Making Disciples Series

"My own nephew was killed by them," he said, and angrily rejected any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. He told Jakov, "They wear those elaborate coats and crosses, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."

Jakov replied, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track: they recognize your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"

"I would deny it," said Cimmerman.

And Jakov countered, "'Ah, but we saw your coat,' they would say." But the analogy annoyed Cimmerman, and he ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Even so, Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?"

Jakov taught him the simple steps of putting his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and Cimmerman got down on his knees and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."

2. In everything we do we need to point them to Jesus.

a. Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

b. We should point people to Jesus by what we say.

c. We should point people to Jesus by what we do.

d. We should point people to Jesus in what we wear.

e. We should point people to Jesus in every aspect of our lives.

Transition: The second thing we should do is...

II. Teach Them To Follow Jesus (38-39).

A. They Remained With Him

1. After we point them to Jesus, our next step is to teach them how to be a Jesus follower.

2. In v. 38 it says, "Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

a. As the two approached Jesus he turned and asked, "What do you want?"

b. It is a very natural touch that they did not know what to say, for "where are you staying?" is not really an answer to the question.

c. They may have been a trifle shy. And their words probably imply that what they wanted with him could not be settled in a few minutes by the wayside.

d. They looked for a long talk. They address him as "Rabbi," the customary form of address for disciples speaking to their teacher.

e. The Evangelist explains the Aramaic word for the benefit of his non-Jewish readers (Morris, 137).

f. Those coming to Christ, whether for the first time or each day in worship, should ask themselves this question—“What do I want? What do I expect to receive from Jesus?”

3. So Jesus response to them is “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day."