Jesus Strolls onto the Scene- John 1: 29-51

Jesus enters the picture and begins calling disciples.

Today’s reading picks up on the following day. Yesterday, John the Baptist told all of the Jewish religious leaders that he was not the Messiah, but the Messiah was coming. Today, John sees Jesus and says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He goes onto say, this is the man he was talking about earlier, and that he did not know who he was until now. He says that he saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him and that’s how John knows that Jesus is the Messiah.

He goes onto to say that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record the actual baptism of Jesus, where God’s words are spoken, “This is my son who I love, with him I am well pleased.” John’s gospel just gives a re-cap.

As soon as Jesus’ identity is revealed to John the Baptist, he wastes no time in telling others. The next day, Jesus walks by and John the B tells his two disciples, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.” John’s disciples immediately leave John and follow Jesus.

This is a fabulous picture of John’s character. He’s been living in the wilderness and baptizing people and Jesus strolls in. The minute John realizes who Jesus is, he starts telling people that this is who they should be following. He puts his own feelings and pride aside. With complete humility, he honors God by pointing to Jesus, someone other than himself.

I wonder if this was at all difficult for John to just move over. He had his own following, many disciples of his own, but he doesn’t appear to pause even for a moment when Jesus enters the picture. This is an act we can all learn from, pointing the spotlight on Jesus and away from ourselves.

So, two of John the B’s disciples follow Jesus. One is named as Andrew and the other is generally accepted to be the Apostle John, the author of this gospel. They spend the day with him and then Andrew goes and gets his brother Simon. The NIV says,the first thing Andrew did was go and tell his brother they had found the Messiah. Isn’t that always what happens when we first meet Jesus? We are so excited that we have to tell someone about him.

Simon meets Jesus and I love what happens next. Jesus looks at him and says, “You will be called Peter.” This translates to “The Rock,” which as we read on, we will find that Peter is anything, but a rock. He’s impulsive and mouthy, but Jesus knows there’s deep potential in Peter, just as he knows that about us. Peter will become worthy of the title Jesus gives him.

Next, Jesus calls Philip and Philip tells Nathanael. They can’t seem to help themselves about sharing the exciting news. Nathanael has doubts because of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. How could the Messiah, the one to save us all, come from here? But, then Jesus personally calls him and Nathanael is onboard.

Like, Nathanael, some people need more nudging than others. But, when Nathanael joins him, Jesus basically tells him, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Jesus will be the one to bridge the gap between heaven and earth. And here we end for today.

What do you think about today’s passage? Do you feel a kinship with John the Baptist or Peter or perhaps Andrew, Philip or Nathanael? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂