John 1:35-51
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 1:35-51
God has wired me to love the details. When it comes to the gospel accounts of the few select men Christ choose to be His first disciples the details of these men and theses encounters fascinate me.
Andrew, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael are the men we read about in John’s account today. I have studied extensively on these men and the culture surrounding passages such as this one. My western mind is prone to read these passages of Jesus calling His first disciples in this manner. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the most special and captive figure in the history of humanity, etc, etc. As a result our modern minds are prone to think when Jesus calls or asks someone to follow Him in the gospel writings they can’t resist. It’s as if His awe and presences just draws them in. However, we have to remember when reading the Bible the events and details recorded were written within a context that in many ways is unfamiliar to the modern western mind. Original readers of the gospels would interpret the details of these texts differently than we might.
Allow me to provide some context. In Jewish culture there were standards and levels of education and social development. Heritage was a key factor in the lives of men and women and this is where the details provide an avenue into an explosion of understanding and application of a passage such as John’s account of Jesus calling His first disciples. As we read in this passage Nathanael calls Jesus “Rabbi”. Nathanael recognizes Jesus as one set apart to teach. In the Jewish culture during the first century to be the understudy of a Rabbi was a big deal. The traditional way a person would come to be the understudy of a Rabbi would be a long process of school, selection, and then time spent with a consenting Rabbi. A person would not just desire to be an understudy of a Rabbi or a Rabbi themselves. A Jewish boy would study, advance, be chosen, and then follow a Rabbi most often until the death or definitive departure from that Rabbi. Only then would they assume the high position of Rabbi.
(By the way - who does Jesus consider His Rabbi to be? - I would encourage you to study up on this as we will cover this topic later in our study of the gospels.)
Conservative scholarship places the ages of the original 12 disciples from early to late teens. The fact these men were already in professions, especially working within their own families clearly indicates an understood truth to a Jew in the first century. These were not persons in the higher levels of education and society. To put the scene in a modern context these were vocationally raised teenagers who have most likely achieved, at best, minor levels of education and now have moved on into the family vocation.
So what John communicates here is that Jesus is selectively choosing the rejected, the most unlikely, and the least qualified of society to be His direct understudies. Teenagers! Therefore for these young men to drop and follow Christ our western minds need to understand that for them this is a once in a life time opportunity. It would be like a Bill Gates or Elon Musk type asking a 15 year old middle school drop out to follow and study with them. The primary motive for the young teen would have been derived more from a selfish gain to advance in society than to boldly move forward in a righteous calling. For the first disciples it is only when they really get to sit and learn from the Messiah they will learn truly how good this once in a lifetime opportunity is.
Today I challenge you to take some time to stop and consider the realities of what we have read and considered today. Jesus does not call the personally equipped. Jesus does not call the top prospects. Jesus does not look for perfection before choosing. Jesus desires those with a recognition of personal inadequacies and a hunger for hope only He can offer.
What is your hearts hunger or longing today? Jesus loves us enough to offer Himself to all who would be willing to deny their own self centered tendencies, aka those willing to take up their own cross. What are you following in this season of your life? The same offer Jesus made to the first disciples He graciously offers to you.
