We Found The Messiah

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WE FOUND THE MESSIAH

John 1:35-42

35 The next day John was there again 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. 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).

NIV

Having examined the first words of Jesus within this narrative, “What do you want?” “Come and you will see”, we move on to the response of Andrew as well as the other words of Jesus when he renames Simon to Cephas. After hearing what John the Baptist said about Jesus, that he was the Lamb of God, the first thing Andrew did was to find his bother and tell him they had found the Messiah. It is interesting that Andrew deduced that Jesus was the Messiah because of either what John had called him, “The Lamb of God” or from having spent the day with him. That title, the Lamb of God, would have been a clue to any Jew because of their knowing their history. The first time ever they were instructed concerning using a lamb was for the Passover of the Death Angel in Egypt. Once they had reached the Promised Land a lamb without spot or blemish was to be offered as a sin offering. There are more examples of the use of the lamb and then to connect Jesus as the Lamb of God had to give that understanding to Andrew. The other reason would have been he had spent the day with Jesus, but then so did so many others without knowing for some time that Jesus was the Messiah. Of course, Andrew could have also had a divine revelation for the specific purpose of bringing his brother, Simon Peter, who would become one of the great pillars of the early church, as well as the one who would declare in the presence of the rest of the disciples that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This declaration has far more significance to us since visiting Caesarea Philippi and seeing the ruins of the temple built to Caesar, a man who wanted to be a God, and the temple of Pan, a god who wanted to be a man. It is in that location Jesus asks his disciples who they say He is. We think it is important to put the emphasis on the word “I” in the question, “Who do you say I am?” Somehow Andrew already knew and the first thing he did was to go tell his brother. When we come to know who Jesus is for the first time, we too should be filled with such enthusiasm, that we just have to go tell our brother, or sister, or someone that we have found the Christ. But what happens after years of spending time with Jesus? Do we get too complacent and no longer filled with excitement about finding Jesus? Maybe we think so many people, even the sinners, or should we say those who are considered non-believers, still know something about Jesus, if not just his name, that they may even use in vain on occasion. But do they really know he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Lamb of God who takes away their sin? Do they really know that unless they are born again they will never see the kingdom of God? Do they really know that without accepting Jesus, they had condemned themselves to hell? How can we be so complacent in view of all this? No, we have to go tell someone we have found the Christ. We need not tell them all the things they have to change in their lives, or what rules or regulations we Christians feel we need to abide by. We only need to tell them we have found the Christ, the Lamb of God who has taken away their sin, who has set them free.