The Authentic View of Jesus (John 1:35-51)
Transcript.
What would you say is the Jewish view of Jesus? Most, I think, would respond by saying it's rather simple: Jews reject Jesus, at least as the Messiah or the Son of God.
Just this year I asked a friend of man, a respected Jewish academic, a professor at a local university with a deep and knowledgeable interest in Philosophy. I asked him two questions
Question: Could Jesus be Israel’s promised Messiah?
His answer: “In no way could I accept Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus was just a Jewish man, a great teacher who was arrested and killed by the Romans. Jesus was not supernatural, nor did he pre-exist. The concept of a supernatural Jesus as Messiah was developed by the writers of the New Testament, particularly Paul who wanted to glorify him as God”.
Question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ could have fulfilled any of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah?
Answer by My acquaintance:
No, Jesus did not fulfil any of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Jesus was not special he was only a man, not God. I know the New Testament teaches that Jesus' coming was to make an atonement for man's sins, It is blasphemous for me to believe that a holy God would allow an innocent man to die for another’s sins.
That is the view of Jesus from an one academics point of view.
But is that really the ordinary Jewish people’s view of Jesus?
I believe that most Jewish people, and most Christian people, assume that this is the case. Because they make that basic assumption, and several things follow.
They assume that Jesus is not the Messiah and therefore do not bother to investigate what he had to say. In many cases, they do not even want to discuss him beyond the fact that they think they know who he was.
This also affects Christians. They assume that Jews outright reject Jesus Christ, and as a result, they do not try and engage with Jewish people Christians also assume that the Jewish people know lots about the Bible, which generally they do not.
What I'd like to do this morning is talk about something that is not often discussed publicly. I would like to talk about the real Jewish view of Jesus, and what that means.
Welcome to TBPDP….
This morning, we come to two days in the life of Christ. Last week, we looked at two days in the life of John the Baptist. However, at the end of chapter one, we are given two successive days in the life of Christ. In verses 35 through 42, we are told of one day in which Jesus called two men to be his disciples. In verses 43 to 51, we are given the events of the next day in which he called two more men to be his disciples.
Therefore, this passage gives us the account of the first four men who became the disciples of Jesus Christ.
I would like to point out before we even start that these four men were Jewish, and they later became followers of Christ. But that's getting ahead of the story.
Let's go back to the beginning. It starts in verse 35.
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’ 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning round, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying?’ 39 ‘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. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter.
(John 1: 35-42)
As this story opens, John the Baptist is still the central figure. On this particular day he is with two of his disciples. Now, those two disciples are not named in here verse 35, but one of them will be identified later.
In verse 41 it will say: "One of the two who heard John speaking and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."
The second disciple is never named in this passage, but most Bible expositors have concluded that the second man was John himself, the author of this gospel. I will not go into all the technicalities as to why they have concluded that, but the evidence is substantial. Just to say, this account was given by an eyewitness, therefore it stands to reason that the second disciple was John the writer of this account.
So, imagine, if you will, John the Baptist standing with two of his disciples, a man named Andrew and another man named John. As they are standing around, they notice that Jesus Christ is coming by. Verse 36 says, "And looking upon Jesus as he walked, John the Baptist said, 'Behold the Lamb of God.'"
The word translated "look" in verse 36 is more than a momentary glance; it indicates a stare, if you will. John saw Jesus coming by and he stopped and stared at him as if to examine him closely.
They saw Jesus, obviously, as a contemporary Jewish man. He had on sandals like everyone else of the day. I'm sure that when they looked at him, they did not see anything particularly unusual—there was no halo over his head, no crown, and he was not surrounded by angels. He would have been just an ordinary-looking man. But John the Baptist very dramatically says, "Behold the Lamb of God."
Now, that speaks volumes to them. You see, these two disciples were Jewish, and they knew what that meant. A lamb was an integral part of their religious practice. They knew that they took lambs to the Tabernacle, or later to the Temple, to sacrifice as a picture of a covering for sin.
They were also very familiar with the Jewish Passover, which they remembered when Moses took a lamb, slew it, and then took the blood of the lamb and sprinkled it on the doorposts. They were also well aware that one day God would send His Lamb to be the sacrifice for sin. Isaiah chapter 53 talked extensively about that.
So, on this particular day, what they understood John the Baptist to be saying was that this man Jesus is God's sacrifice for sin. Needless to say, that attracted their attention. So, we are told in verse 37, "And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus."
Jesus then became aware of the fact that they were coming along after him, and so we are told in verse 38 that he turned and saw them following and said to them, "What do you want?" Or as some translate it. "What do you seek? What do you really want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher). So, at this point they recognized him as a teacher. You must remember, they were disciples a few moments ago of John the Baptist, and John says to them, “here is Lamb of God”, meaning, of course, the Messiah.
So, at this point, I'm not sure at this point they had fully accepted what John the Baptist had said because they only addressed him as a teacher. They at least will give John credit for that much: "Rabbi" (which is to say, being translated, teacher/master), "where do you live?" What they're saying is, "We want to come and see you. We want to spend the day with you, and we want to talk with you."
As a matter of fact, that is obviously what is in mind, because in verse 39 we are told, "He said to them, 'Come and see.' And they went with him and saw where he dwelt and spent time with him.
John is telling us is that they spent the whole day with him because it is only 10:00 in the morning.
They had been told by someone they respected; someone they looked up to as an authority figure, John the Baptist that this was the Lamb of God. That wasn’t enough for these two men just yet.
You see, one of these men was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."
Now, we don't have a lot of information in the Bible about Andrew, but from the pictures we do have, we can assume some things about this man. I would say, by looking at all the different references to him, that he was an analytical type of fellow. He was probably rather shy as well.
In life there are some people who when presented with a sales pitch, will buy now and think later. But not Andrew, he is the type of fellow who, when he is presented with a sales pitch, will say, "Wait a minute, let me ask a few questions." He was probably the type of man who is by nature very cautious, very conscientious, and quite conservative.
It is extremely difficult to pull the wool over the eyes of this type of fellow because even if he needs it, he's going to ask 1,000 questions before he buys it.
But once Andrew was convinced, he fully believed and immediately shared his discovery with Peter.
Peter, in contrast, did not need a whole day of questions. When Andrew told him about finding the Messiah, Peter promptly went to see Jesus. On meeting Peter, Jesus immediately renamed him Cephas (Peter), meaning "a stone," signifying a transformation in Peter’s character.
John doesn't provide all the details here, but elsewhere in the gospels, we learn about Peter's journey to fully recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus later asks Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter responds, "You are the Christ."
This passage highlights how two very different Jewish men came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Andrew, the cautious inquirer, and Peter, the impulsive immediate believer, both reached the same conclusion through their personal encounters with Jesus. Since then, countless Jewish individuals have followed in their footsteps, daring to look at Jesus and recognizing him as the Messiah.
Another fact to consider is that there are whole organizations made up primarily of Jewish people who are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. Within our nation there are many what are called “Messianic Jews, even a group called, Jews for Jesus will readily tell you that they are Jewish people who believe Jesus is the Messiah.
The describe themselves as "A group of people who have come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. We believe that the New Testament and the Old Testament are true. We believe in one true God and that the Godhead is fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made us Jews by physical birth; hence, we are Jews for Jesus."
When asked in a recent newspaper interview, "How is it possible for a Jew to be a believer in Jesus? Aren't Judaism and Christianity mutually exclusive?" They answered:
"There are some today who, because of ignorance and prejudice, promote the idea that you can only be one or the other. This is simply not true, for it requires a very narrow definition of 'Jew' and 'Christian.' None of the early disciples of Christ renounced their Jewishness. Their understanding as Jews was that he was the promised Messiah of Israel, and they gave many scriptural texts to justify their belief."
The point is that many Jewish people have come to believe Jesus is the Messiah simply after looking at him and listening to him.
Therefore if you have a chance encourage your Jewish friend to read the Gospel of Matthew and they might just see something extraordinary. The authority of Jesus' word from from a authentic 1st century Jewish context.
But how can a Jewish person come to such a conclusion after being taught all their life that Jesus is not for the Jews?
The same way as it is described here which takes us to the second day in the life of our Lord, where he spoke to two more individuals. By examining their stories, we can understand how anyone even a Jewish person could come to this conclusion.
Verse 43 says.
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael 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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[k] the Son of Man.”
(John 1: 43-51)
On first reading, it might seem that Philip came to the Lord without any other person being involved. However, I believe Andrew and Peter approached Philip first. John emphasizes that they were from the same city, suggesting that Andrew and Peter likely spoke to Philip before he met Jesus.
This is supported by verse 45, where Philip finds Nathanael and says, "We have found him." He did not say "I," but "we," including himself with Andrew and Peter.
This illustrates a chain reaction or domino effect: one person's belief leading to another's.
In the overall passage we are looking at today, we see a sequence of testimonies and discoveries about Jesus. First, John the Baptist testified about Jesus. Then, Andrew, after meeting Jesus, found his brother Peter. Peter and Andrew subsequently found Philip.
Let's take a look at Philip. From the glimpses we have of him in the New Testament, it’s clear that Philip was different from the impetuous Peter. He was steady and stable, unlike the cautious and analytical Andrew. Philip seemed to be someone with a small group of close friends. It is to this steady and stable man that Jesus said, "Follow me," meaning to take a journey with Him.
Philip's conclusion is revealed later in the passage when he found Nathanael and said, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
This indicates that Philip concluded that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. How did he reach this conclusion? Philip was convinced by the Jewish scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
Now let's look at Nathanael. Interestingly, his name isn’t mentioned at all in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). But from his conversation with Philip, we can glean some things about Nathanael's personality.
When Philip told him they had found the Messiah, Nathanael sceptically asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
This scepticism stemmed from several factors: he knew the Messiah was prophesied to come from Bethlehem, Nazareth was an obscure and unmentioned village in the Old Testament, and there was likely some local rivalry between his town and Nazareth.
Philip responded to Nathanael's scepticism with simply, "Come and see." Then when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
This reference to Nathanael's was startling. Nathanael, was surprised that Jesus knew him so well, asked, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, I saw you when you were under the fig tree." This display of divine knowledge convinced Nathanael, immediately and he declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
This passage shows us that all these four men—Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael—each concluded that Jesus was the Messiah.
Andrew and Peter's belief came through personal encounters with Jesus, while Philip and Nathanael were convinced by the Jewish scriptures and Jesus' supernatural knowledge. This highlights that different types of individuals, through different paths, came to the same conclusion about Jesus' identity.
The added detail with Philip and Nathanael underscores that if any Jewish person takes the time to examine the Gospels and Jesus' words, they could be convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.
They highlight that early Jewish disciple of Christ viewed Him as the fulfilment of the Jewish scriptures, and their understanding can still resonate with Jewish individuals today.
I don't have time this morning to go through all the passages in the Old Testament, but I want to highlight three key points that absolutely, positively, and dogmatically demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
First, in 2 Samuel 7, we're told that God would send a descendant of David to establish the Kingdom. Both Jewish and Christian scholars recognize this as a reference to the Messiah, meaning the Messiah must be a son of David. This is widely accepted and not greatly debated.
Second, in Micah 5:2, the Old Testament states that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." T
This verse plainly says that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and has eternal origins.
Third, in Daniel 9, the Old Testament tells us when the Messiah would arrive. Daniel 9:26 says, "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing." This passage provides a timeline for the Messiah's coming, and it aligns with the time of Jesus.
The New Testament confirms that Jesus was the son of David, born in Bethlehem, though He grew up in Nazareth, and arrived during the time prophesied by Daniel. If you look at what the Old Testament says about the Messiah, you are driven to the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah.
Today we considered the testimonies of the four Jewish men in the passage: Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael, who all concluded that Jesus was the Messiah by looking at the scriptures and encountering Jesus personally.
There is an official Jewish view of Jesus and a personal one. The official view often rejects Jesus as the Messiah. However, many individual Jewish people have come to believe in Jesus.
The priestly hierarchy of his day rejected Jesus because He attracted the people away from them. They focusing on the minute observance of the law rather than the prophecies concerning the Messiah and knowing God through a personal relationship with Him.
If you are Jewish/Christian/Muslim or atheist and not persuaded that Jesus is the Messiah, I simply invite you to come and see for yourself.
Look at Him, examine His life and words, and you may conclude that Jesus is the Messiah. While this decision might feel isolating, if you come from one of those fore-mentioned backgrounds, remember that you are not alone. Many Christan believers would welcome you with open arms.
So, whether you're Jewish or not, you need to know Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you do not know Him personally, I invite you to take a Bible and learn how you can know him today.