Who Are you following
John 1:35-51
Main Idea: Following Jesus means knowing him, being known by him, and making him known.
I. Know Jesus (1:35-39)
Followers of Jesus rightly recognize who Jesus is.
“Following Jesus is not heroic. We follow him not the way David’s mighty men followed him to serve him and protect him as their revered sovereign. No. We follow him the way sheep follow the shepherd—because we need to be protected. We need to have our sins forgiven. We are weak, and he is strong. We are foolish, and he is wise. We are hungry, and he is bread. We are thirsty, and he is living water.”
~ John Piper, “We Have Found the Messiah”
II. Be Known by Jesus (1:40-49)
Followers of Jesus find freedom in being fully known by him.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
"Christ’s eye was upon Nathanael when he thought himself most alone. He was 'under the fig tree,' perhaps in prayer, perhaps in meditation, perhaps in some secret conflict of soul. But wherever he was, the Eye that never slumbers nor sleeps was fixed upon him in love."
~ J.C. Ryle
Psalm 139:1-4: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”
III. Make Jesus Known (1:40–42, 45, 50-51)
Followers of Jesus are compelled to share this good news with others.
Romans 10:14–17: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
“Faith cannot be idle, for when Christ truly reveals himself to us, he at the same time appoints us witnesses of his grace.” ~ John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion
