Context No. 4007 of 4322 · John

John 1:40-45: in context

40One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter). 43On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael, 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.”

In these verses we see how the earliest disciples were drawn to Jesus, and it happened through a simple, personal chain. Andrew, having found Jesus, first goes to find his own brother Simon, telling him, we have found the Messiah, and brings him to Jesus. And Philip, called by Jesus, immediately goes to find his friend Nathanael, saying, we have found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote.

Each person who found Jesus went looking for someone close to them to bring along. There is a natural and beautiful pattern here for how faith spreads. It was not through grand campaigns but through ordinary people bringing those they knew, a brother, a friend, to Jesus. Andrew's first instinct, having found the Messiah, was to go and find his brother. Philip's was to seek out his friend. The gospel spread from one person to the next through these personal invitations: come and see. When we have found Christ, the natural response, like Andrew's and Philip's, is to want to bring those we love to him too. We do not need eloquence or training; we need only go to those close to us and say, come and see.

Having found Christ myself, do I follow Andrew and Philip in bringing those close to me to him, my family and friends, with the simple invitation to come and see, rather than keeping the good news to myself?

Sources

John 1:41: "He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah! He brought him to Jesus."
John 1:45: "Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote."
John 1:46: "Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see."