The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry (John 1:35-51)

Topic: The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry

Reading: John 1:35-51

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his 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, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Beth-sa’ida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathan’a-el, 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.” 46 Nathan’a-el said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathan’a-el coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” 48 Nathan’a-el said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathan’a-el answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Introduction and Overview

The beginning of Jesus’ ministry commenced after He had been baptised and received the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist baptised Jesus and as He came up from the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. John bore witness to this telling the people that Jesus was the Christ and they should follow Him. And John announced the purpose of Jesus coming and the beginning of His ministry saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” All of this took place in preparation for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

From that point on Jesus began making disciples. He selected the first disciples as He went about, and this section of scripture shows who and how some of them were chosen. Many of His initial disciples were converts and followers of John the Baptist. And it was John who led them to Christ.

But we see in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry a glimpse of the power and insight that would follow. Several of the early disciples were selected with spiritual insight that amazed them. It was evidence that this Jesus was something more than just a teacher or prophet. The spiritual insight, understanding, and knowledge proved to those initial disciples that Jesus was indeed, the Christ.

Key points from reading:

• The beginning of Jesus’ ministry commenced with making the first disciples.
• The first disciples were people who had been prepared by the teachings of John the Baptist.
• Some of these first disciples were selected with spiritual insight.

Discussion:

1. Scripture: John 1:35-39 – The beginning of Jesus ministry and His first disciples
   • Jesus had just been baptised and had received the Holy Spirit. He was still walking in the region of the Jordan River where John the Baptist was ministering. And this makes sense when we understand that the work of John was to prepare the way for the Lord.
   • John the Baptist taught the people telling them to believe and receive the one who was to follow himself. John had many disciples as he was considered a powerful teacher and prophet in and around Jerusalem and Judea. His ministry was even carried out into other parts of the Roman Empire, as we see in Acts 19:1-6 where Paul came across a group of John the Baptist’s disciples in Ephesus They became the core of the Ephesian church, but they began as disciples of John the Baptist.
   • This was also the case with the first disciples of Christ. He was in the area where John the Baptist was still operating because that was where John’s disciples would have been too. And in these first words we see John bearing testimony to Christ, calling Him, “The Lamb of God,” which piqued the interest of the disciples of John to seek out Jesus.
   • Two of the disciples of John, one of whom was Andrew, the brother of Peter, heard this proclamation of John. They came to Jesus to seek Him out and to see what He had to say. They asked where Jesus was staying, clearly with the intent of following Him to learn what He was to teach. They trusted the words of John the Baptist, and if he was convinced Jesus was the one they were to follow, then they would seek Him out.
2. Scripture: John 1:40-42 – The Call of Peter
   • In these next words we see the call of Peter and how Jesus renamed him. The renaming of Peter is interesting because it tells us a lot about what Jesus thought of him and the work Peter would be called to do. And this renaming of Peter at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry shows some things about the nature of Peter.
   • Peter was privy to many of the things Jesus said and did. Even among the twelve disciples of Jesus, we see that often it was Peter, with James and John, who were present at many different times to witness things Jesus said and did. Jesus also called upon Peter to do things and invested responsibilities in him that Jesus did not give to the other disciples. For example, after the resurrection of Jesus and before He returned to the Father, Jesus commissioned Peter to teach and care for the fledgling church. In John 21:15-17 we see Jesus commissioning Peter to “Feed my lambs, Tend my sheep, and Feed my sheep.” The sheep were the people who were already following Jesus, and the lambs were any new converts who would come to Christ. Peter was called to teach and pastor the flock of Jesus, and to nurture and grow it spiritually by feeding them all that Jesus Himself had taught the disciples. This aligns with the Great Commission, but gives an additional authority and purpose for the work Peter was to do..
   • It is evident that Jesus understood the nature of Peter. He recognised that Peter would be a powerful and strong advocate for the message and to grow the church. Peter’s birth name given by his parents was Simon. But Jesus renamed him Cephas or Peter, which are derivations of the words for “rock” in Aramaic and Greek respectively. Jesus recognised that Peter was a strong man of faith, and his strength like a rock would be needed as the fledgling church grew.
   • Peter is often represented as a man who made mistakes, and he did do that. As any Christian knows, Peter denied Jesus three times. Consider these words for a moment as it tells us a lot about Peter as a man, and how Jesus viewed him.
     
     31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” 33 And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” 34 He said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you three times deny that you know me.” (Luke 22:31-34)
     
     Jesus knew that Peter would deny know Christ three times. But even despite that, Jesus instructed Peter to strengthen the rest of the brethren who would need help to get through this time of sadness when Jesus had been put to death. Peter was to be the rock that stood strong in the faith and to help the rest of the disciples of the Lord in those days following the death of Jesus. This is evidence of why Jesus renamed Simon with the Aramaic name “Cephas,” and the Greek name “Peter,” both of which mean “rock.”
3. Scripture: John 1:43 – Follow Me
   • As we continue reading this scripture we see Jesus finds Philip and called him saying, “Follow me.” In other gospels we see Jesus also said these words to some of the other disciples also, including Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
   • The Greek word translated as “Follow” is an interesting word. It doesn’t simply mean to walk behind someone in a line, like a group of marchers in a parade. It is a much deeper word than meaning simply to string along behind someone or something. To quote the Topical Lexicon for this word:
     
     Strong’s Greek 190 (akoloutheō) pictures more than walking behind someone; it denotes a deliberate, whole-person response of attachment, obedience, and ongoing companionship. In the New Testament it serves as the primary verb for discipleship, encapsulating the life of one who hears Christ’s call, abandons competing allegiances, and continues in loyal fellowship with Him.
     
     
   • When Jesus said “Follow me,” He was saying to Philip and others to come and be with Him as a disciple. He was calling Philip and others to learn from Him, live with Him, be obedient to His words and be a daily companion in life. As the Topical Lexicon above says, to follow Christ was to be a “whole person response of attachment” to Christ. Christ was calling people to Himself and showing that in following Him, it would need to be a complete giving over of themselves to Christ so that their lives would be transformed.
4. Scripture: John 1:44-51 – Spiritual insights into His followers
   • I have already indicated how Jesus understood Peter’s personality and nature. But Peter was not the only person Jesus called where He had a prior understanding of a person. And it is evident that the only way Jesus could have had this pre-knowledge was through the insights of the Holy Spirit in Him. It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus to the insights we see when Jesus called Nathanael.
   • This section of scripture tells us that when Jesus called Philip to follow Him, Philip went and brought Nathanael. When Philip told Nathanael they had found the Christ, Nathanael was skeptical. He couldn’t accept that anything good could come out of Nazareth. It seems that the town of Nazareth suffered from a less than illustrious or positive reputation. It seems it was a place that was looked down upon by many of the Jews. And it is fitting that Jesus grew up in such a place as it underscores the way that God often used those who were lowly or broken to do His work.
   • When Nathanael came to meet Christ for the first time, Jesus identified who Nathanael was, his nature, and attitudes, and showed Nathanael a level of foreknowledge that could not have come from ordinary means. He showed a spiritual insight into Nathanael that was immediately recognised by that man as something that could only come from God. And Nathanael immediately worshipped Jesus calling Him the Son of God and King of Israel.
   • But Jesus shows that what He had shown in that moment was only to be a drop in the bucket of what would follow. He stated that those with Him would witness many great, powerful, and wondrous signs as they followed Jesus. This was just the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and greater things were to follow.

Prayer Points:

• Pray and ask God to give you insight into these things and to see what Jesus was doing as he began His ministry.
• As Jesus called those who were to follow Him, pray and ask God to show you what it truly means to follow Jesus, and to give you the Holy Spirit to do the work of transformation that can only come by following Jesus according to His word and the will of God.