Good Friday morning! What a clear and cool morning it is too! Hmm, my second Facebook friend request from someone I do not know. The first was a politician, but the second was a very attractive young lady. I'm not sure what a 'ndue' picture is, but I'm fairly certain that I don't need to be looking at them. Some mornings it is best to avoid a temptation.
Oops, major goof yesterday. If you looked up the Bible verse in your own Bible, you probably saw that I only quoted half of the verse. The verse should have read:
Jesus looked around and saw them following. "What do you want?" he asked them. They replied, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?" (John 1:38)
Today we will try to get the entire verse, no sense making it harder than I have to.
"Come and see," he said. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
My footnotes to this one say to read the entire verse... just kidding; there is no footnote for John 1:39. What do we notice first about this verse? Jesus didn't turn them away! These days we are so used to having "what do you want?" said in a snarly tone and followed by a dismissal or disparaging remark that we often fail to tell someone what we want. Jesus simply invited them to come and see. Once the disciples saw where the Teacher was staying, they stayed for the remainder of the day. In the summer this might have meant several hours after 4pm, in the winter somewhat less, but Andrew and John got to stay with Jesus. We kind of tend to miss that when we read many verses at once. They got to stay with Jesus! Imagine what the two disciples might have learned in that short time with our Lord. Even a non-believing intellectual might put up some good money to spend a few hours with Jesus of Nazareth today. For those who believe in Him, Jesus gives us his own Holy Spirit all day and every day. What questions might Andrew and John have asked in that short time though? Or, maybe they just got to know each other for a bit. You have a precious few hours with the Messiah, what do you say to him? The better answer of course might be to keep quiet and listen.
Whatever was said in this time was not recorded in John. Private words in a private first meeting. We might feel a little left out, but Andrew and John got to stay with Jesus! We can't help but feel great joy for the two disciples. Whatever Jesus said that evening, we can be sure that the two men learned a lot even though the teaching wouldn't come completely together for them until after Christ rose again. Not all blessings are given equally to everyone. Certainly we feel a curiosity about what was said, but we are glad for Andrew and John. Feeling joy with our brothers and sisters in Christ is a blessing for us all.
Enjoy the day in Christ!
Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment