What is the significance of the repeated phrasecome and seein the Gospel of John?

Martha was at least more matter of fact, Mary so crushed by her sorrow as to be hardly able to look up. This, together with the weeping of her comforters, deeply weighed on the spirit of the Lord Jesus. How real is His sympathetic concern for the sorrows of mankind occasioned by sin! To His question as to the grave of Lazarus they answer, “Lord, come and see” (v. 34). This expression has been used twice in chapter 1, first by the Lord, inviting others into His circumstances (v. 39), and by Philip inviting Nathanael to see the Lord (v. 46). But all that man has to show the Lord is a grave! How could He forbear thinking of His own imminent death and burial for the sake of mankind in its sinful, ruined state? He wept. But this was not merely for Lazarus, as they supposed (v. 36). His was genuine sympathy for the sake of the sisters, and no doubt true, divine sorrow in contemplating the sad results of sin in the world. Some made the suggestion, could He not have prevented the death of Lazarus, since He had done other amazing works? How much greater was He than they supposed! But He made no reply to this.

Now let me return again to verse 35 of chapter 1. Two of the disciples of John heard him speak and they followed Jesus. They were following Him and He turned to them and said, "What do you want?" They said, "Master, where dost Thou live?" and He said to them, "Come and see," and they came and they stayed with Him for the rest of that day. Now that is a simple story and there is absolutely not a word about it to give us an assurance, if we feel we need an assurance, that it has another meaning. But could anyone doubt that in the setting of the first chapter of John we are being invited to come and see the dwelling place of the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father?

As we follow through in the pages of the Gospel of John seeking to gather up the details as far as it may be permitted to us, the Lord Jesus Christ declaring, manifesting; perhaps declaring in the first part of the Gospel, perhaps manifesting in the latter part of the Gospel; then we are surely following the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ when he said, "Come and see." I suppose that there are very few young people who won't say, when they hear a title such as has been announced, "This is too deep for me." But let us never forget that in that portion of holy Scripture most explicitly addressed to the babes in Christ, the babes in the family, the Holy Spirit says by this same writer John, "I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father." I represent to myself that that means it is absolutely natural for the most new-born babe in the things of God to turn to God in prayer and to say "Father." The very first step upon that line is what we are invited to take when the Lord Jesus Christ says, "Come and see." Every new-born babe in the family has started with the knowledge of the Father and if only we will heed these words, and keep on coming and keep on seeing, then we shall indeed know where He dwells and we shall dwell with Him. We shall be able to understand what the apostles mean when they say, we want you to have a sharing of fellowship with us and truly our sharing is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now let me return again to verse 35 of chapter 1. Two of the disciples of John heard him speak and they followed Jesus. They were following Him and He turned to them and said, “What do you want?” They said, “Master, where dost Thou live?” and He said to them, “Come and see,” and they came and they stayed with Him for the rest of that day. Now that is a simple story and there is absolutely not a word about it to give us an assurance, if we feel we need an assurance, that it has another meaning. But could anyone doubt that in the setting of the first chapter of John we are being invited to come and see the dwelling place of the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father?

As we follow through in the pages of the Gospel of John seeking to gather up the details as far as it may be permitted to us, the Lord Jesus Christ declaring, manifesting; perhaps declaring in the first part of the Gospel, perhaps manifesting in the latter part of the Gospel; then we are surely following the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ when he said, “Come and see.” I suppose that there are very few young people who won't say, when they hear a title such as has been announced, “This is too deep for me.” But let us never forget that in that portion of holy Scripture most explicitly addressed to the babes in Christ, the babes in the family, the Holy Spirit says by this same writer John, “I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.” I represent to myself that that means it is absolutely natural for the most new-born babe in the things of God to turn to God in prayer and to say “Father.” The very first step upon that line is what we are invited to take when the Lord Jesus Christ says, “Come and see.” Every new-born babe in the family has started with the knowledge of the Father and if only we will heed these words, and keep on coming and keep on seeing, then we shall indeed know where He dwells and we shall dwell with Him. We shall be able to understand what the apostles mean when they say, we want you to have a sharing of fellowship with us and truly our sharing is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Certainly a great effect was produced upon the two disciples of John. It was like the presentation of a strong magnet to them; for when they heard John's word they followed Jesus. It drew them away from their beloved master, the Baptist, and constrained by the attractions of the Lamb of God, they followed Him, and became His disciples. And it is ever so. Nothing but the Person of Christ can wean us from earthly things, detach us from all our surroundings, disentangle us from our most intimate ties, and make us His willing-hearted and delighted followers. Hence the great loss of those who stop short at His work. Indeed His work can never be understood aright until after we have known Himself; and then in fellowship with His own heart, because at perfect rest in His presence, our own hearts completely satisfied, we shall behold, as we contemplate the cross, blessings and glories we had never dreamt of, rising up before our souls as the fruit and consequence of the work which He finished on Calvary.

But there is another thing. If the two disciples are drawn after Jesus, His heart goes forth to them. "Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour." (vv. 38, 39.) Nothing more delights the heart of Christ than the desires of the soul after Him. Attracted to Him, these two disciples would learn more of the One whose beauty had begun to dawn upon their souls, though as yet their apprehensions were so feeble and inadequate. The Lord knew their weakness, and thus He allures them on by His gentleness and grace. In their timidity they might have been repelled by reserve; but He who does not quench the smoking flax will intensify their interest and desire; and thus He turned, and seeing them following, said, "What seek ye?" He knew what they sought, their hearts lay bare before His eyes; but by this simple question He was but leading them on, throwing around them the cords of His love to bind them to Himself. Emboldened, therefore, by such grace, they respond, "Master, where dwellest thou?" It may be that they little understood the largeness of their request, yet surely the Spirit of God animated their words. The home of the Lamb of God! To discover this is to learn the whole secret of redemption; yea, to know the Son as the Revealer of the Father. For we read in this very chapter, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (v. 18.) No earthly dwelling could claim the honour of being His home. On earth He had not where to lay His head; but even while a stranger here, and walking this weary scene, He could speak of Himself as "in heaven" (John 3:13); and from the Scripture just cited we learn that in heaven the bosom of the Father was His home.

The two disciples that heard John speak followed Jesus, and He challenged them as to their object in following Him: "What seek ye?" If the Lord were to turn to any of us here to-night and say to us these words, what would our answer be? Are we seeking the pleasures of the world or its riches? Are we after the world in any shape? The disciples had but one object before them, they would know where He dwelt. The Lord was a wanderer in this earth. We read in the other gospels that He had not where 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. But that home cannot be described in human language; if you want to know it you must "come and see." It was in the bosom of the Father that He found His home, and no one then knew that bosom but Himself. But He had come to conduct others into that place of infinite delight, and the only way in which we could know that place was by knowing the Father and the Son who make that home all that it is.

The whole Gospel of John is the answer to that word, "Come and see." If we want to see where He dwells we must read the pages of this gospel; but we must read prayerfully and seek divine power to enter into what is brought before us there. These two disciples came and saw where He dwelt and they abode with Him that day. No mere creature could have brought the light of that home to us. It can only be known as we know the Father and the Son; and as we advance in the knowledge of these divine Persons, we are the more able to take in the light of that home of love. The Son came into the world to bring the light of that home to us, and to attract us to it after Himself, and if we get to know that place of infinite blessedness we shall be less attached to this world, and we shall be more ready to follow Jesus out of it into the place where He is gone. And even now we may in the Spirit cross the heavenly door and breathe the atmosphere of that home of peace and love. And let us not put off our going in there until we leave this world. There is no place in the universe where we are so welcome, and no place where we feel so much at home.

Thus, at the opening, and as it were the frontispiece of the book, we see the awakening of a need in the soul, to which the Gospel of John begins to supply the answer. The other gospels tell us that if the foxes had holes and the birds of the air their nests, the Son of man, Creator of all, had not where to lay His head in the world He created. But John is the revelation of the heavenly home of the Son of God. He dwells in the bosom of the Father. He has come to reveal the depths of the love in which He dwells that we may find our home now in spirit, and for ever, there with Him where He finds His. It was just what these two disciples, if there were but two, were drawn after Him to seek. Oh, to know more of the simple power of such an attraction! What would more blessedly prepare the way and educate the soul for heavenly association with Himself as our dispensed position in Christianity, to which this gospel is the divinely perfect moral introduction? In the light of what follows in it, "Come and see" is really the invitation to look into heaven now, and become familiar with it as His home and ours.

Beginning with verse 35 we read what happened the next day after John had given his testimony concerning the Lamb of God. The results of that testimony now appear. Once more John points to Him: "Behold the Lamb of God." He, who was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, directs his disciples to the Lord. The two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. These are the blessed steps: speaking the message, hearing (and in hearing believing) then following the Lord. And He knew them and their hearts' desire. His grace was drawing them to Himself. Their question, "Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?" is answered by that most blessed invitation, "Come and see." These are the first words of our Lord besides His question, written in this Gospel. He wanted them to know Him, to be in communion with Himself. They abode with Him that day. It foreshadows the results of the Gospel of Grace. The unmentioned place where they dwelt with Him is typical of the heavenly place where He is now. In faith we see where He abides, and by faith we know we are there in Him. It is a beautiful picture of the gathering which takes place throughout this Gospel-age. He is the Center, and "Come and see" are still His gracious words to all who hear and believe. And how Andrew at once testified and brought his brother Simon to Jesus!

How precious is it to see, in our turn, that men upon earth find out the value of this Christ. John, looking upon Jesus as He walked, will say, "Behold the Lamb of God;" and now his two disciples will bid farewell to John and "follow Jesus." Jesus on His part will turn Himself round to them and say, "What seek ye?" and upon the enquiry, "Where dwellest thou?" will give them a hearty welcome as He invites them to "come and see." What new intimacies are here! what new links are being formed by this very One who was awhile ago "with God and was God," but has now brought Himself in a human heart to sinful men, who, at His own request, come and see where He now dwells, and are at home enough with Him and in His presence, to "abide with him that day!" Oh! triumph of divine love, for He who brought "grace and truth" is with those who need it, and they will settle it to perfection in each other's company.

To such desires the Lord delights to respond. 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 see"; and we read, "They came and saw where He dwelt". There is nothing in this world that speaks of Christ; and we may be sure that, whatever there is in our homes, there was nothing in His home to divert from Himself. Having seen where He dwelt, they came to know Him in His own home, and knowing Him they were delighted to abide with Him that day. The Person Who had drawn them into the outside place was the One Who held them there.