Lenten Reader | Day 1

February 15th, 2024

Messiah

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.

John 1:35-42

We might say John (the Baptist) was Jesus’ first disciple. Even though he baptized Jesus and wasn’t one of the twelve, John subjected his life’s work to his contemporary. He delighted in paving the way for Jesus. “He must become greater; I must become less,” (John 3:30) became his mantra. 
  
John had high hopes. He gave Jesus the title, “the Lamb of God.” The day before he followed it by saying, “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Messiah effect had potential to go well beyond Israel! But how? No one knew exactly. “Come and you will see,” Jesus said. 
  
So John’s own followers took notice, departed, and transferred their allegiance to the new preacher in town. They were seeking the real thing. It didn’t take long for Andrew to become convinced. Immediately he told his brother, Simon Peter, that they had found “the Messiah.” 
  
John and Andrew do what every disciple of Jesus is called to do: bring people to Jesus. Later, in John 6:8, it’s Andrew who brings a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus in order to miraculously feed the multitudes. It’s been said, “Not everyone can be a Simon Peter, but everyone can be an Andrew.” This thought doesn’t diminish Andrew’s uniqueness or influence—in fact, God used Andrew to bring Peter to Jesus, just like God used John to bring Andrew to Jesus.   
  
We can all bring people to Jesus to experience His unconditional love (John 3:16), to turn our sorrow into joy, and enjoy new life—to the full (John 10:10)! 
  
“Come and you will see.”

Jon Welch