Today’s Bible Study Passage is: John 1:35-51
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael- 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ 46Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ 48Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ 49Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ 50Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ 51And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’
-Comment.
John was the last of the Gospels to be written. The Gospel contains no parables and the miracle stories are seen by John as 'signs' that will show God’s glory.
There are several recurring themes in the Gospel. One such theme is sight and light. In John 1:4-5, Jesus is referred to as the light.
( John 1:4-5-4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.)
And Jesus said in John 8:12 that he is the light of the world
(V12. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life’)
and in John 9 he heals a man born blind and once again refers to light.
(John 9- A Man Born Blind Receives Sight- As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.”
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.
Spiritual Blindness
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.)
-There is a saying that “If someone can't see the wood for the trees, then they are so involved in the details of something that they do not understand or pay attention to the most important parts of it. It can be easy for us all to miss what is right in front of us. Many years ago when I grew my first beard, not everyone noticed immediately. Then when I shaved most of it away, someone remarked, “Oh, I see that you have grown a moustache!”.
When Jesus came on the scene, some people recognised in him someone who was really special. Others appeared to have a blind spot
The passage preceding today's reading talks about John the Baptiser pointing to Jesus as the 'lamb of God'. When John the Baptist's disciples saw Jesus they followed him and John faded into the background.
In the study passage there are several references to looking and seeing. Interestingly, in verse 38 Jesus does not ask: “whom are you looking for?” but “what are you looking for?” And the disciples did not answer him directly but answered with a question: “where are you staying?” In other words, they clearly wanted to be with Jesus; to spend time with Him and to find out more. And indeed by the next day there were ‘more “coming and seeing” for themselves’.
In the world of amature astronomy, the word seeing is used to explain the degree to which a star can be seen. When the night sky is very dark and when the weather is both cloud and mist free it is said that the “seeing is very good”. Even the very faint stars may be visible. But in order to detect as many as possible, the observer has to spend time allowing their eyes to properly adjust to the darkness of the night. In addition their telescopes have to be left at least 30 minutes under the skies in order for the lenses and mirrors to adjust to the temperature of the evening. And only then is the seeing good.
In developing our sensitivity to God , this 'seeing', although both literal and figurative, involves us in action. We are to 'come' and 'see'. Thus, seeing is not passive; it involves doing something: coming, seeing, looking. John is the only Gospel in which Nathanael is mentioned. And in verse 49 Nathanael recognises Jesus as the son of God. Nathanael saw both literally and figuratively. And in verse 51 Jesus tells Nathanael that he will see even greater things.
I wonder if we sometimes miss out on the special “God With Us moments” of life because we do not spend enough time with Him. Faithful saints down the years have often spoken about how their “seeing” of God was directly proportional to the moments they spent in “coming” before God? The thought emerging from today’s Bible passage is that when the disciples intentionally spent time with Jesus, they found not just a wise rabi but also “The Messiah”! For us, the invitation is to do the same. To improve our “Seeing” and Spiritual Awareness of making more time to “come”, to spend time in God’s presence. Some call these occasions, “Quiet Times”, others “ Prayer and meditation” on God's Word. What we call them is really less important than in building such times into our daily routines. As we do, the ‘Lord of Sight and Light’ will illuminate the day ahead. The chorus of a popular hymn sums up this experience.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things on earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of his glory and grace”.
To Ponder:
Imagine if Jesus was to ask you what you are looking for. How would you answer him?
How does this passage challenge to come and see in a more active and involved way?
(Based upon a ‘Word in Time Bible Study’- by Revd Lynita Conradie-Methodist Church.org.uk)
God Bless You All
Colin