Tag Archive: Disciple-Making

Journey Through John, #10, John 1.35-43

March 31, 2020 0 Comments

Hi Friend,

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a part of the movement Jesus started. If you are new to this movement  you may have heard church people talk about discipleship. 

A disciple is literally a student-follower. When we talk about discipleship we are not talking about life in a classroom. Rather we are talking about a life in relationship with Jesus — in real time and in real life.

The text for today is John 1:35-43  — Pause now and read it.

35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”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

.40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42And 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).


This passage has all kinds of discipleship moves:
John has disciples; but he keeps pointing to Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples then leave John and follow Jesus.
Jesus turns around and sees them following and asks, “What do you want?”
The two disciples call him Rabbi and ask, “Where are you staying?”
Jesus says, “Come and you will see.”
Jesus spends the day with them.
One of the disciples, Andrew goes to find his brother, Simon.
Andrew announces the possibility that Jesus is the Messiah they have been expecting.
Andrew brings Simon to see Jesus.
Jesus looks at Simon and says, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated is Peter).

So many discipleship moves here. For the Church in the world we keep pointing to Jesus. We are not looking for disciples for ourselves. We are actually discipling people to Jesus. Jesus is The Disciple-Maker. I believe Jesus is still doing what he does in this text and we get to be a part of it.

Three Discipleship Moves we make with Jesus


Jesus keeps asking: “What do you want?”  — This is the first direct word we have from Jesus in the Gospel of John. A question: What do you want? Every disciple of Jesus must answer this question. Do I really want to be with Jesus. What are the desires and affections of my heart?

Jesus keeps spending time with people:  He invites those who wonder about Him and what He is up to in the world, to “Come and see.” — Every disciple of Jesus must settle into being with Jesus and being where Jesus is taking them in the world.

Jesus keeps changing lives: Every disciple of Jesus must be in relationship with the One who can change their character from shifting sand (this is what the name “Simon” portrays) to being a person with a rock-solid and well defined core (this is what the name “Cephas” or “Peter” portrays). 

As friends of Jesus we keep pointing people to him. Sometimes they must “leave us” to follow Jesus for themselves. We may experience some grief in that. But, we can rejoice because we are together in the Fellowship of the Lamb. That’s what its like to really be the church. We must always anticipate and rejoice in the allegiance of each disciple to Jesus. It’s this freedom in discipleship that calls the church back from being cultish, controlling and toxic. It’s this movement in discipleship that spreads the Gospel around the world and in each generation.


Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, We come to the fellowship of Jesus the Lamb by your invitation. Thank you for this grace. Transform our lives and make us solid people who are able to join you in the life-changing movement of redemption and love. We want to be with you! Grant us the courage and the capacity that John the Baptist had to treat people as friends who belong to Jesus.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Take time now to write your own prayer and response to God from this text.

Our next reading will be from John 1:43-51.

Change, Discipleship, Journey Through John's Gospel

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You thought it was irreducible

February 2, 2017 0 Comments

Complexity.

Once upon a time you came to the point where you were sure a matter could not be reduced or simplified any further. But then a child showed up with a question and you had to explain it to them —

God

Taxes

Government

Race

Death —

and then you were at a loss for words.

Good news. Explanation does not have to abandon mystery. But explanation and teaching must lay a foundation for complexity that grants the reader and interpreter certain sophistication. Those foundations are often simple — complexity is reduced. But the building and the living of life on that foundation creates complexity. An archway built on a foundation is both simple and complex. For learners, the ability to hold what seem to be opposite or opposing thoughts in tension requires maturity. Not just maturity of age, but maturity of thought and emotion in relationship to the subject.

For example, Christians, explaining how they handle the Old Testament have to negotiate many complexities. However, we can take hold of explanations that allow us to synthesize the history, the prayers, and sometimes terrible beauties of the text even as we move toward the revelation of Jesus Christ. These simplified pictures (like the one below) create a framework for theological work and for adding other disciplines such as archeology, history, textual analysis and sociology to our readings of the text. The task of building on foundations is taken up not as an end in and of itself, but as a step in the process of becoming like Christ and participating in His mission.

 

Change

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