Chapter BY Chapter

ARE YOU LOOKING?

John 1:35-51

"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!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 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.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

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” (that is, the Christ). 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).

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you(plural), you (PLURAL) will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

In the previous section, which was the previous day, John the Baptist identified Jesus as "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."  This was a reference to the sacrifices in the Old Testament.  The Old Testament, the Israelites were required to sacrifice a lamb without defect for their sins.  Leviticus 9:3, "Then say to the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without defect—for a burnt offering."  John also testified that Jesus is God's chosen one, and the whole purpose for which John came baptizing with water.

Now it is the very next day and John is with two of his disciples.  As Jesus passes by, John says, "Look the Lamb of God!"  John's two disciples immediately start following Jesus.  One of these two disciples was Andrew, and the first thing that Andrew did was go get his brother Simon.  "We have found the Messiah!" said Andrew.  How did Andrew know that Jesus was the Messiah?  Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist.  He might have thought that John the Baptist was the Messiah at one point.  In verses 19 and 20 people asked John if he was the Messiah and he confessed that he was not the Messiah.  So people were looking for the Messiah.  In Leviticus 13 to 15, taking a bath in water was associated with purification from sins.  It was known that the Messiah would take away the sins of the people according to Isaiah 53.  This new activity of baptizing people apart from rituals to symbolize the remission of sins seemed to be a possible fulfillment of prophesies.

Now John taught that there was one coming after him that was greater and the purpose for him baptizing was to lead to that one.

Now John was saying, "Look! The Lamb of God!"

Andrew was looking.  Andrew started following Jesus.  Andrew immediately found his brother Simon and brought himm to Jesus.  

Simon was looking too, because as soon as he heard that Andrew has found the Messiah, he went to see Jesus.  Simon would be later called Cephas in Aramaic, or Peter in Greek, which means "rock."

Philip must have been looking too, because the next day, Jesus finds him and says, "Follow me."  Immediately, Philip finds Nathanael and says, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  Note that Philip makes a point to say that Jesus is the one that was written about by Moses and the prophets.  So, Nathanael went to see Jesus.  Because he was reading the Law and the prophets, Nathanael was looking.

Now when Nathanael approached Jesus, Jesus says, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  How does Jesus know this?  Nathanael asks him.  Jesus replies that he saw Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip called him.  Now it was typical for Israelites to have a fig tree in their yard and to pray or read scripture sitting under it.  The fact that Jesus saw Nathanael approaching shows that Nathanael had to go some distance from his home to meet Jesus.  Jesus didn't just see Nathanael under the fig tree.  It would have been physically impossible for Jesus to see Nathanael before Philip called him.  Yet Jesus saw him at that point.  Just like Jesus knew Nathanael had no deceit, Jesus knew Nathanael was under the fig tree before Philip called him.  This proved to Nathanael that Jesus was omniscient, which proved who he was.  The Messiah, the Lamb of God.

Nathanael says that Jesus is the Son of God, the king of Israel.  

Jesus said that Nathanael believed correctly.

Jesus then says to all those with him that they will see the angels of heaven ascending and descending on the son of man.

The angels ascending and descending is a reference to Jacob's vision in Genesis 28.

"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”"

The son of man is a reference to Daniel 7:13-14.

"“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

So, Jesus was referring to himself as,"the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac," and as the one that "was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him."

Back in John 1:18, we learned that God has revealed.  Now we are beginning to see that Jesus is revealing that he is God.

What are you looking for?  

Are you looking for a political solution to the world's problems?

Are you looking for material gains?

Are you looking for another prophet, another religious leader, or a dose of logic?

Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Lord, God of heaven and earth.  He came to deal with your sin.  Are you looking for God to deal with your sin?

Are you really looking?