Come and See: The Call to Abide in Christ – John 1:35-51

In this episode of The Defender Bible Study, Blake Wilson, Lifeline’s Vice President of Operations, delves into John 1:35-51, where we explore the calling of the first disciples. Blake reflects on how Jesus’ open invitation to “come and see” invites us into a deep, abiding relationship with Him. As we examine the journey of Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel, we see the beauty of discipleship—spending time with Jesus, following His call, and growing in faith. Join us as we discover what it means to abide in Christ and follow Him.


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Creators & Guests

Guest

Blake Wilson

Blake Wilson grew up in the Athens, GA area and joined Lifeline in July of 2013. He is a graduate of Liberty University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and a Master’s Degree in Discipleship from Liberty Theological Seminary. He has over 20 years of organizational leadership experience in the for profit, non-profit and the local church arena. In his first role at Lifeline, he served as the Kentucky State Director in Louisville, KY and then moved to Birmingham, AL to focus on internal operations in 2014. In his current role as the Senior Vice President of Operations, he leads internal operations, state offices, compliance and human resources. He thrives in seeing others succeed and supporting the Lifeline staff on the frontlines of ministry. Blake and his wife, Shae, met in high school and have three children.

What is The Defender Bible Study?

The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s Word as we seek to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services.

Herbie Newell: 00:02

Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Blake Wilson: 00:27

Good morning. It is Monday, September 16th, and this is Blake Wilson, Lifeline's vice president of operations. Excited to jump back in this morning. And, John, we've just been in the book of John for a couple weeks now. Today, we're gonna look specifically at John chapter 1 verses 35 through 51.

Blake Wilson: 00:46

And this is the calling of the first disciples. And I think this is this is a lot of, a lot of fun to teach, a lot of fun to learn and to be reminded of what the calling of the first disciples actually looked like because it is a true invitation to abide, to spend time with, to stay with Jesus and just to become more like he is. These these followers saw him as he was identified as the Messiah. And Jesus opens his arms and his his time and says, just come spend time with me. If you want to become like me, spend time with me.

Blake Wilson: 01:24

So you see the calling of these first disciples and Jesus is really open arm invitation to them. So let's look at John chapter 1. We'll start off looking at verses 35 to 42. It says the next day John was there again with his 2 disciples. So remember, this is John the Baptist.

Blake Wilson: 01:45

As we as we studied last week, John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Messiah. So John the Baptist was there with 2 of his disciples. So these 2 men, which we will learn, in just a a few moments, were Andrew and also eventually Simon Peter, you're going to see here. We're we're there and they were learning and following John the Baptist. Right.

Blake Wilson: 02:14

So it says that they were there with his with John the Baptist in verse 36. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, look, the lamb of God. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. So John the Baptist identified the Messiah. He saw Jesus.

Blake Wilson: 02:33

Look, here comes the lamb of God. And these 2 disciples began to follow in verse 30, 8 says turning around. Jesus saw them following and ask, What do you want? They said, Rabbi, where are you staying? Come, he replied, and you will see.

Blake Wilson: 02:54

So they went and they saw where he was staying, and they spent the day with him. It was about 4 in the afternoon. This is just such a beautiful picture of just relationship building, of abiding, of resting, of staying, and and just a picture of discipleship. Jesus' response was just come and come and see. Like, you want you're asking the question, just come and hang out.

Blake Wilson: 03:25

What let let's let's spend the afternoon together. So it says Andrew, Simon Peter's brother was one of the 2 who who heard what John said and had followed Jesus. So Andrew was there following. The first thing that he did was to go find his brother, Simon, and tell him, we have found the Messiah. And he brought him to Jesus.

Blake Wilson: 03:49

So he was following Jesus, learned who he was, that he was a messiah. He runs home, talks to his brother, and says, we have found the Messiah. And he brought him to Jesus. You know, this is, again, a picture of of a family in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, of seeking, of waiting, of desiring what it was gonna be like. Who who was the Messiah?

Blake Wilson: 04:20

When was he coming? And they they realize it and the excitement of just a brother to run home and grab his other brother and say, I found him. I found him. I found the Messiah. He brings Peter back to Jesus.

Blake Wilson: 04:36

Jesus looks at him in verse 42 and says, you are Simon, son of John, and you will be called Cephas, which when translated means Peter. So Andrew and Peter are following Jesus. He invites them, to take the journey, to stay with him, to learn from him, and this just must have been a a season of just just excitement of of them being in awe of what just encountered. This word that you see that, hey, he referenced to is, like, come and see and they stayed with him. That word stayed is the same word that we'll see in a few in a few short weeks in John chapter 15 when Jesus tells his disciples to abide in me and I in you.

Blake Wilson: 05:27

That same root word in the Greek of stayed is the same word as abide in John John 15. It's also the same word that's in John John chapter 1 verse 32 that we just read, last week. And it says that the Holy Spirit remain on Jesus. It says when Jesus I'm sorry, when John gave this testimony, I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. So that word remain, the word stayed, the word abide is all coming from the same Greek root word, which just means to remain and to abide.

Blake Wilson: 06:06

And what you see that's unique in the book of John is that over the course of of his gospel, he uses that same word 40 different times of remaining, abiding, and staying with Jesus. So what you see is that these first disciples, they when Jesus was identified as the Messiah, they they came, they saw him, they stayed with him. So they came and they saw and they stayed. And I think it's also important to look at the these guys made this decision to to follow Jesus. You know, I bet they didn't think that this was gonna be a a 3 year journey across so many different cities throughout Israel and Galilee of of following him.

Blake Wilson: 06:55

You know, they they went to sit sit, spend time with him, to stay with him, to abide in him, but ultimately, that abiding lasted 3 years during Jesus' earthly earthly ministry. So they stayed committed to Jesus during this season. So they they were very intentional in learning more about him, following him, abided in him. So the next passage actually continues in verses 43 through 51. And this is the calling of 2 more disciples.

Blake Wilson: 07:25

Right? So we have, the first calling of of Andrew and Peter, and then we're gonna continue on in this next passage of the calling of Philip and Nathaniel. Alright? So they spent time with him, and it says the next day in verse 43, they decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, follow me.

Blake Wilson: 07:50

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 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. Alright. So the same thing happens in this passage that we just read prior with Andrew and Peter. You see that Philip he sees Philip and says, follow me.

Blake Wilson: 08:21

So Philip follows him. And then immediately, Philip found Nathaniel, and he said, we have found the one that Moses wrote about. If you if you think back up when Andrew and Peter. In the previous passage, what did they what did he say? Andrew went and found Peter and said, we have found the Messiah.

Blake Wilson: 08:46

And in this passage, you see Philip tell Nathaniel, we have found the one that Moses wrote about in the law and the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth. I think it's important to see in these the similarities in these two passages that they were both seeking. They were both searching. They were waiting for Jesus to come, for the Messiah to be made known. And when they realized that they had found him, they had to go tell others.

Blake Wilson: 09:15

They went and told their closest friends, their family members that he is here, Jesus of Nazareth. All right. So the response is a little bit different with Philip and Nathaniel than it was with Andrew and Peter. It says, but get Nathaniel's response. Nazareth, can anything good come from there?

Blake Wilson: 09:36

Nathaniel asked. Come and see, said Philip. Isn't that interesting that that Philip uses the same term terminology that Jesus used? Come and see. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said to him, here truly is an Israelite in whom there's no deceit.

Blake Wilson: 09:56

How do you know me, Nathaniel asked? Jesus answered, I saw you while you were sitting under the fig tree before Philip called you. And then Nathaniel declared, Rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. Now I don't know what was happening under that fig tree.

Blake Wilson: 10:15

You know, I can't help but think that maybe Nathaniel was praying, spending time with God. Maybe he was asking about the Messiah of when the Messiah would be made known. Maybe he was struggling with something of just needing needing rescue, needing help, needing aid, needing to hear from God. And he ultimately sees God in the flesh and was in awe. His response was rabbi in verse 49.

Blake Wilson: 10:47

You are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. So whatever happened, whatever he was thinking about under that fig tree, the Lord used in his calling to follow Jesus as the Messiah on Earth. So come and see and follow him. Jesus responds as he closes out this, he says.

Blake Wilson: 11:10

And Jesus said, you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, but you will see greater things than that. He then added, very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. So we know that these men, were familiar with the Torah, with the book of the law, because they were both they were both seeking. Right? We just they we see Andrew and Peter saying we found him.

Blake Wilson: 11:42

We found the Messiah. They were they they knew of his coming. Then you see Philip and Nathaniel say what found the one that Moses, and the prophets wrote about. So in Genesis, I think it's important to look back at what he's referencing in this last verse, 51. Back in Genesis 28, he is referencing the life of Jacob, which these men would have been very familiar with with the visions and the prophecy that happened in Genesis in in chapter 28.

Blake Wilson: 12:16

So he references this story of Jacob. And this is a moment in Jacob's life when he had a vision of angels going up and down the stairway. So he was on the run for his life. He's in the wilderness. He pulls up a rock, in Genesis 28 and uses that rock as a pillow.

Blake Wilson: 12:33

And he has a dream that evening of, a stairway that's connecting earth to heaven, and there are angels going up and down this stairway. You know, and I I I think as Jesus uses this as a point of reference, even as he is talking to Nathaniel, he is reminding him that he has come to be that bridge from earth to heaven. He has come as a stairway, as a ladder, as a, giving us the ability to actually enter heaven, but it's only through Jesus that we can do that. So he he is, using and fulfilling what the prophets had written about, in the book of the law. And they are seeing this come to fruition and come to come true right in front of their eyes.

Blake Wilson: 13:30

So they're absolutely astonished in what is going going going on in front of them. But the consistency in both of these passages were that these men were seeking. They were, searching, and they ultimately found him. And when they found him, they followed him. They spent time with him.

Blake Wilson: 13:50

They stayed with him. They were abiding with him. Just as we, as we see referenced, in the old testament and in the new testament of what it looks like to spend time and to abide with Christ. So discipleship is about abiding in Jesus, where we follow him and we learn how to live as he lived and to walk with God. And he is inviting us as as his, followers just to come and see, to spend time, to abide with him, and rest as we learn and grow in our knowledge of who Jesus is.

Blake Wilson: 14:27

So this passage is just, again, the calling of the first disciples. We're gonna continue to see over the next few weeks as more and more disciples become begin to follow Jesus. But what a reminder. What a, what a great way to start our week of just the invitation to come and see. So let's let's come and see what Jesus is going to do this week, and let's be part of that discipleship journey.

Blake Wilson: 14:51

Today, we're gonna close out and just spend some time in prayer, for our parent coaching ministry and everything that's happening through, just the good conversations that are happening as our staff just support our our parent coaches. I'm sorry. As our staff support families, that are just, needing some additional support during the season. And I think, it's such a reminder for each and every one of us that we all go through seasons where we need people to wrap around us just to encourage us to point us back to scripture, and maybe just to remind us of those things that we already know that we're not practicing. So, let's let's close out and just pray for our parent coaching ministry and our team.

Blake Wilson: 15:35

God, we thank you for Lifeline. We thank you for the scripture, and we thank you for all the good things that you are doing through Lifeline and how you've given us the ability to start our mornings and time in prayer and bible study. Lord, may we apply this this week. May we pause and abide and grow in our knowledge and understanding of who you are. God, today, we pray for our parent coaches at Lifeline, for those that are just investing time and hours into families just to encourage them to point them back to scripture.

Blake Wilson: 16:03

God, just to equip them with tools as we parent in different seasons of our life. So God, as each of us, walks a different journey in different season, different age kids, different different genders, different interests, God, and ultimately so many different things and variables that change what seemed to be day by day as as we see our parents grow and mature. God, we we are grateful to have a ministry that supports and encourages parents as they navigate, growing children. So, Lord, may you continue to give our team the knowledge and understanding tools and resources they need so that they can encourage parents and point them back to the hope of the gospel. Lord, may we all reach this pause and reflect on, the task that you've given us as parents to raise up our children in, the admission of who you are.

Blake Wilson: 16:56

And, lord, may we just be intentional in that. And, lord, may you utilize our team and staff to encourage families to do the same. Lord, we love you, and we thank you for today. We thank you for what you're going to do this week. We ask these things in your name.

Blake Wilson: 17:10

Amen.

Herbie Newell: 17:13

Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.

Herbie Newell: 17:42

We We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.