Again, on the morrow, there stood John and two of his disciples.
Only two men are with John when Jesus walks past. What John says next costs him both of them — and commentators call that loss the best work his ministry ever did.
This is the third and last day of John's recorded witness. On this day he drops every other subject and speaks of one thing only.
On the first day of his ministry John, the greatest born of women, retires into the background in the presence of Jesus. On the second day he witnesses to the glory of Christ's Person and the greatness of His work. On this, the last day of his ministry, he says nothing about the work of Christ or the gift of Christ. He speaks only of the Person of Christ... For what John says of Jesus on this day is the result of looking upon Jesus. It was not the result of reading about Him in the prophets, or hearing about Him from others, but of looking upon Him.
The verse says John "was standing." One writer takes that posture as a man held still by what he sees. He then traces what it did to the two men beside him.
"John stood" — fixed, riveted, gazing at the most glorious Object that had ever held the gaze of men and angels — the Object of the Father's delight and of heaven's worship, "the Lamb of God." Notice the effect. "The two disciples heard Him speak and they followed Jesus." They felt there must be something uniquely attractive about One who could hold their master's heart like that.
John's whole message was five words. One writer weighs those words against the sacrifices his Jewish hearers knew from the law.
The preacher's eyes were on Jesus, "looking upon Jesus," not looking upon the crowd... Yes, God's Lamb; until now man had brought his lamb. Five words. Without this, tons of theology books are worthless. What words for Jewish ears, who had learned from the law that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins... The two heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. How simple, yet this is the power of God.
The two men did not simply add Jesus to their loyalties. They left the teacher they had been standing with.
John the Baptist's eye caught Jesus as He walked. The sight fills him, and he speaks as if he cannot help it: "Behold the Lamb of God!" The Spirit of God carries these precious words home to the hearts of two of His disciples. It suddenly dawns on them what Christ was. At once it attaches them to Him, and so breaks them off from everything else — even from their religious teacher, often the hardest link to break. "And they followed Jesus!"
The two men moved from one teacher to another. One writer marks the difference: Jesus did not refuse the place they gave Him.
Here we do not have John's public ministry, which had not produced this effect. We have his own heart going out at the sight of the Lamb of God. "And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." And then Christ — and to me this is most important — Christ accepts being a centre. He says to them, "What are you seeking?"... Christ becomes a centre.
Another writer asks what makes words like John's land on other people, and counts the loss of his two disciples as his mission fulfilled.
It is not the fullest or clearest statement of the truth that has the most effect on others. Nothing has such power as a heart expressing its joy and delight in an object that is worthy... John was the servant of God's purpose, so his mission was carried out best when his disciples followed Jesus.
By this day John's own work was finished. One writer says his words were not aimed at the two men at all — and that is where their power lay.
In verse 35 John is like a man who had stepped back from his ministry, and was simply enjoying what it had all led to — the Lamb of God made known. We hear him speak out the hidden satisfaction of his soul: "Behold the Lamb of God!" He does not seem to have said these words to his disciples. But they heard him, lost in holy, happy thought about Jesus, and they follow Jesus. And, dear friends, this is what gets the same honour now. Our power to draw others after the Lord rests mainly on our own joy and communion with Him.
- Look. John's words that day came from looking at Jesus. Not from books about Him, and not from reports of others — and not about His work, but about His Person.
- Overflow. He was not preaching at anyone; the two overheard a heart's satisfaction, and that is what carried.
- Behold. Five words did what volumes could not: God's Lamb offered, where before man had brought his lamb.
- Detach. The words tied them to Christ. That one tie broke every other one — even the hold of the teacher they trusted.
- Centre. Jesus accepted the place they gave Him. John's mission succeeded at the very moment his own followers left him for Christ.
And, looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God.
John the Baptist stands with two of his followers, and Jesus walks past. He says five words about Him, and the two men leave their teacher to follow Jesus.
This day's testimony did not come from study or from what others had reported. One writer traces it to the simple act described in the verse itself:
On the first day of his ministry John, the greatest of those born of women, steps into the background in the presence of Jesus. On the second day he testifies to the glory of Christ's Person and the greatness of His work. On this, the last day of his ministry, he says nothing about the work of Christ or the gift of Christ. He speaks only of the Person of Christ. He says, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" This was perhaps not so much a witness to others as the worship of a heart taken up with the beauty of Christ. What John says of Jesus on this day comes from looking at Jesus. It did not come from reading about Him in the prophets, or from hearing about Him from others, but from looking at Him.
John had used this same title earlier, of Christ offering Himself for the sin of the world. Here the words stand alone, and one writer marks the difference:
In the earlier passage it was Christ as the sacrifice — the meek and gentle victim — offering Himself for the sin of the world. Here it is the display of what He is in Himself that stirs the wondering admiration of His forerunner. As he looks at Jesus walking by, his heart fills with adoring praise, and he says, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Behold Himself: the beauty of His ways, the perfection of His walk, the unfolding of a divine-human life. That life was in itself a full and perfect moral picture of God to man.
The whole sermon is five words long. One writer weighs those words, and whose Lamb they name:
What a living text! The preacher's eyes were on Jesus. He was looking at Jesus, not looking at the crowd. What he looked at was his text. His subject was the living Person of Jesus, and Jesus as the Lamb of God! And he said, Behold Him — "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Yes, God's Lamb. Until now man had brought his lamb. Five words. Without this, tons of volumes of theology are worthless.
Why did such a short word move anyone? One writer draws a rule from it:
It is not the fullest or clearest statement of the truth that acts most on others. Nothing has such power as a heart telling out its joy and delight in an object that is worthy. So it was now. The greatest of those born of women acknowledges the Saviour with simple, genuine honour, and John's own disciples, who heard him speak, follow Jesus. "He must increase, but I must decrease." And so it ought to be. Not John, but Jesus, is the centre: a man, yet God, for no one else could be the centre without taking from the glory of God.
What made them go? Another writer points to the Spirit of God, and to the tie that had to break:
The Spirit of God carries these precious words home to the hearts of two of John's disciples. It bursts in upon them what Christ was. At once this pulls them away from everything else — even from their religious teacher, often the hardest tie to break — by binding them to Him. "And they followed Jesus!"
One writer applies this to us in the rush of ordinary life:
It would be good for us if, in the hurry and rush of life, we too stood still for a while and made time to look at Jesus as He walked. Then we would drink into our souls the grace and excellence of Jesus — the gentleness and kindness, the loveliness and meekness, the holiness and love that marked every step of His life through this dark world of sin and sorrow. Then, with full hearts, we would call the attention of others to the loveliness of the One Who is altogether lovely.
- Look — the words came from watching Jesus walk, not from reading or hearsay.
- Adore — with nothing said of His work or His gift, this is a heart taken up with the Person alone.
- Speak — five words did what the fullest statement may not do, because a heart's delight tells more than explanation.
- Follow — those words pulled two men from their teacher and bound them to Christ.
- Centre — John decreases on purpose; not the servant but Jesus holds the place no one else could hold.
And the two disciples heard him speaking, and followed Jesus.
John the Baptist has just pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Two of John's own disciples hear it, leave their teacher, and walk after Jesus — which raises the question of what words move a soul, and what following costs.
John gives no argument and no explanation. He simply speaks out the delight of his heart. One writer finds a surprising rule in this.
The fullest or clearest statement of the truth is not what most affects others. Nothing has such power as a heart expressing its joy and delight in someone worthy. So it was now. "He looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!'" The greatest man ever born of a woman honours the Saviour with sincere respect. His own disciples hear him say it, and they follow Jesus. "He must increase, but I must decrease." And so it ought to be. Not John, but Jesus, is the centre. John was the servant of God's purpose, and his mission was carried out best when his disciples followed Jesus.
Why did it work this time, and not before?
They heard John, but they followed Jesus. It seems they had listened unmoved to John's preaching on the earlier days. But the preaching of the third day flowed from a heart full of Christ, and it reached hearts that needed Him.
These two belonged to John. Following Jesus meant leaving the man who had taught them.
Look at the two disciples in John 1. John the Baptist's eye caught Jesus as He walked by. The sight fills him, and the words break out of him almost without his will: "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The Spirit of God carries these precious words home to the hearts of two of His disciples. It suddenly breaks in upon them what Christ was. By attaching them to Him, it detaches them at once from everything else — even from their religious teacher, often the hardest tie to break. "And they followed Jesus!"
They were not after a benefit from Him. One writer turns the scene into a question for the reader.
"Two disciples of John heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." What a blessed effect, when the truth reaches the soul with power — though it is too often missing in us! They followed Him, not for anything more they could get from Him. They followed with a God-given longing that His presence alone could satisfy. And what a love this shows — the love of God come into this world in Christ! He had so completely won the confidence of these two hearts, and drawn them to Himself, that on the first day they ever knew Him they wanted one thing: to find out where He lived, so that they could live with Him… But what are we seeking? The heart was made for an object, a personal object, and only a divine one can satisfy it. So if we are not seeking Christ, we are surely seeking something that is not Christ.
The verse records an action, not just a belief.
Following Christ must mean more than believing in Christ. It surely involves believing, for a follower must be a believer, and yet a believer is not always a follower. To follow implies that He has become the great Object before the soul — the One who governs and controls the life. Is this lack of definite following not the secret of how little progress we make in our spiritual history? Does it not mark the difference between wholehearted devotion and half-heartedness?
Following ended in an invitation and an evening in His company. One writer sees the whole Christian position pictured here.
The two disciples of John, hearing their master's heartfelt words of delight in the Lamb of God, follow Jesus, come and see at His invitation where He was staying, and stay with Him that day. The day was nearly over. The writer of this gospel could not forget the moment, always treasured in his heart: it was about the tenth hour… If I am not mistaken, we see here a remnant coming out of John's testimony to see Jesus and stay with Him. They go forward through John, yet beyond John, to live with Jesus where He lived, unknown to the world because it did not know Him. Such is the Christian's place, abiding with Jesus and following Him.
- Hear. What moved these two was not a clear explanation. It was a heart overflowing with delight in Christ — the same men had heard John's earlier preaching unmoved.
- Leave. Being attached to Jesus detached them from everything else — even from their own teacher, often the hardest tie to break.
- Follow. They went after Him for nothing they could get. They went with a God-given longing that only His presence could satisfy.
- Abide. Their one aim on the first day was to find where He lived and stay there — unknown to the world, as He was unknown.
- Live. A believer is not always a follower. Following means Christ governs the life — and where that is missing, spiritual progress stalls.
But Jesus having turned, and seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And *they* said to him, Rabbi (which, being interpreted, signifies Teacher), where abidest thou?
Two men have just left John the Baptist to walk after Jesus. The first words the Lord speaks in this Gospel are a question, and their answer asks not for a lesson but for His address.
These two were new to Him and still timid. He met that weakness with gentleness.
Nothing more delights the heart of Christ than the desires of the soul after Him. Drawn to Him, these two disciples would learn more of the One whose beauty had begun to dawn upon their souls. What they grasped so far was still feeble and inadequate. The Lord knew their weakness, and so He drew them on by His gentleness and grace. Reserve might have put two such timid men off; but He who does not quench the smoking flax will deepen their interest and desire.
Their answer shows why they were walking behind Him at all.
In the case of the two disciples the Lord's testing question brings out the true motive, seen in their question, "Master, where do You dwell?" It becomes plain that they had not taken their place outside the Jewish system just to escape its corruptions. Nor had they come for some benefit for themselves. They came because they longed to be with One who had drawn their affection to Himself. The motive was not self, but Himself.
John stops to translate the word for readers who would not know it. It was one rung on a ladder of honour — and a title the Lord later kept for Himself alone.
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning "master, teacher," though no one is known to have used it until the time of Herod the Great. Among the Jews the grades of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and then to Rabban or Rabboni. Jesus forbade the disciples to be called Rabbi, for one was their Master, even Christ (Matthew 23:8).
The placing of that title is worth noticing. In this Gospel, the first time Jesus is called Teacher, no lesson is being requested — company is.
In the gospel of John the Lord, as "the Sent One," is intent on revealing the glories of the Father to the disciples — His Name, His Word, His love, His hand, His house. So it is significant that the first time this Gospel calls the Lord "Teacher" (John 1), a realm of affection is in view.
They had to ask where He lived. Hardly anyone could have told them.
"Rabbi," they at once replied, "where do You dwell?" What a question to put to the Lamb of God, the Son of God! How it told of His humiliation! There was no need for anyone to ask where the high priest lived — everyone knew. The angelic hosts, too, surely knew where the incarnate One dwelt on earth. But who among men cared to know, or could have told those two, if asked, where He dwelt? Low indeed had He come, yet He came to bless hearts made ready to receive Him.
They asked for nothing He could hand over. They wanted His presence, and God had put that longing in them first.
They followed Him, not for anything more that they could get from Him, but with a longing created by God that His presence alone could satisfy. And what it tells of the manner of the love shown in God come into this world in Christ! He had won the confidence of these two hearts completely, drawing them to Himself. So on the first day they ever knew Him, their one aim is to find out where He dwells, so that they may dwell with Him.
Commentators differ on what the disciples were asking for. Some read it plainly — a house in a real town.
Jesus' dwelling-place was at Capernaum, a very ungodly city. It is called "his own city" in Matthew 9. What did they want? They wanted to know the spot where they would be sure of finding Him.
Others hear a far larger request in it than the two men themselves understood.
The Lord was a wanderer on this earth. We read in the other gospels that He had nowhere to lay His head. But in this gospel He has a dwelling-place, and His great delight is to lead the hearts of His own into it. No human language can describe that home. If you want to know it you must "come and see." It was in the bosom of the Father that He found His home.
- Followed — two men leave their teacher and walk after Jesus, drawn by a longing God had already created in them.
- Asked — the Lord turns and asks what they are seeking, and He draws them on by gentleness and grace.
- Tested — their answer shows the motive: not escape, not benefit, but Himself.
- Taught — the title they use means Teacher, and the first lesson they ask for is His address, not His doctrine.
- Dwelt — men had to ask the Lamb of God where He lived, so low had He come; and His home, the Father's bosom, is where He leads His own.
He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
Two of John the Baptist's disciples had heard him point to Jesus and had begun to follow. Jesus asked what they wanted. They asked where He was staying. His reply was an invitation, not an address.
The Lord does not treat a first stirring of interest as a nuisance. He knows how weak it is, and He meets it with gentleness.
Nothing more delights the heart of Christ than the desires of the soul after Him. These two disciples were drawn to Him. They would learn more of the One whose beauty had begun to dawn on their souls. Their grasp of Him was still weak and poor. The Lord knew their weakness, and so He draws them on by His gentleness and grace. They were timid, and a cool welcome could have driven them back. But He who does not quench the smoking flax will deepen their interest and desire.
So where does the Son of God live?
The Lord was a wanderer on this earth. The other Gospels tell us He had nowhere to lay His head. But in this Gospel He has a dwelling-place. His great delight is to lead the hearts of His own into it. But no human words can describe that home. If you want to know it you must come and see for yourself. He found His home in the bosom of the Father. At that time no one knew that bosom but Himself.
They did not look and leave.
As it has been said, we can have as much of Christ as we want. At once the Lord replies to these disciples, "Come and you will see." And we read, "So they came and saw where He was staying." Nothing in this world speaks of Christ. Whatever there may be in our homes, we may be sure that nothing in His home drew them away from Himself. They saw where He was staying and came to know Him in His own home. Knowing Him, they gladly stayed with Him that day. The Person who had drawn them outside was the One who held them there.
Time with Him was not just pleasant company.
What cravings of the soul and spiritual needs were met and satisfied as they stayed with Him that day! Who but Himself could reveal the Lamb of God, whom John had announced to them? Where had He come from? Where was He going? Why was He born and why did He come into the world? How many difficulties disappeared that day! How much darkness fled away, while they stayed in the presence of "the Light of life"!
Commentators differ on the clock. One writer sees the question itself as a mark of how low the Lord had come, and reads the hour as late afternoon:
What a question to put to the Lamb of God, the Son of God! How it told of His humiliation! No one needed to ask where the high priest lived — everyone knew. But who among men cared to know, or could have told those two, if asked, where He was staying? "It was about the tenth hour" — that is, about 4 p.m.
Others argue that John counts hours the way we do, which moves the scene to mid-morning:
It appears that the marginal annotators were reckoning time by the Jewish method, which was the tenth hour from sunrise. The other three Gospel writers use Jewish time, but John uses Roman time, counting from midnight and noon as we do. If we miss this, John 19:14 creates a difficulty. It says our Lord was still in the hall before Pilate at the sixth hour. Yet the other Gospels tell us He was on the cross at that time. This "tenth hour" was probably ten o'clock in the morning.
Either way, those hours did not stay private.
The tenth hour left two hours of the day. Oh, those two hours with Jesus! I ask you, have you ever spent two hours with Jesus? I am sure that if you have, you have come out and tried to take somebody else back to enjoy what you enjoyed. These disciples did. Individual testimony comes out at once, and let me tell you that quiet personal testimony is often worth far more than public preaching.
The stay was short. Yet writers see in it a picture of something lasting.
There is no doubt about the joy of His own heart in inviting them to "Come and you will see." We are not told where the Lord was living at this time. What matters more to us is that this is a picture of His eternal dwelling. They stayed with Him only that day, but "we shall dwell with God's Beloved through God's eternal day."
- Desire — a soul moving toward Christ is never brushed aside; He knows how weak it is and draws it on by gentleness.
- Invitation — His answer gives access, not information; no words can describe His home, so you must come and see.
- Company — they came, saw, and stayed; nothing in His home competed with Him, so the Person who attracted them also kept them.
- Hour — commentators divide over whether the tenth hour means about 4 p.m. by Jewish reckoning or ten in the morning by Roman.
- Overflow — hours with Jesus send a person out to find someone else; and one day with Him points on to God's eternal day.