Jesus has the first word in your spiritual journey. He knew you before you knew yourself. The Bible teaches that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us – that God searched for us and found us – that he ran to us while we were still a long way off.
Jesus invites you to follow him – to draw near to his very heart – to come back to his house and crash at his place, so to speak (John 1:38). Discipleship begins when you hear this invitation and heed this invitation. And then, you begin to find purpose and meaning.
Jesus Gives Us Purpose and Meaning
So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 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).
John 1:39-42
One of these guys who began to follow Jesus was Andrew. Andrew goes to his brother Peter. Jesus looks at Peter and calls him Cephas. The word means Peter but has a sort of double meaning. Mason, for instance, could mean bricklayer or stone layer but it’s also a proper name to mean, well, Mason.
The Aramaic word Jesus uses also means rock. Perhaps you know Peter’s story. He’ll be walking with the other disciples to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus will ask him who he thinks he is. He’ll say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but God did. You are Peter and on this ROCK, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
When Peter finds Jesus, Peter finds his purpose.
Jesus had a mission for Peter before Peter knew anything about it. My friend, you’re not Peter and your role is not his role, but in the same way that Jesus knew Peter’s purpose before Peter knew his own, Jesus knows your purpose before you do.
But you know what I noticed here for the first time: The first time Peter heard that confession he’s famous for – “You are Christ, the Son of the living God,” was really, in some form, from his brother Andrew.
If you think about it, Peter never goes on to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, if Andrew does not make that introduction and bring him to Jesus.
I think sometimes we can be a bit too individualistic about finding our purpose. I don’t know specifically what that is for you, and I’m not sure how helpful the pursuit of that even is. But I do know our ultimate purpose lies in seeking Jesus and introducing people to him. And that’s something we do together.
Jesus Finds Us to Send Us
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Nathanael found Philip 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.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael 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.”
John 1:43-48
John 1:43-48
Jesus finds Philip.
Philip finds Nathanael.
“Jesus of Nazareth is special. He is the one of whom Moses and the Prophets spoke.” Philip says, “Bro, I tuned out at Nazareth. Can anything good come out of that place?” This is how some people think of West Virginia.
West Virginia?! Losing population, people don’t wanna live there. I don’t want to be there. Can anything good come from a place like that?
Jesus loves just such a place.
Can anything good come from Nazareth? Philip says, “Come and see.” Zoom out and look at what’s happening. It’s really simple. Jesus is finding people who are going out to find people. Jesus finds us to send us.
Jesus finds Andrew. Andrew finds Peter.
Jesus finds Philip. Philip finds Nathanael.
This is how discipleship works: Jesus finds us through someone and sends us to someone. Who is your Andrew? Or Philip? Who is the one who brought you to Jesus? And who are you bringing to Jesus?
Jesus Shows Us His Glory
We draw near to Jesus. We find our purpose and meaning. That purpose and meaning lies in the context of being sent by Jesus to those around us. And the point of all of it is that we may behold Jesus – that we may see his glory, that we may respond to him in awe and worship.
We see God’s goodness all over the created world – all over our lives. Every good gift comes from God. We see God’s activity in the local church – we see God working as people hear the gospel and believe the gospel and join themselves to the church.
We see God working in all these ways, but one day, these shadows will give way to substance. We will not just see God’s activity, we will see God in all his glory.