JOHN 1:35 – 51
Bible Study Notes Rev. Betsy Perkins
Come and See
o Have you ever introduced someone to Jesus and suggested they might like to learn more about him? What happened? Is there anyone who you would still like to introduce to Jesus?
The First Disciples (1:35-51):
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 27:00-34:30
o Who are the “two disciples” in 1:33-40?
o What does Jesus ask the two men who are “following” him? What does he invite them to do?
Jesus asks these two disciples a deceptively simple question: “What are you looking for?” At one level, the question asks why they are walking after him. But fundamentally, this is the existential question asked of any potential disciple: What do you seek when you come to follow Jesus? Their response also works on two levels. Ostensibly, they want to know where Jesus is staying because it is getting late in the day and they too need a place to stay. But since the Greek word translated as “stay” is menô, a term that in Johannine vocabulary signifies a permanent remaining or abiding (e.g., 12:46; 14:17; 15:9), their question essentially asks where Jesus does permanently abide, reflecting the innate desire of any disciple is to be in Jesus’ presence always. The two disciples do not know this yet, but ultimately the place where Jesus resides is with his disciples, as he says in the Farewell Discourse (14:23; 15:4). In the meantime, Jesus invites them to “come and see,” an invitation that at one level means to go and look at where he is staying but at a deeper level is an invitation to approach Jesus with the openness to see him through the eyes of faith. Gilberto Ruiz, workingpreacher.org
o How does the disciples’ perception of who Jesus is change after they “come and see”?
o Simon is given a new name by Jesus: cephas(Aramaic) and petros(Greek) = rock. Is this because Simon is a solid, stable guy? If not, then why does Jesus give him this name?
o What kind of reputation does Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth seem to have? What prejudices do you have about people from different towns in this area? or different part of the world?
o Who is “found” in this passage? Who is doing the “finding”?
o What story in Genesis is Jesus alluding to when he is talking to Nathanael (especially in 1:51)? (read Genesis 28:10-19a) What did Jacob call the place where he had that dream?
Jesus is the decisive, ultimate connection between heaven and earth… God is now revealing himself to people not at Bethel but through Jesus, the new Bethel. NIV Study Notes
When you’re with Jesus, it is as though you’re in the house of God, the Temple itself, with God’s angels coming and going, and God’s own presence there beside you. N.T. Wright
In light of this passage and our discussion, what one truth about God and about yourself stand out as something to “take to heart” this week?
Are there steps you will take, by God’s grace, to more fully apply it to your life?
Resources: NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2015
N.T. Wright, John for Everyone, 2002
Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, 2018
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 2014
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