Making Disciples
Text: John 1:35-42
Introduction
1. Illustration: A story is told – by Fredrick Beuchner I believe – called "The Happy Hypocrite." It is a story about a man who was born with an awful facial deformity. He grew up alone and lonely. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move from his town to begin a new life. On his way he discovered a beautiful mask that fit his making him look handsome. At first the mask was uncomfortable and he was afraid that people would find out who he really was, but he continued to wear the mask everyday.
In his new hometown, he made many friends and fell in love. But one day a wicked woman from his old home came to his town and discovered this man’s true identity. In front of his friends and fiancé, she forced him to remove his mask. When he removed the mask, it revealed a handsome face. His face had conformed to the mask.
Becoming like Christ is a lot like this story. Go ahead and put on Christ. At first it may feel unnatural or uncomfortable, and maybe you may think, "who am I trying to fool?" But everyday just keep putting on Christ and everyday you will grow to look more like him.
2. This is what our goal is; getting people to look like Jesus. We call that process discipleship.
3. I can't think of a better person to learn how to do this from than Jesus himself.
4. In order to make disciples we...
a. Point them to Jesus
b. Teach them to follow Jesus
c. Teach them to allow Jesus to change their destiny
Proposition: The way we make disciples is by showing them how to look like Jesus.
5. Let's stand together as we read John 1:35-42.
Transition: The first step in helping people become a disciple is to...
I. Point Them To Jesus (35-37).
A. Look!
1. The first, and most important, thing to do is point them to Jesus.
2. Look with at vv. 35-36. It says, "The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”
a. One of the two disciples (i.e., "learners"; the word meant those who had attached themselves to a given teacher) is subsequently named Andrew, but the other's name is not given.
b. From early times it has been thought that he was the beloved disciple John, and, while this is not proven, it may well be the case.
c. It would accord with this that we have some touches of an eyewitness, the picture of John "standing," and the look he gave Jesus as he walked (Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament – The Gospel According to John, 136).
d. Both these men had followed John the Baptist until he pointed them to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
e. Why did these disciples leave John the Baptist? Because that’s what John wanted them to do—he was pointing the way to Jesus, the one John had prepared them to follow.
f. This was the second time that John declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 377).
3. Now look at the result of John pointing his disciples to Jesus. It says, "When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus."
a. The Baptist on this occasion said nothing about following Jesus.
b. But his whole ministry was forward-looking, and he had instructed his disciples well.
c. Thus when this pair heard Jesus acclaimed as "the Lamb of God" they knew what was expected of them.
d. They immediately left John and followed Jesus. The verb "followed" is in the tense appropriate for once-for-all action, which may indicate that they cast in their lot with Jesus.
e. They did not mean to make a tentative inquiry but to give themselves to him.
f. We should also notice that the verb has both a general sense of "follow" and a more specific sense of "follow as a disciple."
g. They walked down the path after Jesus and thus followed. But they also symbolically committed themselves to him (Morris, 136).
h. This was a great tribute to John the Baptist’s preaching—they heard John and followed Jesus (Barton 377).
B. Showing Them Jesus
1. Illustration: Many years ago, an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived at a village in Serbia. He met an elderly man there named Cimmerman, and Jakov began to talk to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, where church leaders had plundered, exploited, and killed innocent people.
"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."
a. This invitation implies more than that they should see for themselves the place where he was lodging; it is an invitation to visit him.
b. It led to their staying with him that day, and probably means that they spent the night with him.
c. The time is given as about 4 p.m. The Jews measured their days from sunset to sunset, and divided both night and day into twelve hours.
d. John's habit of noticing the time of day is one of the small touches that point to an eyewitness.
e. Coming to Jesus in the late afternoon and then having the kind of conversation that the circumstances indicate almost requires us to understand "spent that day" as "remained overnight." (Morris, 137).
f. They wanted to know where to find Jesus. This indicates a commitment, not an experiment.
g. John recalls the exact time he first stayed with Jesus. It must have been a special opportunity for John and Andrew—a time never to be forgotten.
h. We can only imagine their wonder as they spent the rest of the day alone with Jesus. >From this time forward, these two men became his disciples (Barton377).
B. Emulate
1. Illustration: "Jesus was never interested in having fans. When he defines what kind of relationship he wants, "Enthusiastic Admirer" isn’t an option. My concern is that many of our churches in America have gone from being sanctuaries to becoming stadiums. And every week all the fans come to the stadium where they cheer for Jesus but have no interest in truly following him. The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them." (Kyle Idleman "Not a Fan," 25).
2. The Great Commission calls us to lead people to be Jesus followers.
a. Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
b. The command of the great commission is to make disciples not converts.
c. Getting people to make a decision for Christ is just the first step.
d. We must show them what it means to follow Jesus.
e. We must show them how to follow Jesus.
f. Most importantly we must show help them understand that a decision to follow Jesus is a life long decision.
g. A decision that involves commitment, discipline, and surrender.
Transition: Thirdly, we should...
III. Teach Them To Allow Jesus To Change Their Destiny (40-42).
A. You Shall Be Called
1. One sure sign of a follower of Jesus is their excitement to share their new found faith in Christ with others. Andrew is no exception.
2. In vv. 40-41 it says, "Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”)."
a. The next morning Andrew promptly went in search of his brother.
b. Andrew appears two more times in this Gospel; each time he is bringing people to Jesus (Barton, 377).
c. There is an interesting fact to allude to at this point. In the Old Testament creation Adam's name meant "man."
d. The Church begins with the first disciple, Andrew, whose name also means "man."
e. God began the old and new creations with a man (The Complete Biblical Library – John, 39).
f. When he found him he told him that they (his plural "we" means that he was already thinking of a community) had found the Messiah (an expression that occurs only here and in 4:25 in the New Testament).
g. In his customary manner the Evangelist explains that this word means "Christ" (Morris, 139).
3. Something very important happens in v. 42 which says, "Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”)."
a. Jesus gave the newcomer a searching look, and proceeded to rename him.
b. This must be understood in the light of the significance attaching to the "name" in antiquity.
c. It stood for the whole person. It summed up the entire personality.
d. The giving of a new name is an assertion of the authority of the giver.
e. When done by God it speaks in addition of a new character in which the person hereafter takes on.
f. Simon is from this time Jesus' man. But he is also a different man, and the new name points to his character as "the rock man."
g. Peter appears in all the Gospels as anything but a rock. He is impulsive, volatile, unreliable.
h. But that was not God's last word for Peter. Jesus' renaming of the man points to the change that would be wrought in him by the power of God (Morris, 140).
i. Jesus changed Simon’s name to Cephas, the Aramaic word for “stone,” because Jesus foresaw that Peter would become a pillar and a foundation stone in the building of the first-century church (Barton377).
B. Transformation
1. Illustration: A heavily booked commercial flight out of Denver was canceled, and a single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the front and slapped his ticket down on the counter. "I have to be on this flight and it has to be first class!" he insisted. "I’m sorry, sir," the agent replied. "I’ll be happy to help you, but I have to take care of these folks first." The passenger was unimpressed. "Do you have any idea who I am?" he demanded in a voice loud enough for the passengers behind him to hear. Without hesitating, the agent smiled and picked up her public-address microphone. "May I have your attention, please?" she broadcast throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate." As the man retreated, the people in the terminal burst into applause.
2. Being a follower of Jesus means being willing to let him change our identity.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
b. To become a Christian means that God changes who we are into who he created us to be.
c. He changes us from selfish to selfless.
d. He changes us from impatient to patient.
e. He changes us from uncaring to compassionate.
f. He changes us from prideful to humble.
g. So becoming a disciple means we have to be willing to yield to the Holy Spirit as he changes us and makes us someone new.
Conclusion
1. In order to make disciples we...
a. Point them to Jesus
b. Teach them to follow Jesus
c. Teach them to allow Jesus to change their destiny
2. Who have you pointed to Jesus lately?
