John 1:14-16 And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness
about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me
ranks before me, because he was before
me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received,
grace upon grace.
The call of God is spoken through the human proclamation of
the gospel. The call of God is not simply human words but requires a saving
faith on the part of the person who hears the call. Paul asked the question of
the Roman believers. “How then will they
call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him
of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone
preaching?” (Romans 10:14). It is very important that the lost world hear
the gospel and understand the love of God that’s found in Christ Jesus. You and
I have the responsibility to share the good news that we have received for
ourselves. Jesus calls us to invite our friends and family to come to Jesus,
and with that, to come to a church where they will hear the Bible taught and
can worship God in spirit and truth!
The call of God in Jesus Christ is found throughout the
gospel of John. John the Baptist (not John the gospel writer) began the process
of calling. He came to be a witness to the light that would come after him. The
Baptist understood that he was not what it was all about! He knew, from the
very beginning, that it was all about Jesus! Remember, when he was still in his
mother’s womb and she met Mary who was carrying the baby Jesus in her womb,
John jumped excitedly at the presence of his Lord. (Luke 1:39-42). John, who
would later be called the Baptist, recognized his Lord before either of them
were born!
We need to carry on with exactly that same theme. It’s not
about us! It’s about Jesus! Let’s look at a few of the times that Jesus
extended a call.
First of all…
Jesus extended the call to disciples. Let’s look ahead to John 1:40-42. One of the two who heard John
speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He
first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah”
(which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked
at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas”
(which means Peter).
These two disciples were first of all disciples of the
Baptist. They had often heard John say that he was not worthy to tie the
sandals of the one coming after him. One day, the Baptist looked across the
crowd and saw the subject of his ministry. In my mind’s eye, I see John standing by the river Jordan. He was baptizing
people as they repented of their sin. Suddenly he felt an unseen presence and
lifting up his eyes he sensed that the One had come! I believe he pointed
across the crowd and said, “Behold, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b). His
recognition was made complete when he saw the Spirit descending from heaven and
remaining on Jesus.
His disciples observed all this and must’ve had long
conversations about what they had seen that day. The next day two of his
disciples stood near him when he said again, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36). Immediately, John’s two
disciples graduated from his school and moved on to graduate school. They
followed Jesus. One of these men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. Immediately
he went to find his own brother with the good news — the gospel — “We have found the Messiah”. It’s
important to recognize that Jesus immediately knew who Simon was. Jesus gave
him a new name, Cephas! The name translates as “Rock”! He was not to be the
stone foundation of Christ’s new church but he was a chip off the block so to
speak.
In looking at all of the gospel records we can see that Jesus
ended, what was essentially his first day of ministry, with four disciples:
James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew, and Simon, his brother.
The very next day he found Philip and commanded him to follow.
Not only did Philip follow Jesus but he went, immediately, to invite his friend
Nathaniel. He told Nathaniel that he had found the Messiah — a man named Jesus
from Nazareth. Nathaniel doubted that anything good could come out of Nazareth.
He was quickly set straight.
Going on with his new group of disciples Jesus attended a
wedding in Cana with his mother as well as his disciples. There John, the
gospel writer, tells us that Jesus did his first sign when he turned the water
into wine. As we follow on in the gospel of John we see that…
Jesus called a Pharisee. Let’s move ahead to John 3:11-15. Truly, truly, I say to you,
we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not
receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and
you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No
one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of
Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes
in him may have eternal life.
I have heard many explanations of why Nicodemus came to Jesus
by night. Usually, the explanation has something to do with wanting to hide
from the crowds. I think that’s part of it but not for the usual reasons. Both
men, Jesus and Nicodemus, had a very busy ministry. In order to have an
uninterrupted conversation, they needed
to get away from the crowds. Nicodemus revealed his growing faith in Jesus by
saying the obvious. He calls Jesus “Rabbi” which means teacher and he affirmed
that the source of Jesus’ teaching was none other than God himself!
Nicodemus met the first test of faith. That test is described
by the writer of Hebrews as, “whoever
would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6b). Before he ever heard of Jesus Nicodemus
believed in the existence of God.
Later, Nicodemus would challenge the other Pharisees with
these words, “Does our law judge a man
without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” (John 7:50).
This certainly showed his willingness to speak on behalf of Jesus. Finally,
Nicodemus was one of two men who came to take the body of Jesus from the cross
and prepare him for burial. I think it is interesting, but not essential, that
Jesus came into the world with the adoption of a man named Joseph, and at the
end of his life, he was buried in a tomb
borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea, the other man who was with Nicodemus. Jesus
only had need of that tomb for a part of three days. On the third day, he rose from the dead. Well, I’m getting
ahead of myself.
After calling his disciples, and a Pharisee Jesus did the
unexpected…
Jesus called a Samaritan. Let’s move ahead to John 4:10-11. Jesus answered her, “If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’
you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The
woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is
deep. Where do you get that living water?
Jesus’ disciples were growing in number faster than the
growth of John’s disciples had been. The Pharisees were very unhappy about
this. So he left Judea and went north through Samaria. Now, this was highly unusual. In order to go from Judea in the
south to Galilee in the north, most Jews
would never go through Samaria. Because they had no dealings with Samaritans!
I believe Jesus intentionally set out to meet one particular
Samaritan that day as he traveled north. As they came to the middle of the day
they stopped by Jacob’s well. Jesus sent his disciples into the nearby town to
buy food. The first taboo had been going into Samaria the second would have
been eating Samaritan food. The disciples must’ve left him with some uneasiness
but he did not need their protection. As soon as they were gone a woman came to
the well. Remember, it is the middle of the day. Most of the women would have
gone to the well in the early morning to draw water for the day. Or they might
have gone in the evening to draw water for the cleanup before going to bed. It
was not likely that many of them would have gone there in the middle of the
day. I think it is very likely that this woman intended to go at a time when no
other women would be there because she was a woman with a tarnished reputation.
Jesus did not reject her instead he asked her for water! She immediately
questioned why a man who was obviously a Jew would accept water from her, a
Samaritan! Jesus’ response was to offer her living water.
He convinced her that he was the Messiah and she dropped her
water pot and hurried back into the town to invite her friends and neighbors to
see a man who had told her all that she had ever done. Well, we know he didn’t
talk about everything she had done, but he did tell her the significant events
in our life. He called a Samaritan…
And many more. John
4:39-40 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s
testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the
Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there
two days.
She must’ve been obviously changed in some way causing her
friends and neighbors accept her testimony. Many of them believed in Jesus
because of her words. The situation was so convincing that they asked Jesus to
stay with them a while. He stayed there two more days and many more believed in
him! Might this have laid the groundwork for Phillip’s successful ministry in
Samaria as recorded in the book of Acts? Since the Bible does not explicitly
tell us we can’t know for sure.
As we move forward through the gospel we find explicit
teaching that…
The Father enables the call. Let’s look at John 6:35-37. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever
comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But
I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All
that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never
cast out.
Jesus had healed the son of an official in Cana and in
Jerusalem a man who had been paralyzed all his life. In doing so, Jesus had
asserted the truth that he was the Son of God! As far as the Pharisees were
concerned he deserved to die because he healed on the Sabbath and claimed to be
the Son of God!
This gave him the opportunity to tell them clearly that he
was only doing what the Father wanted him to do. He came to meet their
spiritual hunger and thirst assuring them that they only had to come to him and
believe in him. But this was not something they could do on their own. The ones
who would come and believe were those that the Father gave to him. Looking
ahead we see that…
The call includes a promise. In John 6:38-40. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him
who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise
it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal
life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
His promise that he would never cast out anyone who came to
him was reinforced by the fact that he came from heaven, and would soon be
returning, only to do the will of the Father. Repeatedly, Jesus asserted that
anyone coming to him would be coming because of the Father’s work in them. In
fact, it is the will of God the Father that everyone who looks on the Son and
believes in him will never be lost.
God’s call is effective because he has spoken to all aspects
of our human nature. He speaks to our intellect by explaining the facts of salvation. He speaks to our emotions
by giving an invitation to respond. He speaks to our wills by asking us to hear
and respond in repentance. Our repentance involves a decision to turn from our
sin, receive Christ as Savior and cast our cares on him in all matters.
All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English
standard version. 2001. Wheaton, Ill, Standard Bible Society.
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