“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 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.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour)… Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.””

John 1:35-39, 45 NKJV

What you just witnessed was John’s 2nd declaration that Jesus Messiah was the Lamb of God. This is essentially John pointing his disciples to Jesus as the One they should now follow. The movement was now shifting from John to Jesus. And two of John’s disciples, which were John and Andrew, picked up on this que and started to seek Jesus. And Jesus gives them the first step or invitation to discipleship, which is to “Come and See”. This was an invitation to come hang out with Jesus where He was staying, to spend time with Him, to come experience Him, and to then root them in His identity as it’s revealed in the unfolding story of Scripture. This first step on the discipleship pathway is an exploratory, seeking and experiential step. And one thing you’ll notice at every step in Jesus’ pathway to disciple-making is it’s highly relational. And this is why we envision ourselves as being a people who are about relational Kingdom expansion or Building the Kingdom Relationally. You see, when the love of Christ is revealed to you as the Why for your life, then…

He’ll first draw you into an abiding relationship with Himself.

It’s like a touching scene in the original Aladdin movie made by Disney. Aladdin, who is a poor, street-smart young man, comes to court Princess Jasmine as a potential bride in the full pomp and entourage of a royal prince. He came to her by the name Prince Ali of Bobwah. And in an effort to establish a relationship with Princes Jasmine he invites her to take a ride with him on his flying carpet, by stretching forth his hands with a smile and saying, “Do you trust me?” In that very moment, she remembers hearing those same words spoken to her with that same familiar voice and smile coming from a poor, street-smart young man she bonded with while disguising herself among the common people. She pauses with a look that suggests she has a sneaky suspicion that Prince Ali could be that very same young man, and then she says “Yes” to go on a ride with him. You see, by saying “Yes”, then taking hold of Aladdin’s hand and literary taking the first step onto his magic carpet, Jasmine was responding to Aladdin’s invitation to hang out with him, spend time with him and experience him. Aladdin was drawing Jasmine into an abiding relationship with himself. This would be the set up to the heart warming song made popular by this movie, “A Whole New World”. And likewise, Jesus’ invitation to “Come and see” is His way of guiding you to the first step of His discipleship pathway, which is to draw you into an abiding relationship with Himself.

This is the desire we hear in Jesus’ voice as He addresses the church of Laodecia in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20 NKJV. Here Jesus is portrayed as knocking on the corporate heart’s door of His last day church, because He’s trying to re-establish an abiding relationship with them. This is also what we see Jesus reaffirming in His selecting twelve men to be His apostles from among a crowd of His disciples in Mark 3:14-15, which says, “Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:” Mark 3:14-15 NKJV. Notice that the first priority of the twelve apostles was to be with Jesus, before doing anything for Jesus! We are human “beings”, not human “doings”! As followers of Jesus, we are to serve and multiply disciples out of the overflow of being with Jesus!

And one of the essential aspects of being with Jesus in order to establish an abiding relationship is He’ll guide you to His word in order to root you in His identity as it’s revealed in the unfolding story of Scripture. This is what Jesus did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on the Sunday morning of His resurrection in Luke 24. After showing them how all of Scripture was pointing to His life, death and resurrection as the Christ, the Son of God, they draw near their house, and when He humorously indicated that He would have kept walking, Luke 24:29 says, “But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.” Luke 24:29 NKJV. Jesus wants to abide with us. He wants a relationship with us that roots us in Scripture as an unfolding story that reveals Himself. He Himself said in Matthew 22:36-40 that all of Scripture was based on love to God and our neighbor as ourselves, which was most vividly revealed in His life, death and resurrection. So just imagine, when John and Andrew spent just a few hours abiding with Jesus, at the end of that experience they could rush to tell someone, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote…” John 1:35a NKJV. It is very likely that while spending time with Jesus, He walked them through the Scriptures as an unfolding story that reveals His identity as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!

What does this look like today? You experience Jesus through experiences with His followers and/or the Good News about Jesus and His Kingdom is preached to you. You are compelled by the love of Christ and are now considering Him to be the Why for your life. He draws you into an abiding relationship with Himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit, Scripture in the light of the Gospel and Prayer. Have you or are you experiencing this abiding relationship with Jesus?

When the love of Christ is revealed to you as the Why for your life, then He’ll first draw you into an abiding relationship with Himself.