Finding Jesus
We have found - said Andrew - we have found the promised person who will make all things right: the Messiah.
Who really found who? The question is important because a great many people are searching for a person who will make everything right. A savior figure, a miracle worker, a perfect leader who will transform the earth, and establish the perfect system of world government.
What were Andrew and his brother Peter looking for when they went searching for a messiah? A man sent by God with divine powers. He would be a great leader like Moses who not only freed his people but led, organized and taught them. He would be a great administrator like King David who made Israel rich powerful and beautiful. He would also be a man who could read the mind of God and tell the people the plans of God, like the prophet Elijah. With these qualities the Messiah would subdue all destructive powers and establish the perfect kingdom. His people would participate in his victory and rule the Kingdom of God with him. The rest of the world listened to these Jewish hopes: what the Jews were searching for was what everyone else was hoping for. A man sent from God with the authority to put everything right.
Andrew found Jesus and knew he had found the Messiah. He took his brother to meet Jesus, and Peter met the man: a young man, a carpenter by trade, about 30 years of age. What did Jesus say to these men who had made the great discovery? Jesus told Peter who Peter was, and who he would become. No oratory, no world economy plan, just the knowledge of an individual as he is and as he will become. Peter was sufficiently convinced to become one of the man's students, and be called a disciple of Jesus. This is also the reason many people today are convinced. Because when they met Jesus the Messiah, he spoke to them in their hearts, he knew them, who they were and what they could become. They have found the messiah.
The next day Jesus did some searching, he found Philip and invited him to become his student (disciple)
Who really found who? The question remains important because Jesus came from heaven to look for the people who wanted to find him. When he finds those people he invites them to join him and learn about his Father and our Father.
In one or two days Jesus had found and invited four of the famous twelve men who were his inner circle of disciples. Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathanael.
Who were these men who found Jesus? They lived fairly close to the town where Jesus lived, they may have met him in the local synagogue, or gone to him for carpentry work, or seen him going into the hills alone to pray. This too is an important question. Because there is a notion that only social rejects, failures and incompetents need Jesus. These first four men were none of those things, they were working men, owning their own trade, skilled in catching fish and selling them to the buyer from the garrison of Roman soldiers. Peter was a married man, perhaps the others were too. It is true that Jesus is sought by people who are desperate and lost but it is also true that Jesus has come searching for decent citizens, people with character, ability and responsibility.
After Jesus found Philip, Philip found his brother, Nathanael. and said the same thing that Andrew had said, only in different words, "We have found the Messiah." Jesus met Nathanael with the statement, "You are a man without deceit." and Nathanael didn't argue, he simply said, "How do you know me?" I saw you said, Jesus, before ever Philip called you. Nathanael was convinced. Jesus was pleased with such quick acceptance and told Nathanael that one day he would see the heavens open and the angels of God going up and coming down to Jesus the Son of Man.
What I am saying here, is that Jesus is looking for the people who are looking for him. He looks for all sorts of people including the solid respectable capable wage earner and citizen. If you are hoping to meet him (and not trying to hide from him) he will meet you. What will convince you will be the knowledge of yourself that happens when he meets you, and the promise that you hear in his invitations. You are, you shall become.
So how do you search for Jesus? I say those words with concern, because I personally know a great many people who would like to meet Jesus but haven't yet found him. I can only give you suggestions: Be in the right places where you are likely to meet him, read the scriptures that tell about him, hang around with people who have already met him. Remain open: never hiding never avoiding, always being ready to be found by Jesus. the man who is God come to earth to look for you.
The Gospel according to John Chapter one versese thirtyfive to fiftyone.
Who really found who? The question is important because a great many people are searching for a person who will make everything right. A savior figure, a miracle worker, a perfect leader who will transform the earth, and establish the perfect system of world government.
What were Andrew and his brother Peter looking for when they went searching for a messiah? A man sent by God with divine powers. He would be a great leader like Moses who not only freed his people but led, organized and taught them. He would be a great administrator like King David who made Israel rich powerful and beautiful. He would also be a man who could read the mind of God and tell the people the plans of God, like the prophet Elijah. With these qualities the Messiah would subdue all destructive powers and establish the perfect kingdom. His people would participate in his victory and rule the Kingdom of God with him. The rest of the world listened to these Jewish hopes: what the Jews were searching for was what everyone else was hoping for. A man sent from God with the authority to put everything right.
Andrew found Jesus and knew he had found the Messiah. He took his brother to meet Jesus, and Peter met the man: a young man, a carpenter by trade, about 30 years of age. What did Jesus say to these men who had made the great discovery? Jesus told Peter who Peter was, and who he would become. No oratory, no world economy plan, just the knowledge of an individual as he is and as he will become. Peter was sufficiently convinced to become one of the man's students, and be called a disciple of Jesus. This is also the reason many people today are convinced. Because when they met Jesus the Messiah, he spoke to them in their hearts, he knew them, who they were and what they could become. They have found the messiah.
The next day Jesus did some searching, he found Philip and invited him to become his student (disciple)
Who really found who? The question remains important because Jesus came from heaven to look for the people who wanted to find him. When he finds those people he invites them to join him and learn about his Father and our Father.
In one or two days Jesus had found and invited four of the famous twelve men who were his inner circle of disciples. Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathanael.
Who were these men who found Jesus? They lived fairly close to the town where Jesus lived, they may have met him in the local synagogue, or gone to him for carpentry work, or seen him going into the hills alone to pray. This too is an important question. Because there is a notion that only social rejects, failures and incompetents need Jesus. These first four men were none of those things, they were working men, owning their own trade, skilled in catching fish and selling them to the buyer from the garrison of Roman soldiers. Peter was a married man, perhaps the others were too. It is true that Jesus is sought by people who are desperate and lost but it is also true that Jesus has come searching for decent citizens, people with character, ability and responsibility.
After Jesus found Philip, Philip found his brother, Nathanael. and said the same thing that Andrew had said, only in different words, "We have found the Messiah." Jesus met Nathanael with the statement, "You are a man without deceit." and Nathanael didn't argue, he simply said, "How do you know me?" I saw you said, Jesus, before ever Philip called you. Nathanael was convinced. Jesus was pleased with such quick acceptance and told Nathanael that one day he would see the heavens open and the angels of God going up and coming down to Jesus the Son of Man.
What I am saying here, is that Jesus is looking for the people who are looking for him. He looks for all sorts of people including the solid respectable capable wage earner and citizen. If you are hoping to meet him (and not trying to hide from him) he will meet you. What will convince you will be the knowledge of yourself that happens when he meets you, and the promise that you hear in his invitations. You are, you shall become.
So how do you search for Jesus? I say those words with concern, because I personally know a great many people who would like to meet Jesus but haven't yet found him. I can only give you suggestions: Be in the right places where you are likely to meet him, read the scriptures that tell about him, hang around with people who have already met him. Remain open: never hiding never avoiding, always being ready to be found by Jesus. the man who is God come to earth to look for you.
The Gospel according to John Chapter one versese thirtyfive to fiftyone.
Labels: Jesus, Messiah, Perfect world
posted by Jessie Coates at 9:55 PM
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