Meditation

Hi there,

Two things stand out from today's verses.

The first is Andrew's immediate impulse to share the gospel, even before he knows much himself. He had previously been a follower of John, so was already on a spiritual journey and now recognized Jesus as the Messiah. The destination for that journey and acted instantly.

The second is the renaming, by Jesus, of Simon to Cephas. Declaring that to become a follower of Jesus is to be wholly changed. Jesus sees Simon not simply for who he is now, but also for who he will become as his disciple. The "rock" on which he will build his church.

Today's text is John 1:39-42. The verses to copy are in black and red. Yesterday's verses are in grey for context.

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

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).

Encouragement

"Jesus doesn’t just change what we do; He changes who we are.”

Tim Keller. Jesus The King

Andy