January 11th, 2023
by Jon Welch
by Jon Welch
Day 8- The first call
After more than forty days in the wilderness, Jesus comes through the time of temptation and marks on a mission to start making disciples. He begins by calling people to “come and see”, to come and investigate the facts of who He is. He then opens their eyes to the truth that He is the promised Messiah they have been waiting for. As they believe, He changes His message to “Follow Me”. Two calls- one to those who have not yet believed and one to those who believe. Notice on the map where Jesus is. He returns to Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan, where John had been baptizing people (John 1:28). There were several towns called Bethany in Jesus’ day. One was a few miles outside of Jerusalem, home to Mary and Martha, who we will meet later and another was on the other side of the Jordan River. IT is at the latter Bethany that Jesus makes these first two calls, “Come and See” and “follow me”. Dive into the story and be on the lookout for words that reveal Jesus’ humanity and deity!
Read John 1:19-51
After having His identity confirmed by God the Father and then facing the enemy who tried to call into doubt the Word of the Father, Jesus returns to call His first followers. The first call is a simple one, one we have discussed several times at LCC, “Come and see”. John and Andrew decided to check out Jesus and hear what He had to say. They were still “unbelievers”- but they were searching! They follow Him home and spent the evening getting to know Him. I wish I knew what Jesus said to these guys... I really do. We can only guess...
Turn back to Luke 24:27,32,44 and you will see an example of what they could have talked about!
Regardless of what was said, it is clear that after spending some time with Jesus, these two young men were convinced of the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. We can see this in their enthusiastic acceptance of Jesus’ message. Andrew runs to find his brother Peter and says, “we have found the Messiah’” (John 1:41). Andrew then brought his brother to meet Jesus. What a simple plan! Its all about challenging people to come and see who Jesus is. We don't have to argue them into the Kingdom; we can just call them to come and check out Jesus. Some will come and see, others will not. To those who come, we simply explain who Jesus is in words that they will understand. Using the Word of God, we share what God has said about Jesus and challenge them to confront the truth. Thats our job- to take a step of faith and believe that God will open their minds to understand the Scriptures. Check it out in Luke 24:45. At the end of the day, we can call people to “come and see”; we can explain clearly form Scripture who Jesus is, but we are ultimately dependent on God to open their minds to the truth and move them to accept Jesus. In this biographical account, four people give a testimony of who Jesus is: John the Baptist: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”(John 1:29); Jesus, “come and you will see” (John 1:39); Andrew “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41) and Philip: “We have found the one Moses wrote about tin the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph…Come and See” (John 1:45-46)
The third root that must be established in our lives is telling others the truth of Jesus
Its interesting how quickly these new followers picked up on Jesus’ simple strategy of multiplication. Jesus challenged them to "come and see" and Andrew and Philip did the same. Andrew called Peter his brother and Philip called his friend Nathanael. The call to follow is the first call that we received and the first call we give those with whom we come in contact with. “Come check out Jesus. Come take a look at the claims of Jesus." That is our job. Simply call people to come and see. Not too hard, is it?
Who do you know in your life that needs to know that Jesus is the Messiah, the savior of the world? Write their name down: __________________________
Take a moment and pray for them. Today, your assignment is to contact them, write them or get together for a meal and invite them to “come and see”. Take a moment and write down your challenge to them. How will you say, “ome and see” in a language that they will understand?
Now go and call someone to “come and see” and observe how exciting it is to walk through life calling people to check out Jesus!
Read John 1:19-51
After having His identity confirmed by God the Father and then facing the enemy who tried to call into doubt the Word of the Father, Jesus returns to call His first followers. The first call is a simple one, one we have discussed several times at LCC, “Come and see”. John and Andrew decided to check out Jesus and hear what He had to say. They were still “unbelievers”- but they were searching! They follow Him home and spent the evening getting to know Him. I wish I knew what Jesus said to these guys... I really do. We can only guess...
Turn back to Luke 24:27,32,44 and you will see an example of what they could have talked about!
Regardless of what was said, it is clear that after spending some time with Jesus, these two young men were convinced of the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. We can see this in their enthusiastic acceptance of Jesus’ message. Andrew runs to find his brother Peter and says, “we have found the Messiah’” (John 1:41). Andrew then brought his brother to meet Jesus. What a simple plan! Its all about challenging people to come and see who Jesus is. We don't have to argue them into the Kingdom; we can just call them to come and check out Jesus. Some will come and see, others will not. To those who come, we simply explain who Jesus is in words that they will understand. Using the Word of God, we share what God has said about Jesus and challenge them to confront the truth. Thats our job- to take a step of faith and believe that God will open their minds to understand the Scriptures. Check it out in Luke 24:45. At the end of the day, we can call people to “come and see”; we can explain clearly form Scripture who Jesus is, but we are ultimately dependent on God to open their minds to the truth and move them to accept Jesus. In this biographical account, four people give a testimony of who Jesus is: John the Baptist: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”(John 1:29); Jesus, “come and you will see” (John 1:39); Andrew “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41) and Philip: “We have found the one Moses wrote about tin the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph…Come and See” (John 1:45-46)
The third root that must be established in our lives is telling others the truth of Jesus
Its interesting how quickly these new followers picked up on Jesus’ simple strategy of multiplication. Jesus challenged them to "come and see" and Andrew and Philip did the same. Andrew called Peter his brother and Philip called his friend Nathanael. The call to follow is the first call that we received and the first call we give those with whom we come in contact with. “Come check out Jesus. Come take a look at the claims of Jesus." That is our job. Simply call people to come and see. Not too hard, is it?
Who do you know in your life that needs to know that Jesus is the Messiah, the savior of the world? Write their name down: __________________________
Take a moment and pray for them. Today, your assignment is to contact them, write them or get together for a meal and invite them to “come and see”. Take a moment and write down your challenge to them. How will you say, “ome and see” in a language that they will understand?
Now go and call someone to “come and see” and observe how exciting it is to walk through life calling people to check out Jesus!
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5 Comments
Good Morning!! Oh this is good! We should be on the rooftops shouting come and see. We should be that EXCITED about Jesus and what he has done for us. We often take it for granted.
Most Christians today keep their “Christian” life separate from the rest of their life. So, it’s really hard to live two separate lives but sometime or another one of them will fall and you have to decide which is the best option, the world or Jesus?
Then once you start living that holy life people want to come and see what you been doing because you done got the light glowing in you. You won’t even have to ask sometimes, people start asking you where you go to church or what’s the service times. Hallelujah!!!!
I know I am crazy, people especially for Jesus.
I love what you said, Emily about not keeping the faith part of our life separate from other parts. If Jesus is in us, He should be oozing out of us onto others. It's not as much what we have the capability to do, but all the more what He does through us.
Great devotion today!
I am guilty of not taking every opportunity that I have to share Jesus with others. I expect people to see something different in me and ask… that just doesn’t happen often. Yes, people should see something is different about us, but we should be willing to tell them what it is before they even ask! I definitely need to work on that! I need to say “come and see” more often than I do!
Luke 24:32 has always been a scripture that stood out to me. Often I've asked that of myself..."hasn't my heart burned within me for Your presence Lord?"
I'm sure each disciple He called immediately felt that "burning" within their soul, and had to go and follow and learn who this man Jesus was! Once they spent a few hours, probably even minutes in His presence they were undone.
I believe it can be the same for us. We may not be in the "physical" presence of Jesus like the disciples were..but we have been sent The Helper, the Holy Spirit who longs to walk with us daily.
Sometimes I've often missed so many opportunities to share the love of Jesus because I failed to welcome Him in at the start of my day. When I make Him and His Word the first priority at the beginning of my day..well it changes everything! It seems as though He will just place people in your path at times that need to hear about His saving grace and love. I've experienced this firsthand, and really there is nothing else in this world that can fill you up to overflow! I've always found that when we are willing and available to share, we receive as much as the person we've shared with! May we remember just how hungry those disciples were to tell others who they found. May that light that was illuminated around them..illuminate us the same! Great reading today!❤️
Maybe my desire to share "Come and See" lacks because of what I Truly believe what He has really done in my life and my dependence and walk with Him. I sometimes think I dont really live what I say I Believe and that throws water on my desire to share my weak faith. And I openly repent of my weakness, The Lord has sent me restore my faith strengthen my feeble knees, make me a messenger with the fire I used to carry, forgive me for my lack of concern for my neighbors, make my desires your desires my mission your mission.