“Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.”
John 1:38-39a (NKJV)
You would think that since I do a lot of this Freedom Fighter writing stuff that I would have a “good” idea of the things that Jesus said but I really don’t have it all together in my little ole’ nutshell. I realize that I’ve been called to be a disciple of Jesus but what does that even really look like? I know a lot of you reading this today may have a few ideas but as far as my own, that just got challenged recently on a Saturday morning under the teaching of Tom Vietti of High Impact Ministries outta York PA. You can check out what he’s doing at www.highimpactministries.net/tomvietti/ but on this particular Saturday morning he’s pointing out that disciples should be discipling disciples.
I never really looked into the stages that the disciples of Jesus took to actually make the squad of twelve, but one thing was certain. When Jesus told the crowd that called themselves His disciples that unless they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, they would have no life in them. (John 6:53-58) I think ironic that by verse 66 the herd thins, but then turning to those He personally chose (Luke 6:12-13), He’ll ask, “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67) It’ll be Simon Peter who will acknowledge, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68b-69)
These guys had only started out as some curious converts who never heard anyone preach with such authority until they met up with Jesus. When Andrew wanted to know where Jesus was staying the reply was simple, “Come and see” then Andrew would spend the day with Jesus. Can you imagine that? Hanging out with Jesus Christ, Son of God, there at the moment of Creation, all because HE invited you to “Come and see.”
When Jesus was out to establish His “Talmidim” (disciples) He would be walking along the edge of the sea of Galilee, see Simon, Andrew, James and John, out in their boats fishing and mending nets, then He would call out to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17b) These men just dropped what they were doing and followed Him. How cool would it be for you to have Jesus call out to you, personally, and say “Come and follow.”
“Come and be with Me.” It was time for those that Jesus established to become equipped, “And He appointed twelve that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14) How cool would it be for you to be side by side with Jesus, preaching the Good News, to those who, just like you, never heard someone speak with such authority? Then having someone go… “Come and see!”
Because when these three stages have been completed Jesus will want you to “Continue with Me.” Maybe a better phrase is to abide, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:7-8) Wouldn’t you find it an honor to equip fellow laborers to become the servant-leaders Jesus calls us to be? If we just “Continue with Him.”
The cycle to be a disciple of Jesus is simple…listen, learn, live, repeat! John 3:17 tells us plainly that Jesus didn’t to condemn but to save. He loves us, He can use us, He can power and equip us to be a disciple, discipling disciples. Just remember, this kinda work doesn’t lead to comfortable Christianity either, so don’t look for it. Pain will be part of the process.
The question I got for you guys in closing today is, where would you be without the twelve disciples? Yeah, those guys were a bunch of misfits who jockeyed for position, more than likely talked smack behind each other’s backs, had their mom try to intercede on their behalf just because they were Jesus’ aunt or something and one of them would even betray Him, for money, only to find the revolution was that of the heart and not of the land.
Next time I’ll talk about some of those issues but until then let me finish with this from John’s Gospel… “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18) Alrighty folks, you’ve been warned. Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a husband, a father, has an education in Biblical doctrine and is a graduate of The Colony of Mercy. He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can email him at cphughes515@verizon.net
Think About This: “Our Christian life began not with our decision to follow Christ but with God’s call to us to do so.” – John Stott
The Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 14 | You can download our 2021 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
