John 1:35–43

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.

"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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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!"

"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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

"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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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"!

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.

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.

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.

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."

The testimony to His work now follows the declaration of who He is. So the two disciples heard John speak, and followed Jesus. But we miss the force of this unless we see who gave that testimony. The Lord Jesus Himself said that of all who are born of women, none was greater than His messenger, John the Baptist. Yet the effect of John's word is that the disciples leave him for Jesus. "Behold, the Lamb of God!" had sunk into their hearts. Now we see this blessed result: they followed Jesus.

We see the effect of such a ministry in the two disciples who heard John speak. They heard John, but they followed Jesus. On the earlier days they seem to have listened to John unmoved. But on the third day his ministry flowed from a heart that was full of Christ, and it reached hearts that needed Him.

Andrew is now named as one of the two men. The other was very likely John, who wrote this Gospel. He never names himself in it, though he loves to speak of the faith and devotion of others.

The apostle who writes this tells us that one of these two was Andrew, but with characteristic modesty he omits to mention who the other was, because it was himself.

Andrew is a Greek name, as Philip is in another case, and it seems to match the Hebrew name Adam. He was Simon's brother, and he was the means of leading him to the Lord, as we read in John 1, before their public call. Simon later became far more famous than Andrew himself.

In a watch we see the hands doing their work out toward the world... But do they move themselves? No. Round at the back, hidden away and hard to find, is the fusee — a small wheel whose cogs move them... So Simon Peter, like the hands of the watch, did his work mainly in public, and Andrew did his, like the fusee, out of sight. Simon Peter preached to the crowds and brought thousands to Christ. But it was Andrew who gave the first push, by bringing Simon himself to Christ. It seemed a small, private service. Yet if we think of what Peter later accomplished, we see that it had a vast result.

Then comes the proper outcome of staying with Christ — finding others for Christ. So we read that one of them goes out from that holy place to find his own brother Simon, and having found him, "he brought him to Jesus". He did not bring him just to an outside place, nor to a group in that outside place, but to a Person, to Jesus.

We hear Andrew's voice only three times in the Gospels. First, he tells Simon about Jesus. Next, he tells the Lord about the "five barley loaves and two fish". Last, he tells Jesus that some Gentiles want to see Him. On the first day he went off to get Peter. We hear very little of Andrew after this, but a great deal of Peter... He was probably not a great preacher, and you may not be either. But he loved Jesus, and so he brought his brother to Him.

There is a simplicity in this that catches our attention. Andrew spoke with such excitement not about a new religion or a new doctrine, but about a Person. The Eternal Son was present on earth — the long-promised Christ — and Andrew had come to know Him. He then longed that his brother should know Him also.

The Jews and Samaritans were expecting the Messiah, "who is called Christ." The Hebrew word is mashiach and means "anointed." The same word is used of the high priest and of the king as God's anointed. But the Lord Jesus is "the Anointed" in the fullest sense, and that is what the title "the Christ" means. It refers to the Lord as Man, anointed with the Holy Spirit.

All the way through the Old Testament there was the promise of the Messiah. He was meant to heal Israel, and the nations of the earth, for God. The promise centred on His coming — the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham and David. So when they said, "We have found the Christ," it meant they had come to the Person able to hold everything for God.

I love that little word "first." It was already long past the "tenth hour." The day was done. But Andrew did not stop for food or drink or rest, or anything else. He hurried off to hunt for "his own brother."

Some editors take "first" with "he": Tischendorf, Meyer, Godet and Zahn. Others take it with "brother": Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort. The Evangelist hints here, without saying it outright, that he followed Andrew's example and brought his own brother to Jesus.

It is beautiful to see how Andrew goes at once to testify of the One he had found, and he begins at home. "He first found his own brother Simon." He begins from the centre, and works out to the circumference.

Why is it that the lips of even earnest souls are so often sealed in front of their own relatives? It may be very important for me to carry the Gospel to unbelievers far away, or to give money to help such an excellent work. But my first responsibility is towards my own brother.

What a lovely sentence that is: "He brought him to Jesus"! He brought him to the One who had satisfied his own heart. In Him is all love, all grace, all tenderness, and all power. In short, he brought him to the One whom all sinners need, and the One who is enough for all.

Just take him by the hand, and try Andrew's sermon. And just do as Andrew did: "he brought him to Jesus." Mind you do this. Do not bring him to what men call the church, or to any sect or party on earth.

Simon Peter, like the hands of a watch, did his work mostly in public. Andrew did his out of sight, like the fusee — the small hidden wheel whose cogs move the hands. Simon Peter preached to the crowds and brought thousands to Christ. But it was Andrew who gave the first push, by bringing Simon himself to Christ. It seemed a small individual service; but if we think of what Peter afterwards accomplished, we see that it had a vast result.

There follows the proper outcome of staying with Christ — the finding of others for Christ. So we read that one of them goes out from that holy place to find his own brother Simon. Having found him, "he brought him to Jesus." He did not bring him only to an outside place, nor to a company in that outside place, but to a Person, to Jesus.

I never heard of Andrew preaching, and you hear little more of him in the Gospels. But when you get up into the glory one day, and see the Lord giving out the rewards, I think you will find that a big reward will be Andrew's. Do you not see that he was the means of the conversion of the man most used by God in those early gospel days, in bringing blessing to others?

"You are Simon" — then the Lord knew him, and knew what he was, though they had never met before. "You shall be" — then He was also able to foretell the future. Who could do these two things but God? Years afterwards Simon had to confess to the Lord, "You know all things." His first experience of that was at this first interview.

In telling Simon his name and his father's name, the Lord shows him that he is in the presence of One who knows his whole history from the moment of his birth. So at the start of his spiritual life Peter learns that the Lord knows the whole of his history as a sinner, and yet claims him as His own for ever.

Simon was a ready talker, usually the first of the disciples to speak. But when Andrew brought him to Jesus he did not get the first word. Great kings asserted their ownership over servants and slaves by changing their names, as we see with Daniel and his three friends. In the same way, when Simon came to Jesus He asserted His claim over him. But by giving him a name which meant "a stone," He did more than this. He took him over for the building that He had in view, a building Simon knew nothing about at that moment.

Simon stands in His presence with no priest or apostle in between, no law or ritual, no church or temple. There Simon the sinner hears the words of grace: "You are Simon" — his name in nature — "you shall be called Cephas," a stone, or Peter, his new name in grace, in connection with Himself the Rock. Petros means a stone; Petra means a rock.

The name that He gives to Simon declares his destiny rather than his character. He was a stone. A stone for a great and imperishable building which is now being prepared, made up of living stones. Every believer is what the Lord declared Simon to be. Each has become this by coming to Christ, the Living Stone (see 1 Peter 2).

The name "Peter" means "stone." Its significance is this: it connected him with the church that Christ, the Son of the living God, was about to build. So the "Rock" on which the church rests lay in Christ Himself. Peter was no rock. Indeed he seems to have been the most impulsive and easily swayed of the disciples — see Galatians 2:11-13. He was only a stone. There is no excuse for confusing him with the Rock, because the Lord marked the difference in the words He chose.

Jesus Himself took the first step and found Philip, as verse 43 shows. He introduced Himself with two words: "Follow Me." Those two words were clearly enough. They presented Him to Philip as the LEADER, who has the right to command loyal obedience from each and all.

With Philip things were different. He was not drawn to the Lord in the same way, because the Lord had to command him to follow Him. We never read that he reached the place Andrew reached. But there is no doubt that any contact with the Lord must have blessed him.

We are going through a wilderness. We have to pass through a world full of traps, and many of them are hard to spot. So we need more than a centre to work towards. We need a path to follow. Where will we find the true path for our souls? Not when we get to heaven. There we will need no way, because everything there is good and bright. But here, where everything is wrong and enemies of every kind surround you, you need a way that never fails. Where can we find such a path? My answer: in the Saviour... He Himself is the path, the only true way for the Christian. Whatever comes — whatever difficulties or trials — find out what the will of the Lord is. The moment you submit to His will, you follow Him. To obey His word in faith is to follow Him.

It is a huge thing when Jesus rescues us from the waste of our own will, or from a heart tied to the will of someone stronger than us. It is a huge thing to know that in Him we have found not just the Messiah, but the centre of everything God has revealed, planned and purposed. So we gather with Him because we gather to Him. Everything else, whatever it claims for itself, only scatters. It is wasted work, or worse.

On the third day, people became disciples of the Lord through the testimony of John the Baptist and of Andrew. Did the Lord discourage that? On the contrary, by calling Philip Himself on the fourth day He showed that it was the right thing at that time. And those words "Follow Me" were words of power to Philip. He asked no questions. He joined the little group linked on earth with the Son of God. But Philip, like Andrew, wanted others to share the blessing. When he found Nathanael, he could not stay silent.

Verse 43 introduces another day. That day fittingly pictures the regathering of the godly in Israel in the last days, after the church has been caught up to be with the Lord. Galilee reminds us of this godly remnant... The church of God began with a small core of godly Israelites. The restoration of Israel at the end of the tribulation will be the same: in both cases they come from the same root.

In the first chapter of John, Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me." In the last chapter He says to Peter, "Follow me." The first call came before the cross. The disciples had left everything to follow Him, because they had faith in Him. But when Calvary came, their steps faltered, and they all ran away.