Who Were The First Followers Of Jesus? Series

Who Were The First Followers Of Jesus?

John 1:35-51

Most of you know my story how in 1993, I sold everything, gave up my job, and went to Russia as a missionary to follow Jesus. I lived in a residential area in the southeast part of Saint Petersburg. There were around 100,000 people in this one mile long area. It had twelve story apartment buildings.

Once we were settled in, I found an interpreter and then made posters saying, “if you want to find out about the Bible come hear American pastor Ray Geide on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at the local community center.” The first evening two mothers showed up. The second evening they brought their children and others came. Marina and Nadia came that second evening. Marina and Nadia continued to attend our meetings for some time, the others didn’t. Marina and Nadia were my first followers. I would later train Nadia’s brother, Sergei, to be the pastor. This is much like what happened with Jesus.

Our story in the book of John this week shows us Jesus gathering His first followers. I have titled this sermon, Who Were the First Followers of Jesus. Do you know who they were? There were five of them. It begins with two disciples.

1. Two Disciples

John 1:35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.

John 1:36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

John 1:37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

John 1:38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

John 1:39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

So John the Baptist sees Jesus. This is probably the next day after he baptized Jesus. He tells two of his disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God.” We don't know if John told them to follow Jesus or not. It doesn't say that he did. But they go and walk behind Jesus. A little creepy. They are stalking Jesus. Jesus turns around and sees them behind him. He says, “What do you want?” They ask, “Where are you staying?” Jesus says, “Come and see.”

This probably was at the Jordan River somewhere. There were a lot of people there. Some probably slept outside under the stars. Others may have stayed with people who had houses around there. There were no Holiday Inns or Motel 6s. We don't know where Jesus was staying. But these two disciples most likely stayed with Jesus that night.

This event led to a third follower, Peter.

2. Peter

John 1:40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.

John 1:41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Here we are told who one of the two disciples was, the two disciples in point 1. It was Andrew, Peter's brother. Many think that the other disciple was the author of this book, the apostle John. That is not the John previously mentioned here. He was John the Baptist. They are two different people, John the Baptist and John the Apostle.

Andrew went and found his brother. He told him that they had found the Messiah. How did he know that Jesus was the messiah? We don't know. Most likely they had been following John the Baptist because they saw him as the predecessor of the Messiah. So when John said that Jesus is the Lamb of God, they understood that to mean that He also is the Messiah.

Not only did Andrew tell his brother about Jesus, he also brought him to Jesus.

Jesus calls Peter Cephas which is Hebrew for Peter. Peter is Greek for Rock. So Jesus was calling Peter Rocky. “You will be called Rocky” or “the Rock.”

The next follower is Philip.

3. Philip

John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

This is the next day after Peter came to Jesus. Evidently Jesus had already met Philip before because now He finds Philip and tells him to follow Him as He goes to Galilee. He got a personal invitation from Jesus.

The last follower is Nathanael.

4. Nathanael

John 1:44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.