John 1:43-51 Invitational words of Jesus
Today let us look at the reading our text opens with the "next day" this scriptures alludes to consecutive days.
Note the first day John 1:19-28 John the baptizer anticipates the arrival of Jesus Christ John says, "the one coming after me is preferred before me " follow him.
Second day John 1:29-34 John says "Jesus is the Lamb of God", is baptized by the baptizer, and God speaks " this is my beloved son In whom I am well pleased" follow him
Third day John 35-42 two disciples are asked to follow Jesus, Andrew then brings his brother Simeon to follow Jesus.
Fourth Day and the lesson today Phillip beckons Nathaniel to follow Jesus.
1. Let's pay close attention to key words in the scripture used today.
Key words from Phillip "found", call, come, see 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, in verse 46 Phillip said, " come and see" vs 48 the word call Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’
Key words from Nathaniel you are 49Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’
Key words from Jesus " he found, he decided to go, he said follow, you will see, vs 43Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ He also said "You will see greater things than these." vs 50
2. I noticed three words are used frequently in this text, Follow, Come , and See. These words are invitational words, call messages,call passages,
3. First invitational word is "follow" .
I like the story of the young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
A. To follow is not a suggestion or a request but a command. Jesus says, follow me, It's not simply "believe in me," "think about me" or "consider me." It's "follow me."
B. Phillip hears this call first, what does Phillip do? Philip's first response is to go and get another follower The first person Philip tells is Nathanael
C. The great commission is a Command go therefore and make disciples. We are commanded to follow giving others direction to the way the truth and the life, remember no ones comes to the father except through Christ.
4. Second invitationAl word is Come Phillip feels strongly everyone needs an invite.
Philip will become a great evangelist because he sees everyone as simply needing an invitation and will spend most of his life on the road inviting others to "come and see" (Acts 8:4-40). Use short quotes from this text.
5. The final invitational word used in the text is "SEE" Jesus said, "You will see greater things than these" (v. 50). Nathanael was amazed that Jesus knew him, but if that in itself was amazing, Jesus told his new disciple that he hadn't seen anything yet.
A. Those who accepted his invitation witnessed healings, exorcisms, miracles, the transfiguration and, especially, resurrections of the dead.
In conclusion we are challenged to Follow, challenged to come , challenged to see,. We are challenged to be invitational in all our actions. Invite others to follow, to come, to see
