Come And See Series

What are you looking for this morning? What is the reason you got up and came to church this morning? Did you expect anything when you walked in this door this morning? Expectations are amazing things, aren’t they? It seems like many times, our expectations lead to disappointments. They hype movies so much that when you finally get to see it, it really disappoints. Unfulfilled expectations happen all the time with movies. But with the Lord, that’s never the case. When we are truly seeking the Lord for who He is and not just what He does, He always will exceed our expectations. If you came in this church door this morning expecting to be entertained—you will probably leave here disappointed. If you came here expecting to be made to feel good and be noticed and coddled—you’ll probably leave here disappointed. If you came here expecting to have all of your felt needs met and have your self-esteem boosted—you’ll probably leave here disappointed. But if you came in here this morning fully expecting to seek Jesus, you’re going to leave here changed. You’re going to leave here changed just like the five men in our passage did. Each one of these four encounters that these five men had with Jesus was marked by one thing. Each encounter was marked by their expectations of who they thought Jesus was. So many times, when we enter into the Lord’s house to worship Him, our expectations are way too low. So many times, when we enter into prayer, our expectations are way too low. So many times, when we enter into our time in the Word of God, our expectations are way too low. These five men had extremely high expectations for their encounter with Jesus. But, do you know what? They were still too low. Because, according to Ephesians 3:20, Jesus is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or even think. So I’m going to ask you again—what are you looking for this morning? Are you looking for a teacher? John and Andrew were. Look in verses 38-39:

JOHN 1:38-39

I love the pictures that the words in Scripture paint. John the Baptist just got finished hollering out—“Look! There He is! The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” He had just finished shouting that out and sent John and Andrew to follow Him. And when John and Andrew ran up behind Jesus, what did He do? He casually turned and said, “What’re y’all looking for?” He didn’t give them some sales pitch about all the things He could do for them. He didn’t give them all the benefits of being His disciple. He didn’t even ask them to follow Him. His first words to them were, “What seek ye?” But they didn’t tell Him, did they? They fired back another question. They asked Him, “Where are you staying.” Now, they did that to let Jesus know that they weren’t interested in just a brief conversation. They were really wanting to know more about Him. But how they addressed Him revealed their expectations. They addressed Jesus as “Rabbi.” A Jewish Rabbi was a religious teacher. Sometimes the scribes and the Pharisees were called rabbis, but more than that, it was a term of profound scholarly respect. It would be very similar to the way that we would refer to a college or seminary professor as Doctor so-and-so. The Rabbi was the answer man. He was the person you could seek out to give you all of the answers to life’s questions. If something was going wrong in your life and you needed counseling, you’d go see the Rabbi. If you had a deep theological question, you’d go see the Rabbi. If you even had a philosophical question about the origin or purpose of man or the nature of evil, you’d go see the Rabbi. The Rabbi was a teacher and counselor who was thought to have all the answers. And that’s how John and Andrew addressed Jesus. That was their expectation of who He was. And Jesus didn’t disappoint them. He said, “Come and see.” And they did. If John was telling time the Roman way, which makes sense, it was only about 10:00 in the morning. But when verse 39 says that they abode with Him that day, it means that they stayed with Jesus until about that time the next day. In other words, Jesus told them to come and see. They were looking for a teacher, so Jesus brought them in and taught them all day and all night. They were expectantly looking for a teacher. Jesus said, come and see. And they did. And they weren’t disappointed. Are you looking for a teacher this morning? Do you have questions that you just can’t figure out on your own? Questions about life and death, good and evil, heaven and hell? Questions about purpose and direction and meaning and hope? Jesus is telling you, “Come and see.” But maybe you’re not looking for a teacher. Maybe you’re looking for a liberator. Simon Peter was. Look at verses 40-42: