Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Tom Shrader walks through John 1:35–51, tracing how John the Baptist pointed his own disciples to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and how Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael each came to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He explores the eight titles John uses for Jesus in the chapter's opening verses, showing how they reveal Christ's identity across past, present, and future. The teaching closes with a sustained call to personal evangelism, encouraging believers to share the gospel simply and urgently, using the cultural moment surrounding Mel Gibson's film 'The Passion of the Christ' as a practical opportunity.
“If you know enough to come to Christ in repentance and faith, then you know enough to share it.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: A Study Of The Life Of Jesus Christ (2003/2004)
Recorded: 2004 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 1 hr 19 min
Themes: evangelism, discipleship, following jesus, sharing faith, messiah, calling, witnessing, identity of jesus, new believer, seeking faith, unsure how to share the gospel, friend wanting to evangelize, young adult, spiritually curious, longtime christian wanting to grow, mentor
Scripture: John 1:19, John 1:28, John 1:29, John 1:32-34, John 1:35-51, Genesis 22, Genesis 28, Leviticus 17:11, Isaiah 53, Luke 24:16, John 3:16, John 9, John 21:20, 1 John 4:14, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 14:19-20
Theological Themes: christology, lamb of god, atonement, soteriology, gospel proclamation, incarnation, messianic fulfillment, personal evangelism
Full Transcript
Introduction: The First Beginnings of the Church
Open your Bibles, please, to John chapter 1, verses 35 through 51. Last week we looked at an incident recorded by three of the gospel writers — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Today we look at an incident recorded in John's gospel exclusively, and we are entitling this "Jesus Calls His First Disciples," or perhaps subtitled "Call the First Witness."
J.C. Ryle writes of these verses: "These verses ought always to be interesting to every true Christian. They describe the first beginnings of the Christian church. Vast as the church is now, there was a time when it consisted of only two weak members. The calling of those two members is described in the passage which is now before our eyes." Sometimes we forget that. We look around, we see the universal church now, we see hundreds of thousands and millions of people, and we forget there was a time when there were no followers of Christ. We are going to be introduced to those first two gentlemen this morning.
Setting the Scene: John and His Disciples
Here is how John begins, in verse 35: "The next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God." The phrase "the next day" gives us a sense of continuance. Though we are skipping some material, let me bring you up to speed.
Look at verse 19: the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, "Who are you?" They wanted to know — are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? John responds in verse 28: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord." These men had been sent by the Pharisees to investigate. Then the next day, in verse 29, John saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." In verses 32 through 34 he continues, describing what he saw at the baptism of Jesus.
Now, on the day before us in the text, John is standing with two of his disciples. The language seems to indicate that he is standing in a place where he would typically be found — one of two or three spots where he regularly preached and taught. He looks up, and here comes Jesus walking by, and he says it again: "Behold the Lamb of God." The first time he said this, nothing happened — no one left him. This time, things are a little different.
The Lamb of God: Unexplained Sacrifices of the Old Testament
The phrase "Behold the Lamb of God" speaks to the idea of sacrifice. Ray Stedman writes: "If you read through the Old Testament, you will find it is a revelation of unexplained sacrifices. Abel, the son of Adam, offered a lamb to God, and God smiled on the sacrifice. Later, Abraham made offerings to God. Then the children of Israel were taught at the foot of Mount Sinai to bring certain animals to slay and to offer the blood and the meat of those animals to God."
Many are offended by the fact that the Old Testament is replete with animal sacrifice, with actual blood being spilled. Every morning and every evening, animals were slain in the temple in Jerusalem. On the great feast days of Israel, thousands of animals were sacrificed. A stream of blood runs all through the Old Testament — but nowhere are these sacrifices ever explained. Leviticus 17:11 reads, "The life of the flesh is in the blood," and it is clear that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, but nowhere is it explained why God demands blood. Every sacrifice, however, becomes a testimony pointing toward something. There is a connection there.
Abraham, Isaac, and the Promise of God's Provision
Consider Genesis chapter 22 — Abraham and Isaac. Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, the son that he loves. He makes the trip, and as they travel, they arrive at the site of the sacrifice. He leaves behind the servants, and remember what Abraham said to them, using the plural personal pronoun: "We will return." He knows full well that his intention is to slay Isaac, to sacrifice him — and yet right there in those words is some sort of acknowledgment, some understanding, that either God brings life from death or something else entirely. He is simply saying: we are coming back. I intend to kill him, but somehow we are coming back.
As they walk along, the dialogue continues, and it occurs to Isaac that something is missing. They have the wood, they have the fire, but they do not have the sacrifice. And Abraham says, "Jehovah-Jireh — God will provide. God will provide that sacrifice." And sure enough, He does. He stops Abraham from slaying Isaac.
Behold the Lamb: The Fulfillment of Every Shadow
Now fast-forward, and here is John saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." There He is, right there. And they begin to understand. They begin to see all of those pictures coming into focus. You and I are so fortunate. God has placed us here after all of this. We do not have to look at those shadows, those pictures — we understand exactly what is being said. We see the truth of it. We do not see only the Old Testament; we see all of the New Testament as well. We see the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of the church. Behold the Lamb of God. That is what John is saying.
The Problem of Sin and God's Solution
John writes in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John also writes in 1 John 4:14, "We have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." Man has a problem, and his real problem is sin. God provides the solution, and the solution is Jesus Christ and Him alone. We have access to the Father only through the Son.
Responding to Criticisms of The Passion
I want to address a couple of criticisms I am hearing about the film. We took the staff and some of the leadership teams to see the movie on Tuesday night. I am hearing all sorts of criticisms, and some of them are coming from secular people who have totally rejected Jesus and everything about Him.
One criticism is that there is no teaching in the movie — that we do not get the Sermon on the Mount or any of those memorable sayings. There is plenty of teaching in the movie. It is just not all of it that is entirely verbal, although the things that are said and written are pretty easily understood.
The other major criticism is that the film is anti-Semitic, and obviously I showed you the cover of Newsweek, which is symbolic of all the other commentary raising that question. In the movie, no one comes off very well. Peter does not come off well. Pilate does not come off well. Judas does not come off very well. Nobody, other than a handful of the women and John, really comes off well in this movie.
On the question of who killed Jesus, I am glad that Gibson left in the moment where Jesus says that no one takes His life — that He lays down His life voluntarily. If we wanted to be very technical, Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many. In that sense, those who took communion are the ones whose sin required His death. It is, to me, a distracting question.
The Violence in Context
Regarding the violence, I was very clear about my own sensitivities going in. I did not see Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, or The Patriot — I cannot stand violence. In this movie, it did not seem that bad to me, and my suspicion is that it is because it had context.
There was even a sense in which I found the violence compelling, because it deepened the meaning of what was happening. The scourging, for example — I had always assumed they simply laid His back open, but I never thought about them beating His legs as well. And then that moment where they say, "Turn him over," and beat Him some more. Those details are important to the story because they begin to get at the heart of what is really going on.
What an Unbeliever Would Take Away
I was trying to think about how an unbelieving person, someone who knows the story only vaguely, would walk out of that film. I think they would walk out saying, "He got a bad deal. His friends left Him, Pilate had a chance to spare Him — He just got shafted." And that is where you come in.
I was watching Deborah Norville the other night, and she had the movie critic Ebert on, who said that everywhere he goes people are talking about this film. She said she got in the elevator that morning and that was all anyone talked about on the way up to the office. That conversation is very possibly happening in your life too. People want to talk about all these ancillary issues, but the real issue is this: why did He die?
What is so exciting to me is that I did not hear one person this week say that this is all fictitious, that there never was a Jesus. That question is off the table. Jesus died — you do not have to argue that, defend that, or debate that anymore. But we do have to address why He died.
Why Jesus Died
Remember what the angel told Joseph: Mary will have a son, name Him Jesus, and He will save His people from their sins. That is what you saw depicted on that screen. As Scripture says, "God made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf." Did Jesus sin? No. But He was treated as though He were guilty of all the sin — over all of history — that ever would have been committed by any person who would ever come to Him in repentance and faith.
That was the violence. That was the wrath. This is love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the propitiation, that is, to satisfy the wrath of God. That is what the violence depicts.
The Cross and Its Cost
One of the most eerie things about that whole movie is the joy that the Romans took as they beat Him and crucified Him — the laughing. That is the whole picture of wrath being poured out. Propitiation: to satisfy God's wrath. That is why He died. He died so you and I and others who were sinful and separated from Him could come in repentance and faith.
The wages of sin is death, and we are separated from God. There is no way to atone for that sin except that Jesus died. He was not some scoundrel who had a political plan that went awry and became a victim of circumstances out of His control. Everything was absolutely under His control. He could have stopped it at any moment — "If there was any other way, Father, let's bring it on." But there wasn't. And He died. He died so you and I and people like us could have eternal life — those who would come in repentance and faith.
I asked some of the staff members to email me with things they thought about the movie, and it was what you would expect: overwhelmed with my sin, a desire to flee from sin, the cost of redemption, God's love, a sense of thankfulness, His sovereign plan, His determination. Who knows if the depiction is accurate, but the determination that Jesus had to climb on that cross — He was going to climb on that cross. That is why He was born.
One of the staff members, who obviously reads carefully, wrote back by quoting from the worship pamphlet — using it to prepare for worship that morning. We go to a lot of labor and expense to provide that pamphlet, and my sense is most of you probably toss it away. You shouldn't. This person quoted from one of the songs you sang this morning:
*Thank you for the cross. Even when we turn our back on you and wickedness and lies suppress your truth. Even when you showed your love for us, giving up your life upon the cross. Jesus, thank you for the cross. For the blood that set us free. The crimson stain of all our sin washed away in your mercy. Every one of us deserves to die. But you saved all who hope in your great love.*
That is the whole message. That is the point of that movie. The intention was to show the violence that Christ experienced and the extraordinary price He paid on that cross. But it is deeper than the physical violence. He was separated — "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Seizing the Opportunity
You need to be ready. You need to be prepared. That is what all of those tools are about — the cards that should be in front of you in the pews. That is what Good Friday is about. That is what Easter is about. That is what your opportunity is about. Even in casual conversation, be raising this issue with people and taking advantage of that.
I have had all sorts of emails from people wanting to debate the accuracy of the film and all of that. Who cares? Read this — Scripture is accurate. That is the only thing you have that is accurate. This will come as a shock to some of you, but even the MacArthur footnotes are not inspired. This is a great opportunity, my friend. It is not going to get any simpler than this right now to share your faith.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Back to the story. Verse 37: "Two of the disciples heard him speak and they followed him." The cord was struck. They connected. There is a sense of immediacy there — these two men followed Him. I want to apply that to you. Maybe you are here today and there is not a lot of information, but something is connecting, something is working, God is opening your eyes. Respond. Talk to the people who will be at the front of the worship center after the service. Talk to the person who invited you. Who knows why you are here, but God is persuading you, God is moving you, God is drawing you. Come to Him. There will be people here who want to talk to you.
These two men are there, and we do not know who they both are. One of them we know for sure is Andrew. There is speculation about the other, and among most scholars the best guess is that the other disciple is John. As you know within the Gospel, John never refers to himself by name — he calls himself in John 21:20 "the disciple who Jesus loved," and in other places as well. We will give you perhaps another piece of information on that in a moment.
What Do You Seek?
Jesus turned to them, verse 38, and beheld them following Him, and said to them, "What do you seek?" To me this is interesting. These are the first words of Jesus' public ministry, and they are in the form of a question — and the question is not who you are looking for, but what do you seek. That may sound like a selfish question to us, but I think it is an important and legitimate one. What are you after? What are you looking for in life?
Is it love? Is it joy? Is it peace? When you get all the way down to it, that is really what we are looking for. We have different answers and variations, but that is what we say we want. What Scripture tells us is that we can have love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control when we come to Christ in repentance and faith.
Here is the thing: we want the peace of God, but we cannot have that peace of God until we have peace with God. The only way we can have peace with God is to understand that Jesus climbed on that cross and died so that you and I — sinful people — would have access to the Father. You can call Him Father because of what Jesus did. You can have intimacy with the Creator God of the universe. You can know Jesus Christ today.
So what are you seeking? What you want is life — real life, abundant life. You will find it in Him.
Come and See
"Rabbi" was a technical term in the first century, generally reserved for one who had been ordained as a teacher after completing rabbinical training, though it was used sometimes in Scripture to refer to Jesus — Nicodemus called Him that. Rabbi, translated, means teacher. And then they asked Him, "Where are you staying?" I think that is an odd question. Perhaps behind it is the idea of, can we spend time with you? Can we meet you later? Is there something going on?
Here is what Jesus says: "Come and you will see." That is an invitation to investigate. They came to where He was staying and remained with Him that day — it was about the tenth hour. If that is Jewish time, it is four in the afternoon; if it is Roman time, it is ten in the morning. Either way, the point is they spent the day with Him, and the response is immediate.
What took place in those conversations we have no idea. He said, "Come and see," and I am guessing He invited them to sit and ask questions — though I suspect He did a lot of the talking. This brought immediately to my mind Luke chapter 24, where Jesus encounters two men on the road to Emmaus.
The Burning Hearts on the Road to Emmaus
Those two men are talking about the events of the day — about Jesus Himself, His death, and His empty tomb. Jesus meets them and asks what they are discussing. They reply, "Are you the only one here who doesn't know what's going on?" Scripture tells us in verse 16 of Luke 24 that their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
They continue talking, and finally Jesus stops. Scripture says this: "Beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in the scriptures." Afterward they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the scriptures?" They then began to relate their experience on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
They didn't know much, but what did they do? They said: He opened up the scriptures, and all of a sudden here is what the scriptures said, and He declared Himself the fulfillment of that. That is what you see again and again. That is what I suspect happened in this conversation between Jesus and those first disciples.
J.C. Ryle writes this: "Christ is the sum and substance of the Old Testament. To Him the earliest promises pointed in the days of Adam and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. To Him every sacrifice pointed in the ceremonial worship appointed at Mount Sinai. Of Him every high priest was a type, and every part of the tabernacle was a shadow, and every judge and deliverer of Israel was a figure."
Andrew Finds His Brother
John chapter 1, verse 40 tells us that one of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon's brother. Having spent that day with Jesus, Andrew went and found his own brother first. The language seems to indicate that Andrew found Simon, and then the other disciple went and found his own brother as well — perhaps John going to find James, the son of Zebedee.
Andrew goes to his brother and says, "We have found the Messiah" — that is, the Christ. The expression implies an unexpected, joyful discovery. What did they talk about during that day? We cannot say with certainty, but my suspicion is that Jesus laid open the Old Testament and pointed to Himself as the fulfillment of it — how Isaiah 53 and the other scriptures speak of a Messiah, and He declared, "I am He." God opened their eyes and granted them the ability to see it.
Andrew then brought Simon to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him and said, "Simon, you are the son of John. You shall be called Cephas" — which is translated Peter.
The Difficulty of Witnessing to Family
Two things strike me about Andrew here. The first is that he did something I have discovered to be very difficult: he felt compelled to go to his own family. That is not necessarily the easiest place to begin witnessing, primarily because they know you so well.
I haven't made any secret of the fact that the first thirty years of my life were consumed in how I could satisfy and appease myself, and I didn't particularly care about anything or anyone else. So when I was saved, it was a radical conversion. One of the things I knew I wanted to do was talk to my family, and with one brother in particular I was determined to sit down and have that conversation.
We sat down, and I systematically went through what had happened in my life and what God had done. And he started laughing. I said, "This isn't funny." He said, "Do you remember the time you had been drinking and passed out down on Third Street, and the guy who delivered pizzas was a friend of yours and found you there and brought you home? Do you remember that?" I said, "Well, I remember waking up smelling like pepperoni, but no — the details are foggy." He said, "Yeah, that's what I thought of while you were talking."
Why It's Hard to Witness at Home
It's hard at home, isn't it, because they know you the best. I am convinced that so often when I see parents whose kids aren't responding, it's because the parents are different at home than they are when they're with me, in their small group, or with you. It's tough at home.
Here's the other thing I love about this passage. Andrew says, "We found the Messiah." Based on what we know about Peter, I'm going to guess that was a fairly intimidating thing to do and that Peter had a boatload of questions. But Andrew stays on message.
Keep It Simple
There's a principle in your office, your industry, your business — the KISS principle. Keep it simple, stupid. It's almost universally acknowledged and recognized, and the reason is that our tendency is to make things complicated. I was talking to a guy the other day about the golf swing, and he asked me what the angle of my right wrist was at the top of my backswing. I said, "Look, I'm lucky to keep breathing. How would I know what the angle of my right wrist is?"
Arnold Palmer was teaching his grandson golf, and he said the most fascinating thing. He said, "We've made golf way too complicated. Grip it right, set up right, and swing it — just swing it." The same is true in witnessing. You can get paralyzed thinking you have to have every answer to every question and get sidetracked on every rabbit trail.
Lots of people ask questions that don't deserve an answer. I'm not hung up on having to answer every question, and some of it they're not even in a position to understand, because they're only going to understand it when the Holy Spirit opens their eyes to see it. If they're not converted, they're not going to get it.
A Simple Technique That Works
I keep watching this Kirk Cameron — he's on Growing Pains, and apparently he's gotten converted. He has a show on TBN, and he's probably about the best thing I've seen on there. I find him very engaging.
He was talking about how to witness to an atheist, and then they took their cameras to what seemed to be a college campus. One of his guys walks up to someone and asks, "Are you going to heaven?" The guy says, "Yeah." He asks, "Why?" And the guy says, "I'm a good person." So the interviewer presses him: "Have you ever told a lie?" The guy admits he has. "What does that make you?" The guy says, "Well, I'm a liar." "Have you ever stolen anything?" Yes. "What does that make you?" "A thief, I guess." "Have you ever taken the name of the Lord God in vain?" Yes — and he's told that's called blasphemy. Then Jesus's words about adultery in the heart are brought up. At the end of it, the interviewer says, "Based on your own testimony, you're a lying, stealing, blaspheming adulterer. Are you a good person?" There was a little disconnect at that point, but the guy still said yes.
Then another person jumps in to continue the conversation and just starts going and going with all these complicated answers. I said to Susan, "Why doesn't this guy shut up?" Here is all you needed to say: "You're not a good person in God's sight. The Bible says you're separated from Him. You're going to die physically — you know that. You are dead spiritually, and what you need is life. I'm done now." That's all you needed to say.
Jesus didn't die to make bad people good. Jesus died to make dead people come to life. That's the whole deal. This man is dead. If he doesn't understand that he's dead, then it doesn't matter about the pygmies who've never heard — none of those questions matter. He's dead and he needs life, and Jesus says He is life.
They did that same technique with a young girl. She said she didn't believe in God — she believed in evolution. It is amazing the destruction the school system has done on these kids. Are you a liar? What happens when you die? Well, you're dead. It was really sad. But keep it simple. That's the message.
Jesus Renames Peter
Jesus looks at Simon and says, in effect, "You were called the son of John. I'm going to call you Peter — the Rock." He's saying, "I've got a lot of belief in you, buddy. Lots of people don't see it now, and you're going to give me even some reasons to doubt along the way, because you're going to say, 'I don't know Him, I don't know Him, I don't know Him.' But let me tell you something — you're going to be a key figure in this church."
Peter was going to be an anchor, something significant. He was going to be able to stand up to the leaders, just as he does in Acts chapter 14, verses 19 and 20, and say, "It doesn't matter what you think. We can't stop speaking about Jesus."
Jesus Finds Philip
The next day, verse 43, Jesus is going forth to Galilee and He found Philip. Andrew had said to Peter, "We found the Messiah." But John tells us accurately and theologically what actually happens: Jesus found Philip.
We express things in human terms — I came to Christ, I found Jesus as Lord, I discovered the faith. That's our experience. But theologically, what happens is God the Father chose us before the...
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Christ died for a specific group of people — His people — and the Holy Spirit applies that to their hearts. Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Philip was from the same town as Andrew and Peter, and he followed Him. Then Philip found Nathanael, who is probably also known as Bartholomew, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote." He identified Him as Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Nathanael was filled with questions, and his first response was essentially: you're telling me the Messiah comes from Nazareth? "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" It was a town of no reputation, a place no one would have chosen. Philip's answer, however, was not an argument — it was an invitation: "Come and see."
Nathanael accepted the invitation, and as he was approaching, Jesus saw him. Jesus said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile" — no deceit, a true son of Israel. Nathanael asked, "How do you know me?" And Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
What was Nathanael doing under that tree? Perhaps he was resting in the shade, or perhaps he was praying — that would have been a typical place for prayer and meditation. Perhaps he was thinking about the Messiah, even begging God to see the Messiah. Whatever the case, the moment Jesus said He had seen him there, Nathanael responded immediately: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel."
Greater Things to Come
Jesus replied, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, you believe? You are going to see greater things than that." He told them they would follow Him and see the deaf begin to hear, the lame walk, the blind see. They would see water turned into wine, the sick healed, and the dead come back to life. They would see His death, His resurrection, and the establishment of the church.
Then Jesus declared, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." This is a direct reference back to Genesis chapter 28 and Jacob's ladder, where the angels were ascending and descending. But now they ascend and descend on the Son of Man, on Jesus Christ. There is the access — our access to heaven and from heaven — and there is but one way, and it is Jesus Christ.
Eight Titles of Christ in John Chapter 1
There are eight names and eight titles that John uses in speaking of Jesus in these first 51 verses: the Word, the Light, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, Rabbi, Messiah, King of Israel, and Son of Man. For those who love to go down these trails and study, consider what James Boyce writes: "Commentators have often noticed the number and variety of names and titles given to Jesus in the 51 verses of John chapter 1. What has not been noticed is that the titles have been arranged by John to show a chronological sequence of who Jesus is, what he's done, and what he's yet to do."
Boyce continues: "Thus, they begin with Jesus as the Word, and he was with God from the beginning, and they trace him through the years of his incarnation as the Light, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, and Rabbi. And they deal with things yet to come under the names Messiah, King of Israel, Son of Man in the final judgment. I believe that it is possible to trace the significance of the past, present, and future ministry of Christ in the sequence by the means of these titles."
The Meaning of Each Title
Consider what each title communicates. He is the Word — the Creator. A Jewish reader would immediately connect this to God the Creator, while to a Gentile it would evoke the idea of the logos, the controlling principle of all things. According to John, Jesus is the one who created.
He is the Light. He brings illumination. When we are working through principles and suddenly someone grasps them, we say the lights came on. He is the one who opens our eyes and reveals things as they truly are, leading us out of darkness into light. Darkness always carries the picture of sin.
He is the Lamb of God — the sin-bearer, the Passover, the substitute. He is the Son of God, which speaks of His reigning and His authority in the lives of those who come to Him. He is Rabbi, the teacher. Boyce makes an interesting observation here: a man must first see Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Son of God before he can see Him as the Rabbi, the teacher. That is precisely what Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say to you, unless one be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
And then Messiah, King, Son of Man — all three speak of His future relationship with Israel, with us, and with His reigning. It is a fascinating study.
The Calling of the First Disciples in Our Context
Working through this passage is remarkable, especially in the context of what we see here as Jesus begins to call the first witnesses and His first disciples. The backdrop against which all of this unfolds makes it all the more significant as we consider these things today.
Reasons We Don't Share Our Faith
How about you and your witnessing? Are you like Andrew and Philip? Do you share your faith? I came up with a list of reasons that we don't proclaim the gospel. I want to confess to you that I started with a premise that the cup is half empty. It may be that at this point you don't need this, that I'm wasting my time and your time talking to you, so bear with me.
I ask you to indulge me, because it may be that you already are doing this. It may be that you're one of those who just shares. We've got a couple of guys I know who have the gift of evangelism. It doesn't matter where they go — they're going to engage somebody in a conversation about Christ and who He is almost instantaneously. But my suspicion is that most people aren't in that continual environment.
Common Barriers to Sharing the Gospel
Why don't we share? Let me give you a couple of reasons. It may be that you're afraid — fear of rejection. It may be the idea that your life isn't in line yet, and if you go to your family, they're going to see those gaps.
It could be lack of knowledge. You're afraid somebody's going to ask you a question you won't know the answer to. That's fine. I guarantee you that the answer I give most frequently is, "I don't know." There's nothing wrong with that. You're not going to know all of these things. They're going to ask you questions and you're going to be stumped by them, and you're afraid you're going to be embarrassed by that.
Whatever the case, tell what you know. If you know enough to come to Christ, you know enough to share Christ. That's a very important truth. If you know enough to come to Him and repent in faith, then you know enough to share it. You're like the blind man in John chapter 9: "I don't know much. Here's what I do know. I was blind, and now I see." How did it happen? That's all I know. If you're sitting there saying you don't know much, whose fault is that? Grab that bulletin, look at those institute classes, and let's get going on this thing.
The Cost of Sharing
Maybe the cost is too high. Maybe there's embarrassment. Maybe there are friends you're going to lose, or clients who will be offended. Here's a great test: imagine you're talking about a movie with your best client, the deal is on the line, and he says he doesn't get it, he doesn't buy it. What do you say at that moment?
Maybe it's simply not a priority. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20, we have the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." That is an important passage.
In that sentence, the imperative — the verb — isn't "go." It's "teach." When everybody talks about missions, they say Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, "Go." But that's not how to read that sentence. The commanding word is "teach." The idea is that you are teaching as you are going, that this is a constant part of your life.
Is it a missionary verse? Absolutely. But what it's saying is that everyone is a missionary at every turn, of every moment, of every day. As you go, therefore, teach all nations. It's just part of what you're doing — whether you're at the club, waiting on the tee box, talking to a neighbor. Just as you eat, just as you drink, just as you breathe, just as you talk about the news, the Diamondbacks, the Oscars — it's just talking.
Is it a priority for you? If you did not share your faith last week with somebody who doesn't know Christ, something is desperately wrong. It cannot get any easier than this. It cannot get any simpler than this.
Faith Is Personal, Not Private
Maybe you believe your faith is a private matter. That's wrong. Your faith is a personal matter, yes, but it is not a private matter.
Here is my favorite example. In 1960, John Kennedy was running for president. The whole country was concerned — people wanted to vote for him, but they were afraid that because he was Catholic, the Pope would run the country. Kennedy got before a group of Protestant ministers and said, "I promise you that my faith will not affect the way I govern." By the way, he kept that promise. That is one of the dumbest things a human being has ever spoken.
Imagine your children coming to you and saying, "Dad, I want you to know something. My faith is not going to affect the way I study. It's not going to affect the way I work. It's not going to affect the way I live." That is a stupid statement. That is a scary statement. And those Protestant ministers stood and clapped. Can you imagine that? Your faith is not at all a private matter. It is a deeply personal matter that affects every area of your life.
Apathy and a Faulty View of the Gospel
Maybe you're simply apathetic — you don't care. They're not saved and you don't have time for it right now. Or perhaps you hold an inaccurate view of the gospel altogether. I've talked to people who will say Jesus is their Lord and Savior, but they're not really convinced He is the only way. They believe He is the way for them — they're a white middle-class person and this is the gospel they received and believe — but they wonder whether people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds and cultural differences might have a different path.
The Singular Way of Salvation
There are also national differences, and maybe God saves other people in other ways. But that is not what the Scripture says, is it? He says, "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." That is it — a singular way.
Go and Share
So here is my conclusion. You see the model, you know the truth. Now go. As you are coming and going, as you are stopping over at the Good Egg, or shopping at the mall, or working out at the club, God is going to provide for you. Pray, beseech Him, beg Him as you leave — God, open doors for me this week — and then ask Him for the courage to share this truth.
Grab these cards. There is nothing magic about the cards, so find something else if you prefer, but grab these and give them to people. Watch how God begins to use you, and I am telling you, it will jumpstart your faith. The reality of who He is will explode in your life.
Closing Prayer
Father, help us see this truth. Let us live this way. God, if we are fearful, give us courage. If it is a lack of knowledge, give us wisdom. Give us courage to pay the price.
God, let this sharing of the gospel — this living in this truth — be a priority in our lives as we share this most personal matter with the people You bring into our lives. God, make us a church that is an evangelistic church, a discipling church, a church that preaches Your Son Jesus and Him crucified. Father, we pray this to You in Jesus' name, amen.