Episode 4: Glorious King (1:35-51)
‘Come and see’ is the big theme in our next part of John’s gospel, as Jesus’ identity as the glorious King is revealed…
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- List out the names given to Jesus in this passage - which ones are familiar & which ones are less familiar? Is there one you could dwell more on this coming week?
- Read Genesis 28. How does it grow your understanding of Jesus’ claim at the end of this passage?
- How does John chapter 1 grow our confidence in Jesus’ identity?
- How does it prompt us to pray for ourselves, and unbelievers?
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This episode is sponsored by 10ofthose.com. 10ofthose.com hand pick the best Christian books that point to Jesus and sell them at discounted prices. The more you buy the cheaper they get! Check them out at 10ofthose.com.
10ofThose operates in both the UK and the USA.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: This podcast is sponsored by 10ofthose.com. 10ofthose.com handpick the best Christian books that point to Jesus and sell them at discounted prices. I don’t know if you've ever thought about asking someone who is not yet a believer to open up the Bible with you. It can be intimidating and something that is out of our comfort zone. 10ofthose do a great resource called The Word one to one that makes it really easy to open up John's Gospel with someone who maybe hasn't ever read the Bible for themselves. It comes in little booklets that take you through John's Gospel. You have the text, you have questions, but wonderfully, you have the answer as well. So the person you're reading with then don’t have to feel like they're being tested as you ask questions about the passage, but you're having a discussion about what God's Word says about Jesus. I found it brilliantly helpful as I've gone through it with various friends. I'd highly recommend it. Grab a copy at 10ofthose.com.
Sarah: Welcome to two sisters in the cup of tea My name is Sarah and I live in the UK. And this is my sister Felicity and she lives in the US. Hi, Felicity.
Felicity: Hi, Sarah. Hi, everyone.
Sarah: Any interesting biscuits today?
Felicity: Well, yeah, I mean, I'm just gradually working my way through my stock that I got from England back in November. Today is a fruity shortcake, which I'm fairly sure Americans will have a different picture in their head to English people.
Sarah: In my head, it's like a short bread biscuit with raisins in which I don't know whether that sounds nice or not.
Felicity: Yeah, but it's kind of skinny, I think. You think shortbread or shortcake and you think kind of fat with raisins, but it's skinny, it's crunchy, it's got a little crunchy sugar topping on the genuinely.
Sarah: That was one of your choices to bring back?
Felicity: Well, yes, I think it's a classic that when I was a teacher, it was always on the tray of biscuits that you got a break.
Sarah: That's because no one wants them.
Felicity: Well, maybe, but I'm finding it quite enjoyable. So what about you? Have you got something better for that?
Sarah: I've got a Snowy finger, otherwise known as a limited edition chocolate finger, covered in white and milk chocolate.
Felicity: White and milk like stripy?
Sarah: Yes. White on top, chocolate on the bottom, milk chocolate on the bottom. The challenge with the chocolate single is that you can never just eat one, though, is there? I know. You know.
Felicity: Yeah. This is definitely something that they don't have in America, which I'm sure people might be struggling to just quite imagine what it is. It's about the length of the finger. Chocolate covered biscuit. Perfect for dipping in teeth.
Sarah: Yeah, that's it. Right, so today's package, we're in chapter one again before we get there. Felicity, today there's a big theme on kind of come and see about who this Jesus is, and I just wonder whether you can tell us what it looked like for you as you came to know Jesus for yourself. I know that you had a friend who said come and see. What was that experience like for you?
Felicity: Yeah, I turned up at university and I thought I kind of knew who Jesus was. And then I had this friend, as you say, who she was very much looking at Jesus. Her life was orientated around the Jesus that she knew. And that was an unusual thing to me, surprising thing to me. And it made me think she knows a different Jesus to who I've got in my head. And she said basically over the course of a couple of years she kept on basically pointing to Jesus not in kind of big fat, you know, whacking me with the Bible kind of way, but just gently showing me Jesus by the way she lived and the way she spoke and the way she treated me. And actually she then said after many conversations and me asking questions in opportune moments, then she said well why don't we actually open up the Bible and have a look and we read Mark's Gospel part of it together. And I think it was very much a come and see. And I really was surprised by who Jesus was as I out of saw him in the pages of Mark's Gospel. And so yes, over the course of lots of coming and seeing, I eventually decided that I would follow this Jesus that I've seen in the word many many years.
Sarah: So great. Never get old hearing that. So amazing, so cool. Alright, why don't you read for us? We're in chapter one, verse 35 to the end of the chapter today.
Felicity: Absolutely. The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by he said look, the Lamb of God. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked what do you want? They said a Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? 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. Andrew Simon, Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him we found the Messiah, that is the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said you are Simon, son of John. You'll be called Seafast, which when translated is Peter. The next day Jesus decided to leave the Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him follow me Philip. Like Andrew and Peter was from the town of Beth's Aida. Philip found Nathaniel and told him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote jesus of Nazareth. The son of Joseph, nazareth. Can anything good come from there? Nathaniel asked. Come and see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him here truly as an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. How do you know me? Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the victory before Philip called you. Then Nathaniel declared, rabbi, you Are The Son Of God. You are the King of Israel. Jesus said, you believe because I told you. I saw you under the victory. You will see greater things than that. He then added, very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angel of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.
Sarah: Thank you. Well, I don't know about you, but if I just kind of hear that again, I'm just struck with all the different titles we are given for the Lord Jesus today. So we've got the Lamb of God. That kind of came last week with John introducing us to who Jesus was. We've got Rabbi, we've got Messiah Christ, the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and who the prophets also wrote, we've got the Son of God, the King of Israel, and the Son of man. I mean.
Felicity: Rapid fire list. I feel like it's just like I know it's like if you had any doubt no. You thought, okay, Messiah was enough? No, no, no. Son of God, the one that everyone was talking about. I love that about John seems to be I think you said it last time, actually, that he's sort of lining up the witness statements and we get so many different voices affirming who Jesus is. And it's not just a kind of throwaway thing, is it? Like messiah. The word messiah. God's king. Like Christ god's King. The King of Israel. There's so much in these titles. And for the Jewish people at the time, it would have just been mindblowing even more, wouldn't it? Because they've been waiting for the Messiah for literally centuries.
Sarah: Yeah. And if we remember, this was a dark period of history, wasn't it? They hadn't heard from the Lord for over 400 years. There was nothing. You know, there'd been nothing. And yet these faithful Jews are still waiting, which I think is amazing, isn't it? These titles are so laden, aren't they, with significance? And again, as we're saying last week, with the whole of the Old Testament being imaged in this Lamb of God moment, we then get the same with God's King and the Son of God and the Son of man, which is a massive title in the Old Testament.
Felicity: I love how quickly Andrew and Simon they say it, don't they? Like they seem to come to these conclusions really quite quickly, which makes me think, well, firstly, they must really trust John, who they've been following up until this point, but also just how much evidence there must be just through encountering Jesus just through seeing him, that kind of come and see thing. Oh, yeah, come and see and come to this conclusion. And it's amazing how they just follow.
Sarah: It, act on it.
Felicity: Yeah.
Sarah: It's not just come and see it come and see and follow and then tell others because their immediate response is, well, I'm going to tell my brother or I'm going to tell my friend, I'm going to go and tell someone else. This is groundbreaking, what I'm just witnessing here. And I think that yeah, it's extraordinary, isn't it? And as you say, this isn't just one person saying this. This is a number of different people coming to a realization of, whoa, this is it, he's the guy. And there's kind of surprise that he's come out of Nazareth, who comes out of Nazareth like it's a kind of backwater no one comes from there is what Nathaniel is saying, isn't he? And then he's absolutely blown away when he meets him.
Felicity: I know. It's an interesting exchange though, isn't it, when Jesus, he has not apparently met Nathaniel and yet he knows about Nathaniel, he blows Nathaniel away. But it kind of reminds me of back in the prologue when he says john says, well, Jesus, he knew what the world was like and he knew that they were rejecting him. And we hear in the next chapter as well that Jesus knew the people who he was coming to and in that there's almost a kind of subtle authority that we have yet to see in its fullness here. It's just being hinted at, which makes you just all the more kind of like, oh, this guy, he really is who these people are.
Sarah: Yeah. And then we've got this massive thing that Jesus says at the end, trustee. So he says you believe. Because I told you I saw you under the victory. You'll see greater things than that. And then he added very truly, I tell you, which in John's gospel means this is important, listen up. You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man. And we go to a footnote there and it gives us a link to Genesis, chapter 28, verse twelve. Can you tell us a little bit about that connection that he's making for us?
Felicity: So the Genesis chapter is very much it's Jacob who is having a dream, isn't he? Jacob s a bit of a scoundrel. He's not really the glowing kind of representative, but God has chosen him and his descendants. And at this point we have Jacob having a dream and the sun and there's a kind of ladders going up and down between where he is and heaven. So it's kind of on. Jacob seems to be this kind of access to heaven. And so as Jesus says it, here again, we have a huge weight of Old Testament promise being fulfilled in Jesus and it's greater than what was being said to Jacob. So with Jacob, it was like, through you there's going to be land, there's going to be people, there's going to be all these promises, but it's through you, it's through your descendants, it's what I'm going to do. And here she's saying, I am the means by which all of that happens. I am the opening between heaven, isn't it? Isn't that kind of what's going on?
Sarah: Yeah, he's saying he's the stairway, basically, like he's that ladder on me, so it's essentially on the Son of man. So I'm the way that this is going to happen, I'm the way that God's people are going to be reunited. I'm the way she says that later in the gospel doesn't I am the.
Felicity: Way.
Sarah: I am the means by which so what is it? Land, people and blessing, all of that will be fulfilled in the new creation. People across the nations and blessing. Yeah, sin of the world and taken away again. We have these phrases that kind of flung out there and then you kind of bring the Old Testament kind of connection into it and you're like, whoa, this just adds this huge weight of significance to what's been said. And Jesus is basically saying to him, and you're like, you're going to see massive things like come and see, come, keep coming and seeing, because this is just the start.
Felicity: I think that's what's really struck me this week as I've been dwelling on it is as he says, come and see. What he is saying is, come and see the things of God, like what I am doing. And what I'm going to show you and where this all ends up is of heaven. This is an enormous invitation, isn't it? And I think that's been a real challenge to my heart, actually, in a sense of, am I really believing that Jesus is going to give me those things, show me those things that through Jesus I have access to the God who created the universe? But also, is that desirable to me? Like, am I wanting to see the things of God or am I a bit distracted by just all the little things that are so much smaller, but which take up our gaze, don't they? I don't know. Having as I've said a number of times with John's Gospel, I feel like I have read these verses before, but it's not never quite struck me in this way. I think, as you were saying, as you join the dots and the full weight of that Old Testament reference comes in, the enormity of who Jesus is, just really escalates.
Sarah: Yeah. And I think we're left at the end of this chapter. I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm left going, well, we'll prove it. Not in a kind of testing way, but I feel like, OK, we've had this massive introduction to who Jesus is and we feel like we're just waiting for him to kind of show us the works. That he's just saying to Nathan, you're like, you're going to see a big person and we just you can tantalizingly say, okay, let's see it.
Felicity: And I think we're primed, aren't we? Like this first chapter kind of primes us to be expectant as we watch Jesus over the coming chapters. We're expecting to see the things of God and I think, as you say, that coming and seeing, that is a kind of repeated thing we need to.
Sarah: Be doing, isn't it?
Felicity: We need to be constantly coming and seeing, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. And I'm probably just dwelling a bit on these titles, on these names, on how he's described, I wonder as we list them and as we kind of think about them. And that helps to widen those expectations. Even just going back to verse 45, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote jesus, Nazareth, the son of Joseph, and even just that kind of almost throw away, isn't it? Because it's not kind of a big title like the Messiah, but actually all that Moses was talking about, that's the first part of the Bible basically, isn't it? And then all that the prophets were talking about, that's like another huge third of the Bible and they're all talking about Jesus. And so the more we kind of get that, the bigger Jesus gets in our hearts and in our view.
Sarah: And then I think as you do that, it then prompts you and kind of pushes you towards wanting to say to others, come and see, come and see who this is. And yeah, I'm wanting to pray more, Lord. My prayer this week has been, Lord, show me someone who's hungry to know who this God is, who this man is. And I'm a long way back, like, I'm only just getting to know people here, so that will probably be a long way coming, but I want to open this up with someone and for them to go, wow.
Felicity: And I think you're right, the more we're convinced of that, the more confidence we have in Him, don't we? So we're like all the more like, you got to see this. Jesus is totally worth your time and your gaze in that way. It is challenging as well on the following front, isn't it? On the kind of action. It's not just come and see and just kind of sit there and enjoy that there is definitely a call to actively pursue Him as well as see Him.
Sarah: Yeah, yeah.
Felicity: What else to say about that apart from get going?
Sarah: Yes, it is a challenge, isn't it? And it's a challenge to keep following Jesus. But actually, we go back to the beginning of chapter one. Grace upon grace has been given and we're children of God by simply receiving what he's given us. So it's not a striving and thinking, I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough. In some ways, we come back to what we've already seen in this chapter. Without the light, we're just stuck in the darkness. Without his gift of grace, we're nowhere. And so we receive the gift, and we trust Him to help us follow Him. When it's hard, when it's easy, when it's everything in between. And that's what it comes down to, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah. That's so helpful. A good temper to my God. Do something. I'm always thinking. Just pause and think and look and pray and pray.
Sarah: Why don't you pray?
Felicity: All right. Heavenly Father, we praise you so much for showing us Jesus.
Sarah: Thank you.
Felicity: That as we come and see, so we see the Messiah, so our view of who he is is enlarged so much. And of course, as we follow Him, as we keep coming and seeing, we will see the things of God. What an amazing thing to behold. And, Father, we pray that you would please, by Your grace, would you reveal to us more and more who Jesus is?
Sarah: Please? Ruby.
Felicity: Those who are eager to come and see again and again, to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, and as we do, would we be those who are eager to follow Him. We praise you that it is a gift. And pray that you would help us to receive that gift, to look to Jesus, to see that light again and again for Your glory. Amen.
Sarah: Amen.
Felicity: Well, I think that is what you were saying just a few minutes ago. That kind of prayer, to be able to open this up with someone else.
Sarah: That is an ongoing it's an ongoing prayer, isn't it? The word one to one resource is genuinely brilliant, and we've both used it's really worth looking at. If you've got a friend who you think might be interested in opening up the Bible, grab a copy of that resource and just have a look through it. It's good. It's helpful.
Felicity: They actually have a website where you can access it for free to have a look, check it out, see how it works. Just the word one to one. I think if you just Google word one to one okay. I've been enjoying the freaky shortcake, actually.
Sarah: I'm glad to hear that. We need to go, so let's start rambling, and we'll see you next week.
Felicity: See you next week.
Sarah: Bye.
Felicity: Bye.
Sarah: Bye.
Felicity: Thanks for listening to this episode. It's sponsored by Tenobos.com. Check them out for great discounted resources that point to Jesus. You.
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