1. Come and see

From the beginning of this year we have been tracing the life and times of Jesus by reading from the four Gospels. Today’s lecturing portion is from the second half of John chapter 1, which describes the gathering of the first disciples. Today’s theme focuses on how people are called to become disciples of Jesus, and how we should spread Jesus’ teachings in today’s modern world. We will also learn about the methods used for preaching and teaching by following the selected scripture readings.

When John the Baptist commenced preaching in the desert of Judea, many came from all around the country to be baptized. In Jesus time the Israelites lived under harsh conditions due to severe colonial policies of the Roman Empire. They were hoping for a Messiah who would come and save them from the dominating power of the foreign occupation forces. At that very time John the baptist appeared as a prophet, preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew3:2).

Some even thought that John himself was the long expected Messiah. But, John testifies to Jesus’ unique relationship with God (John 1:18). The sequence of days continues: “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’” (John 1:35).

John’s witness leads his disciples to become followers of Jesus (John 1:37). Jesus initiates conversation with the two disciples with a question that has symbolic as well as literal meaning. “Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day’” (John 1:38-39). To seek Jesus is to seek after God. The disciples addressed Jesus as a teacher or rabbi. The conversation ends with an invitation to ‘come and see.’

The story of the first two disciples is incomplete until their witness brings others to Jesus. “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’” (John 1:40-42). A new title for Jesus is introduced - Messiah. The title speaks to Israel’s hopes for a future leader, a new king like David or a prophet like Moses. As in all early Christian tradition, Peter has a prominent role.

The next day Jesus initiates the call of Philip: “Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me’” (John 1:43). Thus they became Jesus’ followers. Then Philip invited Nathanael to meet Jesus by using the same expression, “Come and see” (John 1:46). Philip, Andrew, and Peter are named disciples in all of the Gospels. Philip bears witness, just as Andrew did earlier. Discipleship is active, not passive. Jesus is identified as the one who fulfils the promises of Scripture.

2. Calling and Response

I would like to draw your attention to some simple words in this story, “come and you will see” (John 1:39), and “follow me” (John 1:43, 46). They are simple words of invitation which started a chain reaction. John the Baptist said to two of his disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God!” Words which led Andrew and others to Jesus. Then Andrew gave his testimony to Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Peter did the same to Philip, who passed on the news to his friend Nathanaeal.

The second step of evangelising is to communicate to neighbors and friends what we have seen and found. Those in the Gospel of John who received the news were motivated to become believers.

The next and most and important step is to stay. ‘Stay’ is a key word throughout John’s Gospel. Indeed, it is repeated some 40 times in total. ‘Stay’ was translated from ‘¦Ìέ¦Í¦Ø (men’-o)’ in Greek, which has several meanings. We find one of them ‘to sojourn’ in verse 38, “Rabbi ,where are you staying?” But a more frequent meaning is to remain, or not to depart. That linguistic fact reveals that the apparently trivial question was concealed. Another question which comes to mind is, “Where are you situated inside the salvation plan of God?” Therefore they “followed” Jesus to see the answer, then they decided not leave Him. As a result, they could give their testimony : “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41).

3. Remain in Christ

Today’s invocation verse is John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

The word “remain” in this verse is the same word as ‘¦Ìέ¦Í¦Ø {men’-o}’ used in John chapter 1. The root is crucial for the life of a tree. The trunk springs from it and from that trunk branches grow out. Branches can survive only by taking energy and water from the root and the trunk. Once separated form the trunk, branches wither and die. And, so it is with us. If we are to bear fruit, we need to remain in Jesus.

The early church was persecuted by the Jewish religious authorities. Furthermore, the Roman ruling power oppressed the early church and considered it to be a dangerous sect. Under such circumstances many new believers left the church and lost their faith. Not all believers remained in Jesus. However, those who remained faithful did not abandon their faith. Many of them suffered for their faith and were tortured or even killed. Their strong public faith drew others to Jesus. Throughout Christian history, the word ‘witness (to the faith)’ gave birth to the term ‘martyr.’ The preaching ministry was carried on by those who remained in Jesus, regardless of danger and the risk of losing one’s life.

We are not the trunk of the vine, but we are the branches. We must remain in Jesus because if we depart from Him our faith withers and dies. But how can we do that? By staying in the church. Indeed several might say they are disappointed by the church and think they can remain in Jesus by reading the Bible and praying alone. It is possible. But in reality, so far as we know, the majority of those who have left the church also lost their faith.

Unfortunately, it is also true that there are sinners and evil within the church. And that reality pushes people away. Nevertheless, it is also true that once we separate from the church we separate from Jesus. Though the purpose of preaching is to increase believers, encourage baptism, and give witness to the faith, we have another important mission. We must work tirelessly in order that those believers within the church remain.

Last week we conducted a funeral ceremony for one of our church members. The grand-father in law of the deceased was one of the Christians who founded the protestant church in Japan after the Meiji revolution. During that time Christianity was still illegal and considered to be a dangerous sect. Despite such juridical and social conditions, they founded the body of Christ and spread Jesus’ teachings. The deceased person became a Christian through her husband who met Christ through his own father. The same effect which occurred and repeated itself here was similar to the chain reaction which started with John the Baptist and his disciples.

If we wish to follow in the foot-steps of the first disciples, there are three main points in today’s lecture which will help us to achieve that goal. We must first accept Jesus’ invitations to ‘come and see’ (John 1:39), and ‘follow me’ (John 1:43,46). We must be prepared to personally testify to others about what we have seen and found in Jesus. And finally, we must pray to God through Jesus, that we will remain firmly in the faith (John 15:4).