. Moreover, it is not unique. Anyone God anoints literally or figuratively to serve as His representative holds the title:

• Priests are called God's messiah (anointed) because they serve God's interests in the sanctuary of Israel.
• Kings are called God's messiah (anointed) because they serve God's interests in the government of Israel.
• Jesus is called God's messiah (anointed) because he serves God's interests for the people of Israel.

What makes Jesus different is that he holds the title as one critical to the future of the nation:

From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' ...After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. (Dan 9:25-26)

No one else is crucial to God's plan.

 

The rabbi renames Peter, Cephas ("rock"), in anticipation of the leadership role he will have among the disciples:" "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt 16:18).

 

Application: Jesus does not generally test the seriousness of discipleship candidates before accepting them. His invitation is open to all, even to those whose interest at first may be more casual than intentional, but it is not entirely open ended:

Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matt 16:25)

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us. (2 Tim 2:12)

Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev 22:17b)

Those who choose to become disciples of Jesus must be serious about their commitment to him, and the proof is in how that relationship matures over time. As Jesus says, "He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt 10:22b; 24:13).

 

Jesus wants you to choose discipleship because, whether that road is easy or hard, it is the most direct route to becoming what God wants you to be. Do not put it off. There is a limit to God's suffrage: "He is patient with you.... But [ready or not] the day of the Lord will come." (2 Pet 3:9-10) You cannot delay the inevitable. So, prepare to meet it, "for we will all stand before God's judgment seat" (Rom 14:l0c).

 

After describing the two disciples Jesus gets after a referral from John the Baptist, John the apostle lists two disciples Jesus gets after meeting them by the sea of Galilee, and he explains what attracts them to this particular rabbi.

 

II. Philip and Nathanael follow him (vv. 43-51).

John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip 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.

A. He is a prophet of God.

Nazareth, Jesus' hometown in the first century is a nondescript village (unlike the cosmopolitan city of Sepphoris, 31/2 miles northwest) that has not produced anyone or anything of merit, let alone a rabbinic scholar or rabbinic scholarship. So, for Jesus, who is obviously learned, to hail from Nazareth, which has no rabbinic academy, is strange. Nevertheless, people assume that Jesus received his training from some authority, even though he never cites one: "He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. 'Where did this man get this wisdom?' they asked" (Matt 13:54). The famous schools of Hillel and Shammai are both active in the first century, so it would be easy for Jesus to cite one or the other; yet he does not.

 

God promised through his servant Moses that a prophet like him would eventually come in the person of the messiah:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.... I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. (Deut 18:15,18-19)

Philip wonders if Jesus could be the one Moses expected, the one who will speak the words of God, and that is Jesus' claim—His words come directly from God the Father:

I...speak just what the Father has taught me. (John 8:28b)

I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. (John 12:49)

Whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:50)

Jesus is a prophet in the fullest sense of that term, speaking the very words of God. Moreover...

B. He is the Son of God and King of Israel.

John 1:47 When 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." 49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Nathanael goes not to question Jesus' assessment or deny the compliment with false modesty ("a true Israelite" v. 47). He sees immediately what Jesus' comment reveals, an awareness of events that is beyond normal human ken. How could Jesus possibly know what Nathanael was doing without being there himself? What did Jesus mean by "I saw you" (v. 48)? Who has that kind of insight?

 

Nathanael identifies Jesus as "the Son of God [and] the King of Israel" (v. 49), titles that mark his unique relationship to the Father and position over the nation. The Son of God does not, as some Christians assume, refer to Jesus' deity but signifies his adoption as the messianic King of Israel,­ which the accompanying title supports. This combination is most explicit in Ps 2:

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.... "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." (vv. 2,6-7)

This is the first such identification of Jesus by his disciples, and it happens before he performs any miracles (although it does accompany this display of omniscience).

 

According to Jesus, Nathanael will witness angelic activity (v. 51) similar to what Jacob saw: "He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it" (Gen 28:12). Angels will play a vital role in the future Kingdom of God.-

• They will assign the people in the kingdom:"

His angels will...separate the wicked from the righteous (Matt 13:49).

• They will announce the advent of the kingdom:

He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call (Matt 24:31).

• They will accompany the king to the kingdom:

The Son of Man [will] come...and all the angels with him (Matt 25:3 1).

 Nathanael and all disciples of Jesus will see great angelic activity one day.

Application: There is a children's Christmas song entitled, Santa Claus is coming to town, that implies omniscience on his part:

He sees you when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake!

Contrary to what the song teaches children, Santa is not omniscient; but God is. In fact, God is both omniscient and prescient." As David writes in Ps 139, "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord" (v. 4). That is something to keep in mind as you contemplate the future. God knows everything you do and everything you plan to do." Nothing is beyond the scope of His awareness and anticipation.
 

"Jesus' First Disciples" are not an unusual crop of students. They are smart enough. Yet what makes them special is not their academic potential but their acclaimed professor.
 

In the Bible college I attended there was one teacher who was very popular, especially for a particular course he taught ("Progress of Redemption"). When news of his imminent retirement reached the student body, demand for his classes spiked, even from those who did not yet have the necessary prerequisites.
 

The disciple's main instructor today is even more popular, and his imminent retirement is not a concern, nor is taking certain classes out of order. This esteemed teacher is none other than the Lamb of God and the Messiah of Israel. This distinguished lecturer is a prophet of God, yea the Son of God and the King of Israel. No other rabbi possesses his scholastic pedigree, and he is the one who teaches you.
 

For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.