The first disciples follow Jesus

John 1:35-51

This is probably one of the coolest passages in the bible.

The day after John the Baptist (or, as he might be called today, J the B) declares Jesus the Messiah, J the B and two of his disciples (everyone who was anyone had disciples back then) were chilling. Along comes Jesus, just "passing by."1 J, still chilling, points and says, "Look, the Lamb of God!,"2 almost like he just saw a rare butterfly flying by or something.

J the B's two disciples hear their master say this. They look at John, look at Jesus (who's still strolling along), look back and John, then wave and follow Jesus.

Jesus turns around after a minute, sees them following him, and says, "What do you want?" (And I'm sure that it sounded welcoming coming from those lips and that face.)

The two guys are kind of shy, so they don't come out and ask. Instead of calling him the Lamb of God, they call him Rabbi. Instead of telling him what they want, they ask where he's staying.

Jesus skips an awkward conversation and simply uses the language of invitation that He invented: "Come," he says, "and you will see."3

- - -

Imagine going up to the President of the United States, or to Oprah, or to Tom Hanks, or to Don Miller, and asking, "Hey, where are you staying Mr. President / Ms. Oprah / Mr. Hanks / Don?" And then, in response, they say, "Well, come along with me and see."

Imagine that. Seriously. That's what it felt like for these guys. They definitely did one of those looks between each other that says I'm-holding-it-in-but-I'm-screaming-inside-because-this-is-awesome.

- - -

Andrew (one of those two guys who Jesus invited to come with him) and his friend spent that afternoon with Jesus, seeing where he stayed and probably enjoying an adrenaline rush the entire time.

When 4pm came around, Andrew broke away and sprinted to his brother Simon's house. "We've found the Messiah!" He tells him. He brings him to Jesus.

Simon's probably like, "Alright, whatever dude," but because his brother is hysterical, he comes, likely annoyed at being taken from his work. Andrew leads him up to a regular-looking guy. Before Andrew can introduce Simon to Jesus, Jesus looks over at him.

"You're Simon," Jesus says. "You're gonna be called Rocky."4

- - -

The first time you meet this guy, he looks at you, tells you your name (without being told), then says, "We're gonna call you Rocky."

Imagine that. That's funny. And kind of shivery.

- - -

Now, meanwhile, Philip (Andrew's counterpart, the other guy who has spent the afternoon with Jesus) has run over to find his friend Nathanael. He tells Nate, "We've found the Christ that Moses wrote about--it's Jesus of Nazareth!"

Nate probably has no idea who Jesus is at this point (few people probably do), but he is familiar with Nazareth, and he scoffs.

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?"

Philip ignores the comment and pulls on Nathanael's wrist.

"Just come and see," he says.

When they reach Jesus, He says, "Now here's a guy you can trust."

Nate probably looks at him a little funny, maybe a bit unnerved by a smile so wide and genuine that it looks alien.

"How do you know me?" Nate asks, a little incredulously.

"I saw you before Philip even reached you--you were sitting under a fig tree."

- - -

This was before cell phones. Philip didn't call Jesus on his way back, Nate in tow, and give him the scoop about what Nate had been doing when Philip found him. Philip, like Andrew, probably hadn't mentioned a thing to Jesus about who He was going to find.

But as soon as you walk up to this alleged Messiah that your friend is going crazy about and who you're nothing but skeptical about, he says, "Hey, you're an honest guy."

You know that about yourself, but hey, anyone could guess that.

Then the guy says, "Dude, I saw you before Philip did, sitting right where I'm sitting now. You were sitting under a fig tree, right?"

For master skeptics, this wouldn't have worked--but for Nathanael, it was enough.

- - -

"Boss, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

Mind you, Israel hasn't had a king in probably a thousand years or so and calling someone the Son of God could get you ostracized.

Jesus had to laugh at Nate's quick faith--especially since He knew how terribly it would be tested once things really got going and the arrows started flying.

Imagine these words as the background music rising-action music continues to mount:

"Oh, my friend, you shall see greater things that that." He stops for a minute as they begin walking to their nights lodging. "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."5

1. John 1:35
2. John 1:36
3. John 1:39
4. Jesus gave Simon the name Cephas, which, when translated, means Peter, which, when translated in Greek, means rock. That phrase, "You're gonna be Rocky" came from a message given by Mark Scott at Calvary Community Church in Columbia, MD. He spoke on this whole passage in a message on discipleship. He is also the origin (to my knowledge) of the notion of Jesus' "language of invitation."
5. John 1:50-51