John 1:35-51 – Come and See
Let’s read our passage tonight.
I’ve been told about a grand convention of lawyers, held in a huge stadium. The host of the show in the stadium says "We are all here today to prove to the world that lawyers are not stupid. Can I have a volunteer?" One lawyer steps up. The host says to him "What is 15 plus 15?" After 15 or 20 seconds he says "Eighteen."
Obviously everyone is a little disappointed. Then 80,000 lawyers start cheering "Give him another chance, give him another chance." The host says "Well since we’ve gone to the trouble of getting 80,000 of you here and the world wide press, I guess we can give him another chance."
So he says, "What is 5 plus 5?" After nearly 30 seconds he eventually says "Ninety?" The host sighs - everyone is crestfallen and the lawyers starts crying and 80,000 accountants start yelling, "Give him another chance, give him another chance."
The host, unsure whether or not he is doing more harm than damage, eventually says "OK! One more chance. What is 2 plus 2?"
The lawyer closes his eyes and after a whole minute eventually says "Four."
Around the stadium 80,000 lawyers start yelling, "Give him another chance, give him another chance."
Tonight we are looking at Jesus’ first disciples – Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. We’re going to look at what He said to them, and hopefully that will give us a glimpse into what He may say to us. They were a pretty rag-tag bunch, but Jesus obviously saw something in them worth working on. Like the lawyers, Jesus kept fighting for them to have another chance.
Right there in v39, Jesus said, “Come, and you will see.” They asked the question, ‘Where are you going?” They were following Jesus, and Jesus asked them what they wanted. What they said was, “Where are you going?” What they were really asking was, “Where are you taking us? Where are you leading us? If we follow you, where are we going to end up?” And Jesus simply said, “Come and you will see.”
He wasn’t really answering their question in the way they wanted. He wasn’t really giving them directions. He wasn’t telling them everything they would do and everywhere they would go. He just said, “Just follow me, and you will find out.”
You see, Jesus knew what they did not. He knew where He was going. He knew what he would be doing for the next 3 years. And He knew how they would. He knew exactly what was going on. He could see what they could not yet see, and He invited them along to see it too.
The disciples’ whole journey was one eye-opening after another. Jesus continually amazed them at what He knew, what He did, and what He said. The disciples would eventually see what He was doing and where He was going. All they had to do was follow Him.
Now, Andrew was one of those 1st followers. The 1st thing Andrew did was run and tell his brother, a guy you have heard of, Simon Peter, about this Jesus fellow. And these were Jesus’ words to Peter: "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas is the Aramaic word for Rock. Peter is the Greek word for Rock. Now, there is some debate as to what the name Simon means. I have heard it means Reed. I cannot verify that.
Now, what is significant is that Simon was a common name, whereas Cephas was not a name at all. It was more of a title, a description, than an actual name. Jesus was saying, perhaps, you are destined to become more than you are now. I see what you are, I see who you are, but I see what you will be. I see the person you will be as you follow me. And perhaps, Jesus was saying, Come and follow me, and you will see it too.
Jesus saw the potential in Simon that perhaps Simon himself did not see. Jesus was speaking prophetically about the man Simon would someday be. And I’ll tell you, Jesus knows who you will be, too. Jesus knows what is inside you. Jesus knows who you can be, and who you will be. Jesus sees more potential in you than you see in yourself.
A.W. Tozer, a wonderful devotional writer said this: “The widest thing in the universe is not space; it is the potential capacity of the human heart. Being made in the image of God, it is capable of almost unlimited extension in all directions. And one of the world’s greatest tragedies is that we allow our hearts to shrink until there is room in them for little besides ourselves.”
When we get stuck in thinking that all we will ever be is who we are right now, we sell ourselves short. Now, I’m not saying it’s not hard to visualize something better. I’m saying, that there is a future in store for each of us that we really don’t see yet. There are places of greater love and service and we don’t know yet. There are places in our hearts that we have closed out for so long that one day Jesus will open and let in the light and we will be freer than we have been in a long time. And Jesus would say to us, Come and see. Follow me and find out who you were meant to be.
The passage continues with the story of Nathanael. Now, this guy was not perfect. He had some sort of prejudice. Maybe it went only as far as a rivalry between Doaktown and Boiestown – that is, not really serious, but real nonetheless. Nate did not let this prejudice or attitude keep him from going to see Jesus. In fact, he was convinced by almost the same words that Jesus had used: “Come and see.” Nate was invited by the prospect of seeing something useful or amusing.
And Jesus promised he would see more than that – v47-51. Jesus promised Nate would see greater things than someone who knows what’s going on. In fact, Jesus knows the heart. Jesus sees what goes on inside. Jesus sees what you think and feel. Jesus promises that we will see ourselves better than we ever did, if we would just follow Him to where He leads us.
You see, Jesus is not limited by fears and doubts, as long as we keep pressing on to follow Him anyway. These things can be serious, but Jesus wants to lead us past them. Again, though, we are limited by what we cannot see and what we cannot know.
These are real statements made by the so-called experts over the years, which when looking back have been proven wrong badly. (NOTE: These and many more can be found at http://www.permanent.com/quotes.htm)
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC, in 1977 said, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
The President of Decca Records, rejecting The Beatles after an audition in 1962, said "We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out anyway."
IBM, to the eventual founders of Xerox, saying the photocopier had no market large enough to justify production, in1959 said, "The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most."
Nikita Kruschev, Soviet Premier, predicting Soviet communism will win over U.S. capitalism, in 1958 said, "We will bury you."
Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal of the UK, said in 1957, "Space travel is bunk." Two weeks later, Sputnik orbited the Earth.
Jim Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, said to a young man in 1954, "You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck." At the time, firing Elvis Presley seemed like a good idea.
Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts, said in 1948, "Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan."
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in 1939, "Atomic energy might be as good as our present-day explosives, but it is unlikely to produce anything very much more dangerous."
H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, maker of silent movies, said in 1927, "Who the heck wants to hear actors talk?"
Tris Speaker, baseball expert, was talking about Babe Ruth in 1919 when he said, "Taking the best left-handed pitcher in baseball and converting him into a right fielder is one of the dumbest things I ever heard."
The January 2, 1909 edition of Scientific American contained these words: "That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S. President, after a demonstration of Alexander Bell’s telephone in 1872, said, "It’s a great invention but who would want to use it anyway?"
And finally, Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer, made a speech to the Aero Club of France in 1908. He said, "I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years. Two years later we ourselves made flights. This demonstration of my impotence as a prophet gave me such a shock that ever since I have distrusted myself and avoided all predictions."
You see, we cannot see what’s inside a person. We don’t even know what we ourselves are thinking and hoping and praying. We are limited to only what we can see with our own eyes. But Jesus sees more. He sees beyond our cynical attitudes and sees our hearts. He sees beyond our doubts and sees our faith. He sees beyond our fears and sees our hopes. Likewise, He sees behind our criticism and sees our fears. He sees beyond our smiles and sees our hurts. He sees beyond our harsh words and sees our wounded hearts inside.
And to these things Jesus says, “Come and see.” Jesus would say, Come and let me show you who you are. You can’t really be healed until you know what’s wrong. I can’t heal you until you know where your aches are.
Now, I must admit, this is painful. People don’t really like to know where their sins are. James 1 says, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” He forgets because he wants to. He forgets because it’s so uncomfortable or painful to look too long at his own failures and weaknesses and mistakes.
That’s why Isaiah 1:18-19 says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” We reason together so that God can show us where we hurt and need healing. We reason together so that He can point out where we need forgiveness, which is the purpose of it all. And then, if we are willing, and if we obey, He will give us the best He offers.
That’s what “come and see” means. It’s about seeing what God sees in us and reaching for it, like the progress from Simon to Peter. It’s about seeing our own failures and working together with God to be healed from them. That’s “come and see”.
Bernard Shaw, shortly before he died, was asked by a reporter, “If you could live your life over and be anybody you’ve know, or any person from history, who would you be?”
“I would choose,” replied Shaw, “to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was.” That’s potential. That’s what Jesus offers us: help to become the person God sees we can be.
