To recognize them as having been with Jesus

John 1:29-51 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” ³² John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

³⁵ Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

⁴³ The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

As I read today’s text, I couldn’t help but to think of the men that Jesus called to be His disciples. We often hear that they were an unlikely group; a rag tag bunch. They were not the religious leaders. They were fishermen, tradesmen, a tax collector, a physician; disciples of John the Baptist…  The text says: One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).  The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”   These men, while they may not have been trained in religious schools, were familiar with scripture, the Law and the prophets. They knew of the promise of the Messiah. Like those first disciples, we may not have formal training regarding the scriptures, doctrine and theology. That does not mean though that we should not be familiar with what the scriptures say. In John 14:26 Jesus says:  “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”   The Holy Spirit is our Helper. Even without formal training in theology and doctrine, He will teach us. It is not that religious education is not a good thing. I often wish I had that type of education and training, but who better to teach us about God then the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 says:  Just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him. ”For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

Here’s the thing, the Holy Spirit is our helper and teacher, Jesus says: “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”   For the Holy Spirit to Help us and bring all that Jesus said to our remembrance, we need to help Him by being familiar with what Jesus said. We cannot remember what we have not already heard and known. In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus offers a warning about the end times. He says:  “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.”   Jesus doesn’t say that these will come and claim that they themselves are the Christ. Those false claims are easy to reject. It is the deception of those who claim that Jesus is the Christ, but that He is a different Christ than what scripture tells us, that will deceive many and mislead many. We need to be familiar with what scripture says so that the Holy Spirit can bring it to our remembrance, so that we will not be mislead by false teachers who proclaim a different and updated Christ and by those who try to twist what Jesus actually said to fit and suit their own agenda.

Today’s text begins:  The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”  John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”  Later Jesus says:  “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”   We too, if we will follow Jesus closely, will see great things. Even if we have no formal education, we can know Christ. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   Of all the titles and recognition we could have from people. What we desire most should be the same recognition that the disciples received in Acts 4:13:  Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; of all the things people might recognize about me, my desire is that they would recognize that I have been with You. I will rely on the Holy Spirit to teach me, but I will help the Helper by reading and meditating on Your word. I will recognize the true Christ, because He is with me and in me.  Amen.