May 21, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Invited to be with Jesus

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Blessed Lord, my life is enriched, fulfilled, and illuminated by Your marvelous grace to me. I praise Your name.

Read John 1:35-42

[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 around, 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).

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright &copy 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.&reg Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Imagine yourself with the first disciples, going to where Jesus is staying and spending the day with him.

Together with the story of the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), this is my favorite passage in the Bible, perhaps because both refer to intimate conversations between Jesus and his disciples. The scene tugs at us, because we would all love to have been there.

The first words of Jesus in this Gospel are, “What do you want?” Here we catch John in his art of telling the story on multiple levels. Why would he bother to include such mundane details as we have in verses 37-39? (We hear Jesus ask the same question of the blind man in Mark 10:51.) Didn’t Jesus know what they wanted? He is, after all, about to indicate that he can see into Peter’s heart. John records the question because it’s the question that Jesus asks every one of us, and it’s where our relationship with him begins. It’s not because he doesn’t know but because it makes us articulate our need. Perhaps this is the clue to their answer: “Where are you staying?” They want time to be with him. They can’t see it now, but three years later they will realize what they have let themselves in for.

He continues evocatively with his next words: “Come, and you will see” (39). Could any reply be more hospitable? Isn’t this what we want more than anything, to be with him in a close relationship, with time to ask our questions and to hear what he has to say to us? His hospitality goes further. He looks on us, as he looked on Peter, with eyes that see not what we are now so much as what we can become under his lordship. Yes, we would have loved to be there–but we are there, because the risen Christ is with us now.

Apply

Action needs to be balanced by regular times of reflection and quiet worship. Reflect on the pattern of your days. How do you spend time with Jesus?

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, what a privilege it is to spend time with You. And what an immense privilege it is to share You with others. Use me as I receive from You and share about You.

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