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LOJ #9: ‘Following Rabbi Jesus’
Andover Baptist Church-January 11th, 2009
Opening
A. Children’s Sermon (SLIDE…during welcome)
1. Before the sermon slip out of the sanctuary
2. Wait a few moments and walk in (go to the middle of
the sanctuary and take shoes off and put on tennis
shoes)
3. Start walking up to both children and adults and say,
‘Follow me’ (go to Richard and say ‘Don’t Follow me’)
4. What I did with you is what Jesus did with some of His
Disciples as we will see today
5. He told them to follow Him and they dropped
everything and did just that
6. None of you knew exactly where we going, and when
you follow Christ as the disciples did you never know
where your Master will take you
7. All the disciples knew was that they wanted to be like
their Rabbi Jesus and they trusted Him to help them
become what He wanted them to be
8. He will do the same for us
B. Text for today is John 1:35-51 and our sermon is titled
‘Following Rabbi Jesus’
C. Introduction
1. Today were are going to look at Jesus’ first encounter
with some of His 12 disciples
2. Likely this event, outside of His crucifixion, is probably
thee most important event in His ministry: the choosing
of the 12
3. For if Christ’s disciples did not continue following Him
even after His death all that He died for would crumble
4. Jesus knew that He would have to choose men who
would give up their lives for the calling He presented to
them
5. Nothing has changed in that aspect for when we follow
Jesus even today we must be willing to do the same
6. These 12 men, symbolic for the 12 tribes of Israel,
would change the world, but not before their Rabbi
Jesus changed them
7. And we the church are changed because of the ministry
He placed in their hands
8. So follow me as we journey back to discover what it
must have been like for the first disciples to meet and
follow Christ Jesus (John 1:35-51..starting with verse 35
and 36)
Sermon
READ: John 1:35, 36 (Scripture slide)
"35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
A. Anytime 'John' is mentioned in the book of John it is speaking
of John the Baptist
B. We know from Scripture that John’s ministry at this time is at
Bethany (the one near Jordan, not Jerusalem) in the area of
Israel none as Perea (SHOW MAP)
C. This is likely taking place within days of Christ’s return from
His temptation
D. So let’s set the scene shall we
1. John is surrounded by his disciples (a term we will look
at shortly) and multitudes of people
2. and all of a sudden Jesus walks by
3. John seeing Him speaks to himself in awe saying: ‘Look,
the Lamb of God!’
a. The timing of this statement could not have been
at a better time or place
b. Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that the
Passover was about to take place in Jerusalem
c. Likely the roads were packed with people
carrying or leading their one year old lambs to
the temple for sacrifice
d. So imagine the look on John’s disciples’ faces as
they looked for the lamb that John was speaking
about, before realizing he was not talking about
an animal but the man Jesus…the last Passover
Lamb!
1 Pe 1:19-20 "19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."
4. So here is John the Baptist the last of the OT prophets
under the old covenant of the sacrificial system,
introducing Jesus as the final and perfect sacrifice Who
will start the new covenant between God and man
E. This is the 3rd time that John has spoken about the identification
of the Messiah to those around him
1. Two of those times he specifically pointed out Jesus as
the Lamb of God
2. And John has done so now two days in a row
F. John’s words start a chain reaction among his own disciples
1. They realize that John is implying that Jesus was the one
who would ultimately forgive them of the sins for which
they had repented of in the baptism they received from
John
2. One after another leaves John to become Jesus’
disciples
3. Let’s look at the first two to do so
READ: John 1:37-39 (Scripture slide)
"37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”39 “Come,” He replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Hm. It was about the tenth hour."
A. ‘two disciples’: Andrew and John (John never mentions himself
in his Gospel)
B. According to John this takes place on about the 10th hour
1. 10 a.m. if he is speaking of Roman time or 4 p.m. if he
is speaking of Jewish time
2. Since John was there he knew the precise time (meeting
Jesus so changed him he would even remember the
hour)
C. It says here that they ‘followed Jesus’, little did they know that
from this point on they would never stop following after Him
D. Jesus, sensing He was being followed, turns and says to them
'What do you want?' (literally 'What are you seeking?')
1. That was a relevant question for them and it is today a
relevant question for us
2. What do you want from Christ and what are your
motives for it?
3. Do you truly seek to follow Him and be like Him?
4. Jesus did not want, and still does not want, freeloaders
unwilling to fully follow and work for Him
E. They respond to Jesus with a question, ‘Where are you
staying?’ which is a typical question of someone seeking to
become a rabbi’s disciple
F. This brings us to an important juncture: In order to fully
understand this instance and the complete ministry of Jesus
one needs to know about rabbis and their relationship with
their students in the time of Christ
G. First let’s look at Jesus as a Rabbi
1. By the time of Jesus the word rabbi did not mean what
it means today, but it meant a respected teacher
2. Jesus was called Rabbi by a number of different people
a. Pharisees (Luke 7:40)
b. Lawyers (Mat 22:35, 36)
c. Normal people (Luke 12:13)
d. Rich people (Matt 19:16)
e. Sadducees (Luke 20:27, 28)
3. Understanding Jesus as a Jewish rabbi throws significant
light onto understanding His ministry
a. For instance these rabbis would stop in at the
local synagogue and discuss the Scriptures
Mt 4:23: "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people."
b. Rabbis would travel from place to place teaching
and depend on support from local people for
their ministry
Lk 10:38: "As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him."
c. Often rabbis would not fully reveal what they
were trying to get across in their teachings, but
give enough information that the people could
draw conclusions for themselves, often in
parables (over 3,500 rabbi parables are known
from this time period…and for the record Jesus'
is the best)
Mk 4:2a :"He taught them many things by parables"
d. Often a rabbi would use the term 'Come and see'
to mean come lets find the answer together (as
we see here)
e. Only a few of these rabbis were considered wise
enough to make new interpretations, most just
passed along other's teachings (this explains the
people's amazement at Jesus' teachings and the
religious leaders questioning Him about who
gave Him His authority to teach His own
interpretations)
f. These rabbis would choose disciples (called
talmid (singular) or talmidem (plural) ) to
become like them
Jn 13:15: "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."
Mk 3:13-19 "13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him."
H. Now let’s look at the role of disciples
1. It was not an easy road to become a rabbis disciple
(talmid)
2. Under normal circumstances it would have taken years
of study
a. At the age of 4-5 boys and girls would start their
study of the Torah (1st five books of the OT)
b. Here they would mainly learn to read and write
Scripture taught to them by a local rabbi
c. At the end of this time the students would have
memorized vast portions if not all of the Torah
d. At the age of 12/13 the girls would stop their
education and the boys would participate in their
first Passover and bar mitzvah
e. Then the boys would begin learning a trade
f. The best of this group of boys, however, would
continue on in the Beth Midrash schooling to
study the rest of the OT (prophets and writings)
and also learning about how to interpret and apply
the Oral Torah this schooling was called the Beth
Midrash
g. Then the best of this group (making them the
best of the best, Ivy League, Ph. D. students)
would seek permission to study with a famous
rabbi
h. So imagine the shock of the disciples (untrained
men) when Jesus asked them to be His disciples!
3. The Rabbi could decline a prospective student, most
were turned away
Mk 5:18-20 "18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
4. If a student was accepted by the rabbi the rabbi would
say to him ‘Follow me’ (Jesus did this repeatedly in the
Gospels)
a. Once chosen the student would become this
rabbi's Talmid (towel-moo-deem) or disciple
b. A talmid was to be totally committed to
following his rabbi
c. All their time would be spent following,
observing and being like their rabbi
d. The goal of the talmid was to replicate their
teacher, to do and be what he is (not only the
passing on of knowledge, but of a lifestyle)
Lk 6:40 "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."
e. When a rabbi believed his disciples were fully
trained he set them loose to make disciples of
their own
Mt 28:18-20: "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”"
I. As you can see there much to be learned about Jesus and His
disciples in the light of a Rabbi and His students
READ: John 1:40-42 (Scripture slide)
"40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 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)."
A. Here was come across Andrew
1. He was one of the two that heard the Baptist's
endorsement of Jesus as the Lamb of God
2. And Andrew was extremely excited that he
was going were going to be the student, the talmid of
the Messiah…and he could not keep this to himself
3. In fact were are told that this was 'The first thing' he did
was tell someone else
4. We don’t know much about Andrew
a. Often he was overshadowed by his famous
brother Peter
b. In fact he’s often referred to in the Bible as the
brother of Simon Peter
3. But it does not appear that he minded playing the
second fiddle
5. And while he may not have become a Peter…he did
bring Peter to Jesus
6. Through Andrew we can learn some valuable lessons
a. First he knew the significance of Jesus
b. Second once he came to that conclusion he put
Jesus first in his life and spent his life bringing
people to Him
c. In fact the three times that Andrew appears in
Scripture he is doing exactly this very thing:
bringing people to Jesus
d. Now did Jesus specifically say to
Andrew….'Hey I'm the Messiah'…no he simply
knew Jesus' significance
e. Andrew knew that the most important things
should be the things you focus on and do first
7. Not many of us are called to be like Peter, but we are all
called to be like Andrew and love people enough to
bring them to meet Jesus
8. All you have to be is willing to bring them to meet
Jesus and He will do the rest
B. Through Andrew’s influence Peter was brought to Jesus
1. It says that Jesus ‘looked at him’
a. Word used here for look is not one meaning a
passing glance but a deep, thoughtfully intense
gaze…Jesus looked into who Simon really was
b. Jesus looks at us all with full knowledge, from
Him nothing is hidden
c. He looked and in that moment He saw a weak
man who He knew would one day deny Him
three times, but Jesus also knew that with His
Spirit He could harden and strengthen this weak
man
d. Jesus knew how Peter empowered by the Holy
Spirit would be the stable rock on which the
other disciples would rely on after the
crucifixion
e. Jesus knew that it would be the Gospel message
preached by Peter a mere 50 days after Jesus'
crucifixion that the Holy Spirit would use to take
the small band of believers from a few dozen to
over 3000
f. Jesus knew what He was going to make of Peter,
even though Peter himself at this time had no
idea
2. Use Jell-O and a rock for comparison: Simon before
Jesus, Peter after Jesus
3. So He makes Simon's name Peter (the rock) to fit the
mission Jesus had in store for him
a. Almost everyone in that day had two names
b. There was the name that people knew them for in
their own language
c. Then there was the name in the universal
language of Greek so that all people would be
able to understand and relate too
d. Kind of like people with foreign names in the
U.S.
1. Hello I’m Ach-bin-soba-dali-ali-cat-man-
do
2. But my friends call me Tim
e. But for Jesus a name change means far more than
this
f. It meant a change in Peter’s relationship with God
4. You see when someone truly meets Jesus, not only does
He change your relationship with God, He changes you
READ: John 1:43 (Scripture slide)
"The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
A. Jesus found Philip and called him, and we don't see any
hesitation on the part of Philip
B. Remember that they were down in Perea (a district south of the
Galilee district) near where Jesus was baptized and tempted
(show slide)
C. They were heading N. towards Cana (N. of Nazareth),,,Jesus
had a wedding to attend (show slide)
READ: John 1:44-46 (Scripture slide)
"44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip."
A. The boys from Bethsaida (show map of)
1. Scripture tells us that Peter's home at this time was in
Capernaum, but he likely grew up in Bethsaida
2. Bethsaida had been built in recent years in the honor of
Caesar Augustus' daughter
3. It was a large city were Jews and Gentiles often came in
contact with one another, fitting town for the symbol of
the universal appeal of the Gospel
4. It’s name meant ‘House of Fishing’
a. Being located in Galilee (hence close by to the
Sea of Galilee) made one of its main trades
fishing
b. I highly doubt it was a coincidence that Jesus
picked men from here to be His fishers of men
B. Philip, like Andrew, was already becoming like his Rabbi in
regards to drawing people (even mimics Jesus’ words)
C. And who does Philip find, none other than his friend Nathanael
1. It appears as Nathanael (who's hometown of Cana we
will visit next week) wasn't as excited as Philip at first
2. The reason he wasn’t was because what Philip said was
rather anti-climactic
a. Let me give you an example
b. Lets say I go up to Marv over there and say
c. ‘Hey Marv I just found the King of the Universe!
He’s an auto mechanic from Rock, KS’
d. Well Marv is thinking, ‘Boy what have
you been smoken? Can the people in Rock
even spell Universe?’
e. Why because it would have been a very unlikely
place for the Messiah to come from
3. Nazareth was seemingly an insignificant town like
Rock, Ks….at least He could have come from Jerusalem
or Wichita!
D. Notice that Philip did not argue with Nathanael, but simply said
'Come and see'
1. We don't have to argue anyone into following Jesus
2. It’s Jesus that does the calling to follow, but He allows
us to play a part in telling others to 'Come and see'
READ: John 1:47-51 (Scripture slide)
"47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48 “How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
A. Jesus says of Nate that he has 'nothing false' within him: It
appears as Nathanael spoke his mind and didn't hide his true
feelings
B. This is unsettling to Nathanael for good reason
1. So he asks of Jesus 'How do you know me?'
2. My friends let me just inform you that Jesus knows us
all intimately whether we know Him or not
3. Imagine this scene
a. I still remember the day BJ and Jack walked in to
Andover Baptist Church
b. Now what if the moment they walked in I went
up to them and said, ‘You two aren’t that bright’
c. Now of course I didn’t know that right off the
bat, it took me a few weeks of knowing them to
figure that out
d. But had I said that when they first walked in they
would have wondered how I knew that (or maybe
they wouldn’t but you get my point)
C. Jesus showed that He had supernatural insight because of the
information He could not have known
1. ‘under the fig tree’ was used in rabbinic literature to
describe meditation on the Law
2. It’s likely that this is was Nathanael was doing prior to
seeing Jesus
3. In fact Jesus could have just referenced the exact passage
that Nate was contemplating and he didn’t catch on until
Jesus made the statement about the fig tree
a. Possibly he had been even reading or meditating
on Jacob and the ladder to heaven
Ge 28:12 "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."
b. Jacob when he received his revelation from God
had just been sent out from his family for his
lying, yet God revealed to him this vision
c. And here we have Jesus revealing things to a guy
who is brutally honest with his opinions
D.Nathanael's doubts disappeared and he ascribed to Jesus Who
He was
1. Nathanael ate his own words about Jesus (maybe some
of you need to do the same)
2. It would not surprise me if Jesus chuckled at Nate
declaration
E. Basically Jesus’ response was, ‘Nate I can do way more than
read your mind and you’re going to see it’
1. In fact Jesus references back to the story of Jacob
2. In Jacob’s vision he saw a ladder upon which angels
came back and forth to earth
3. Here Jesus substitutes Himself for that ladder
a. In other words Jesus is saying that He is the way
to heaven, that He is the Ladder
b. In fact the word 'open' used here is one that
signifies a perpetual opening…Jesus opened the
way to heaven!
D. Jesus then responds to Nathanael declaring Him the Son of
God
1. Now Jesus does not deny that statement, but He adds to
it
2. Jesus points out that He is also the Son of
Man…indicating that He is both divine and human
3. ‘Son of Man’ becomes Jesus’ favorite Name for Himself
a. He uses over 80x in the Gospel
b. When He uses it, He surely wants to bring to
mind it’s usage in Daniel 7:13, 14
Da 7:13-14 "13 “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. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men 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."
E. And like Nathanael we are going to see the Son of God and Man
do much greater things then this in the Gospels…starting next
week when one of His miracles saves a bride and groom from an
embarrassing social situation
Application (slide)
A. There is a lot to be learned from what we saw today
B. As believers in Christ we are to go into the world and make
more disciples…more talmidim who will follow Rabbi Yeshua
C. We must strive to be like Him, follow His word
D. Everyone who follows Jesus leaves something behind
1. Simon left behind his career as a fisherman
2. James and John (the sons of Zebedee) left behind a
prosperous family business
3. Matthew left behind his career in the Roman IRS
4. but most importantly they all left the life that they lived
before Jesus
5. So I ask you, ‘What do you need to give up in order to
follow Jesus today?’
F. We saw Andrew and Philip become missionaries
1. There was nothing special in and of these men
themselves
2. No it was Christ who said of them 'Follow Me and I will
make you fishers of men
3. You see Jesus chose 12 men who were ordinary so that
HE, and HE alone could make the extraordinary
4. What is Jesus calling you to be?
G. For those of you who don’t know Jesus I say to you, ‘Come
and See’
Ps 34:8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
H. Once you do, like the disciples, many people her and myself
included you’ll never go back
I. Come today and See
Invitation
Let us sing our last song # ,
[pic]
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