John 1:35-39
If you were a young Christian in the 1990s, you may have seen, or you may even have worn, a wrist band with the letters “WWJD.” It’s an acronym for the question, “What would Jesus do?” For the nerds among us, the phrase is drawn from the subtitle of a novel by Charles Sheldon titled In His Steps, published in 1896.[1]
For the historical nerds, the phrase “What would Jesus do” can also be traced to the great medieval theologian Thomas à Kempis and his book, written between 1418 and 1427, titled, The Imitation of Christ. And for the theological nerds among us, that medieval work was in part inspired by Paul’s advice in a letter he wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor 1:11).
The wrist bands reminded wearers that allegiance to Jesus should involve a conscientious desire to “imitate” Christ in their daily lives and decision-making, especially through the command to love others through sacrificial, counter-cultural action.
To imitate Christ is to follow the way of Jesus, to engage in the life of radical Christian discipleship. Structurally, it involves three simple steps:
- “Come and see” (1 Jn 1:39; 15:4-5): to be with Jesus, spending quality time in conversation with him, learning the spiritual disciplines that enable us to abide in him.
- “Come and die” (Jn 12:24-26; 1 Jn 2:5-6): to become like Jesus, the outcome of abiding in him involving transformation of our will and character.
- “Come and rise” (Jn 11:21-27; Gal 2:20): to do what Jesus did, continuing the mission of Jesus in the power of the Spirit of Jesus.
These three steps taken by a disciple or apprentice of a first-century rabbi are the same three steps a 21st-century disciple of Jesus takes. For centuries, followers of Jesus have used these three steps as a “trellis” on which to grow their “vines” – spiritual disciplines that build character and enable mission, just as a viticulturist constructs a trellis that provides the structure and support for grape vines to flourish and bear quality fruit.
These three steps are an invitation to experience a transformative journey as we learn to follow Jesus. Our Bible reading today from the Gospel of John provides the immediate context for the first step, “Come and see” (Jn 1:35-39).
We can’t join Jesus in pursuing the mission of God unless we first come to know Jesus in a direct and intimate way and learn to “abide in him.” As we begin to know this Jesus of Nazareth, not only as an astonishing teacher and friend but as Saviour and Master, as we spend quality time walking with Jesus, listening to him, conversing with him, and inviting him to begin the life-long work of becoming our Master, we begin to “abide in him.”
Similarly, we can’t become like Jesus until we have learned to abide in him. This involves the hard work of character development, overcoming vices and cultivating virtues, making space in the garden of our public, private and secret lives for the planting and flourishing of the nine fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
And we can’t enjoy the pleasure of abiding in Jesus unless we are introduced to him, observe his manner of life, listen to his teaching, reflect on his radical actions of mercy and justice, and consider the challenges he brings. Like those first disciples, we need to “come and see” Jesus for who he really is, and – against all the pressures, excuses and distractions of our lives in 2025 – commit to following him in radical discipleship.
All of this lies in the future for these two disciples in John 1:35-39. As the author of the Fourth Gospel tells the story, this is Day 3 of a highly significant week in the life of John the Baptiser, the great (though humble) forerunner and herald of Jesus the Messiah.
John is a prophet of the old Hebrew school. When you hear the word “prophet,” you might think of a weird televangelist imploring you for your credit card details, or a charismatic preacher whose favourite pastime is to scare you into heaven with tales of barcodes tattooed on foreheads, a secret rapture of Christians, and the end-times Battle of Armageddon.
John was none of those things. He looked scary, his diet was kind of scary, and he called a spade a spade, but his vocation was to announce the coming kingdom of God and to call people to repent from their bent ways in preparation for the eternal overlap of heaven and earth. That kingdom was arriving with the arrival of Jesus in our world.
But John has never seen Jesus. We don’t know whether he had even heard that Israel’s longed-for Messiah had been seen in Judea. On Day 1 of John’s three days of surprise and delight, John speaks about Jesus as one who is on his way – just as Aslan was rumoured to be “on his way” to winter-bound Narnia in C. S. Lewis’s children’s classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
On Day 2, John sees Jesus near the banks of the River Jordan where John is baptising those who want to bring change to their lives, and he identifies Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (v. 29), coming to bring healing and wholeness to Israel and the wider world.
On Day 3, we find Jesus in dialogue with two of John’s disciples, and John repeats his statement of Day 2, and the two disciples make the astonishing decision to leave John and begin following Jesus (v. 37).
In verse 38, Jesus is walking near the river, and he invites these two former disciples of John to stay with him, to spend quality time with him, to be with him.
This is the point where the story gets exciting.
We learn from the other three Gospel accounts of his life that Jesus was already developing a reputation as a rabbi, or teacher. But it was unusual for a Jewish rabbi to invite people to his home. Usually, it was the other way around: a disciple would invite the Master to his own home, offering food and drink, and a place to sleep. Another disciple might do the same the following evening.
Here, Jesus upends tradition, as he will do again and again over the next three years, and invites these two disciples in to his whole life so they can observe, consider, weigh up, understand, and learn how to abide with him.
Notice the question Jesus asks them in verse 38: “What are you looking for?” What do they hope to learn, discover, experience? What outcomes do they desire in pursuing the radical life of a talmid (plural talmidim) or apprentice, following a rabbi?
Historically, we know that a talmid studied closely with their chosen rabbi, memorising the Torah, and learning the rabbi’s interpretation of Jewish law and culture. Biblical scholar Lois Tverberg writes,
Jesus lived in a deeply religious culture that highly valued biblical understanding. Rabbis were greatly respected, and to be a disciple of a famous rabbi was an honor. Rabbis were expected not only to have a vast knowledge about the Bible, but to show through their exemplary lives how to live by the Scriptures. A disciple’s goal was to gain the rabbi’s knowledge, but even more importantly, to become like him in character. It was expected that when the disciple became mature, he would take his rabbi’s teaching to the community, add his own understanding, and raise up disciples of his own.[2]
The response these newly minted disciples give to Jesus’s question is a surprise. They ask their own question: “Rabbi, where are you staying?”
They are curious. They are intrigued by this unusual, astonishing, confident, gracious rabbi. They assume, probably correctly, that he has temporary accommodation nearby, the home of a friend or benefactor. Their lives are about to be transformed. They are on their way to a life of apprenticeship to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus has their attention.
Does Jesus have your attention?
Is Jesus right now transforming your life?
If people you know understood the meaning of apprenticeship to Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convince them that you are indeed a follower of this wise, gracious, surprising, Spirit-filled, story-telling, banquet-loving, hypocrite-spurning, joyful Jewish rabbi?
Are you curious, like those first disciples?
Are you hungry for a deeper reality?
Does your life lack something that you can’t provide by your own strength and ingenuity?
Do you long to know more about Jesus, to spend time with him, to be with him?
Later in the same chapter, a guy named Philip meets Jesus and is invited to follow him (vv. 43-46). Philip is from the same village as those first two disciples. He’s so excited about Jesus that he finds another friend named Nathanael and says, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about: it’s Jesus from Nazareth!” (v. 45).
Nathanael says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip replies, “Come and see” (v. 46b).
Later, Jesus offers a similar invitation: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28a). Hear his invitation, offered to each of us at our individual point of need. He knows your weariness and offers real refreshment. He sees your burden, and longs for you to lay it down in his presence. Come to him for rest. Let him take the burden from your shoulders. Learn to be with Jesus, the first step in becoming his apprentice, his follower, his disciple.
It is time to gain a fresh perspective, a fresh appreciation, a fresh vision of who Jesus is for you.
It is time to renew your commitment to Jesus.
It is time to make a decisive break with your past desires, strivings, frustrations, and quests, and – like those first disciples – take a long close look at Jesus, learn to be with him, to abide with him, to rest and be refreshed and revived in his company.
Come, and see.
Sermon 795 copyright © 2025 Rod Benson. Preached at North Rocks Community Church, Sydney, Australia, on Sunday 16 February 2025. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020).
References
[1] Charles Monroe Sheldon, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? (London: The Sunday School Union, 1897).
[2] Lois Tverberg, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 125.
Image source: public domain.
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