Finding Identity and Significance Through following Jesus - John 1:35-51

Last week I left you all hanging.

The very end of the sermon last week the point was who am I?

And I gave an illustration of Jean Veljean from Les Miserables, who sought to make a name as an alibi for himself, so that he would hide.

But yet in the end he recognized that whatever he did for himself, he was not able to.

He was not going to be good enough.

And so he was still.

He still owned up, he still had to own up to his own true identity.

And so the question that we ask is where do we find hope?

Where do we find our significance?

Where do we find significance?

I made the statement that our significance is found only in Christ, not in any name that we have, any title that we have.

It's in the name, it's in Christ.

That's the place where we find it.

So today, as we continue our message, as we walk through the book of John, we're going to look at the last part of chapter one.

So take your Bibles and turn to John 1, if you would.

We see John the Baptist as this first messenger of the Messiah who was to come, and we see him redirecting people's attention away from himself to the true light, to the one who is to come.

He basically does not desire to make any kind of name or draw any attention to himself, but instead he turns people's attention to the one who is to come.

And once Jesus arrives, there is no reason to pay attention to or to derive any sort of significance in himself or in anybody else.

But what's interesting is that when Jesus comes onto the scene, one of the first things that we have recorded that he does is that actually gathers people to join him, that he gathers people to become a part of him and to be a part of the mission that he has come to accomplish.

And so we find here in John 1, the story of his first disciples, those who will follow him, who will be with him, that will ultimately help carry out the mission that he calls them to.

You know it's interesting.

Well, first of all, let me just read this passage for us, and then we will look at this together.

John is written in reading in verse 35, so John, chapter 1 and verse 35.

John 1 · chapter mention

The next day, again, john was standing with two of his disciples.

Now, you remember the day before he's baptizing?

Remember when John the Baptist declares, when he sees Jesus behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, this is the next day, and he says the next day.

John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said behold the Lamb of God.

So John doesn't miss a beat.

He's right on task with what he has been sent to do.

The two disciples heard him say this and they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them what are you seeking?

And they said to him Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?

He said to them come and you will see.

So they came and saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, simon, peter's brother.

He was first found.

He first found his own brother, simon, and said to him we have found the Messiah, which means the Christ.

He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said you are Simon, son of John.

You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.

The next day, jesus decided to go to Galilee.

He found Philip and said to him follow me.

And Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathaniel and said to him we have found him, of whom Moses and the law and the prophets wrote.

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathaniel said to him can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him come and see.

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said to him behold an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.

Nathaniel 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.

Nathaniel answered him rabbi, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel.

Jesus answered him because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree.

Do you believe you will see greater things than these?

And he said to him truly, truly, I say to you you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man.

This is the word of the Lord.

You know the Super Bowl is next Sunday, if you didn't know.

For those who care, I care.

It's one of my favorite and also least favorite moments in the sports calendar of the year.

I love it because it's a Super Bowl and my favorite sport to watch is NFL football.

It's also very sad because that means I have to wait about six months before I get to watch football again after this is gone.

But you know, one of the greatest arguably one of the probably arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, tom Brady, was asked.

He has won I don't know five, six, seven, I don't know how many Super Bowls.

He's won a lot of them.

And he was asked after he won his third Super Bowl, which was very remarkable.

Asked him what does it feel like?

Is it everything that you ever dreamed it would be?

And he said no, I don't understand.

I feel I don't feel like it's anything Like.

It seems like it should be more exciting.

To this, I should feel a sense of more accomplishment and it's not what I thought it would be.

You know, I think there's things that we chase in our lives sometimes and we have certain expectations and yet we get there and it's like, well, it's not exactly what I thought it was going to be, it's not exactly what I, the pictures showed or what I saw on Instagram, or the experience is not everything that people talked about.

We feel like we pursue something and then it leaves us empty.

Imagine pursuing something, finding something, and finding that it's everything, and more than you ever thought it would be.

Imagine coming across something and all of a sudden it is exactly or far beyond what you ever imagined.

That's what I feel happens in this text with these disciples.

These disciples are random people from random backgrounds, doing their various things in life.

We do find that they have some attention and we'll talk about this in a minute but they have some attention on the promises of God.

They are aware of the Old Testament scriptures that point their attention to a particular direction, but I don't know that they knew exactly what it is that they were looking for or hoping for, but I'm sure in their minds they hoped that when we see it, we will know it.

When we see it, we will know what it is.

I want us to look today.

The main thing that I want us to take away from today's text is this Jesus is always and will.

He is and always will be everything you could ever dream, and more so, follow him.

Jesus is and always will be everything that you could ever dream, and more so, follow him.

There's a story and account of what these disciples, what their experience of coming across Christ and their interaction with him that compels them to follow him.

I think it is not because they are gullible.

I don't think it's because they were easily manipulated.

I think it's because Jesus is who he claims to be, who he really is.

He is God in the flesh.

He is everything that John announced and John proclaimed.

The first main point that I want us to look at is this Jesus is the end to every hope that you have pursued.

Jesus is the end to every hope that you have pursued.

I should have a slide for that.

What I mean by the end is I don't mean that he destroys everything that you pursued or he stopped you from pursuing it, but he has actually gotten there.

Jesus is everything that you have longed for.

He is the reality.

He is the substance of everything that we have longed for.

Each and every part of our religious experience comes together rightly when we see Jesus for who he is.

Every part of our religious experience comes together rightly.

I want you to think about this when did these two disciples, these first two disciples, where did they come from?

How are they introduced in this passage?

They were disciples of John the Baptist.

They were already following John the Baptist.

They had interest in knowing what God's plan was how God would reveal Himself, and they saw John as someone who was a significant figure, who was doing the will of God.

He was obviously significant in that he identifies Himself as the voice who's crying in the wilderness.

And so, these two men, out of a desire to know God's will, they began to follow Him.

And when John says to them, when John announces to them, behold the Lamb of God, they are well.

This is why we've been following John.

This is everything that we've been believing.

This is what has motivated us to follow John.

And so they leave John and they go to follow Jesus.

I think this is important to think about because, as I look around this room here, we have a huge diversity of backgrounds that we have come from.

We have come from all different walks of life.

Some of us have come from other countries and where our religion or Christianity is practiced a particular way.

Some of us had come from other parts of the United States where our experience and our culture around the way that we worship is one way or the other.

Some of us have grown up like myself, I grew up in a very legalistic, fundamentalist mentality, where I was told that following God looked a particular way.

It influenced the way that I act, the way that I lived, in a way that was not right.

It didn't point my attention to God.

It pointed the attention to my actions, the way that I lived out, what I was living and how important that was.

Others have come from more charismatic backgrounds, where the spirit of God is something that we long for.

We want to engage in the spirit in a particular way, but I dare say this that every background that we've come from whether it's a cultural significance, a religious bent, a different version, all of these things are lacking.

All of these things leave us wondering is there more?

And I'm not going to tell you that Redeemer is the place where you're going to find everything.

We are the answer to all the problems, but I will say that the Redeemer is the answer to all of our problems.

He is the thing that we have all pursued.

Now, what this means for us is this these disciples had in their mind I want to know what is significant about obeying and following God, what is significant about following John the Baptist, what is significant about the Old Testament?

And when they see Jesus, they realize this is it.

This is what I need, and Redeemer Church is a place where we long to point whoever is here to Christ.

We want everyone to walk away not saying, oh, I love that space because this is an amazing space.

We don't want people walking away saying, oh, pastor Ricky or Pastor Royce, they're amazing pastors.

We hope to do our best and we hope to glorify and honor God in the place that we meet and how we take care of the places that we are, that we are in and the things that we're called to do.

But ultimately, if you don't walk away rejoicing in Jesus, if you don't walk away saying I am there because I am following Jesus, then we have not done the job fairly and rightly so.

When I see this, I just want to encourage us and I know I jumped right into application here at the beginning, but I think it's important for us to understand, like I said when I reviewed the intro last week, we are going to find ourselves in various parts of this narrative where we can say I identify with that.

And what I want to do is this when we gather together and maybe we don't quite understand each other's backgrounds, maybe we don't quite connect with each other, where we came from and how we used to do church.

What I hope that we connect on is that we're following Jesus, that Jesus is the thing that we long for, that Jesus is the one that satisfies us, that when we get up here and we sing, we are singing.

It's not the music, the sound of the music, that encourages us although I hope it does but that it's Jesus who is the one who brings us together.

John, his message, was to preach the one who was to come into the world.

He was not the light.

John was not the light, but he was the bare witness of the true life.

And so when he told his disciples Jesus is the Lamb of God, they left to follow Jesus.

They were not leaving for someone more impressive than John, only to try to keep going up the scale of teachers or up the ranks of teachers.

When they found Jesus, this was it.

They could find rest in following him.

However, you have begun your journey to draw close to God, to be identified with him.

Your journey was designed by God so that, when Jesus comes into your life, when he presents himself to you in a real and powerful way, that you will say this is it.

This is everything that I have needed.

I don't know where you're at.

I actually do hope that Redeemer Church is a place that we continue to move your journey forward.

But more than that, I hope that you find the presence, the life, the hope of Jesus here real, so that you can say I have been with Jesus and you will follow him Next.

Under this first point, I want us to look at Jesus.

The Lamb of God is where true seekers find his or her home.

Jesus said.

The disciples followed Jesus after John points out this is the Lamb of God, and they leave John and they go to follow him.

Jesus says to them what do you seek?

Or another way of translating this probably more plainly is what do you want?

He's walking past and John's like there behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And Jesus is walking and he looks and he says oh, what do you guys want?

What are you looking for?

What are you trying to find?

And they say to him rabbi, which if you study the New Testament, especially the Gospels, you know that rabbi means teacher.

In this case, the word rabbi could also just be a term of honor, of giving respect to somebody significant.

Later on, in the first century, it became more formalized as a term specifically referring to an ordained teacher.

But they were looking at him, basically saying we want to follow you as a teacher, we believe that we want to be your disciples.

And so they respond to Jesus by saying rabbi.

Rabbi literally means my great one, we're giving this honor and this respect to him.

And so he says to them, they say to him Rabbi, and then they ask where are you staying?

Now this conversation, although it's a bit abbreviated, this conversation basically indicates this that when John the Evangelist who's writing this book, his account of this, he is actually giving us the indication that they were not just following him like they were just walking behind him, but in fact they were walking, following him with the intention of staying with him.

And even this first interaction, when he says what do you want?

And he says to them, they say Rabbi, and he says where are you staying?

Their idea is we want to go wherever you are, we want to be with you wherever you are, we want to stay with you.

What we were doing with John, we want to do it with you.

So we want to follow you and we want to be with you.

And so they followed him with the intention of staying with him.

When Jesus enters your life and you begin to follow him, he will both define and redefine your life.

He will bring clarity to your life.

When Jesus enters your life and you begin to follow him with all of your heart, when you are fully committed to him, he will begin to define and redefine your life.

Where do we see this?

Andrew, one of the two disciples that follow him.

He runs and tells his brother, simon, and he goes to Simon and he says I have found the one.

I found the one who is the Messiah.

He's the one that we have been looking for, he's the coming one.

And so he runs to get him.

And what happens?

Peter comes with him and Jesus says to him you are Simon, but I'm going to change your name.

I'm going to give you a different name Now.

Last week I said names were not all that significant.

When we make them for ourselves, they're not significant, but when Jesus comes in and redefines us and gives us a name, a new name, it means all the difference, because what Jesus does here is he redefines who Simon is going to be.

You're going to be Peter, and we know from other texts in the Scriptures that this means that he is going to be foundational in the church that Jesus has come to establish, that he is going to be significant in the church that Jesus has come to.

His following of Jesus is going to change his life, and so we see that, and so it's important for us to understand that.

Jesus defines us and, at his will, he redefines who we are.

He is the anointed one.

Christ is here and it is the big deal.

He is everything that we need.

When you begin to follow Jesus, you truly give yourself to follow and commit yourself to him.

He will bring clarity to your life.

He will help you understand who you are and what you are to do.

He may even completely redefine for you what you will do and what you will be like.

For me personally, when I was 22, something significant happened in my life.

I grew up always going to church.

My parents were very faithful.

Every Sunday time the church was open, and back then we did Sunday school, sunday morning church, sunday night church, wednesday night church, and we spent many, many hours of the week attending church.

I was a part of a family that was very, very committed to following God, as we believe that we should follow him, and I got to experience what that was like when I was in my 20s, 22 years old.

God did an amazing thing in my life, where I began to see him more clearly than I had ever seen him before.

I felt like my relationship with God began to grow in ways and took on, in some sense, a life that I had never experienced before, and it caused me to want to follow him and to love him and to pursue him in the way that he wanted me to.

When God did this big work in my life at the age of 22, I felt like one of the things that I wanted to do was I wanted to go out and tell people all the things that I was learning, but I felt like there was such a mess within the churches that I had experienced that I don't want to go back to any of those churches and be a part of any of those churches.

So I'm going to plant a church.

I want to plant a church where I have more control over how things are done and I can influence people the way that I feel we need to be influenced.

I was 22.

This is, you know, year 2001, I think.

So it was 23 years ago, and so I had this burning desire that I wanted to be a church planter.

Well, fortunately, by God's grace, he put me into a church where elders came around me and they said you need to settle down, you need to calm down, you are not ready for this.

You need what you need to do.

What we want to see in you is that you love God with all your heart, soul and mind and strength, that you love God's people and that you're faithful.

And so I had elders in my life in that church that I joined that I would tell them look, I can lead worship.

I've been leading worship since I was 15 years old.

I've been leading congregational singing, for at that point already, like seven, seven, eight years, I can do this.

And they would say no, it's not about your gifts, it's not about what you can do.

You just need to love God, love people and be faithful.

And so they didn't get me doing things that I was good at, that I was gifted at.

They just wanted to see me become a part of the people of God.

Well, if you look at my story, my journey, I started working.

I worked for an ice cream and coffee shop for a little while, and then I started working for an elder in our church who owned an electrical business, and I began doing electrical work where he would mentor the guys that were working for him, and not just mentor them in electrical, but he would mentor them in theology and in scriptures and just our personal walk of life with God.

And I began working as a construction worker and found great joy in serving God through that particular means, through that particular way of life.

And then God opened up the door and opportunity for me to go to a church in Baltimore where I could be a youth and worship pastor, two things that I loved doing working with youth and leading worship.

At the time I was like no way God has given me a place here to serve and to be very, very active within the community.

This is a construction community and the community that we lived in and so God made it clear for us to move to Baltimore.

So I moved to Baltimore and then, three years later, god moved us here, and so there I was, at the age of 35, finally being a part of a church planter that I had long for.

But you know what was different for me?

What was different for me is that I was scared half to death in coming out here, because I realized when I was a kid, when I was 22 years old, I thought I can make a difference, I can change the world.

And although I saw Jesus in a different way, I thought that it would be about the things that I understood and the way that I would influence people and the things that I could do to change the people's lives around me.

And when I moved out here into a place I'd never been to, a world of people that I didn't know much about, I was scared because, if it's dependent on me, I don't know how this is going to happen.

As a matter of fact, it's interesting for me when people as I got older and I began to mature and people started to ask me you know, have you ever thought about being a lead pastor?

And I was like you know what?

I have so many things that I'm not good at that, things that I struggle with that I just don't know that that's ever going to be the case.

But if God does put me in a role where I'm going to be an elder or a pastor, I need to be a part of a team that's gifted, that God has brought together and assembled together for the work of His glory.

Because I know that I'm going to fail, I don't have all the ideas.

And here I am, at 45 years of age almost 46, and I still think what am I doing?

What's going on?

How do we do what we're called to do?

And I look at this room and I think God has assembled a team.

He's brought people together to do the work that he has called us to do, from all different backgrounds, and so if any one of us thinks that we have an idea of how things ought to be, then we need to step back and say you know what?

It's not about us, it's about Jesus, and what Jesus was doing in these disciples' lives is he was defining and redefining for them what their life was to be like.

But again, like we looked at last week with Elijah and the prophet, none of their lives makes sense, none of their life has importance outside Jesus Christ.

Everything that we do, everything that we are, finds its significance in Jesus, and so we gather here together.

We are called, like disciples, to gather together to follow Jesus, like these disciples were gathered to follow Jesus, and we don't do it in our own strength.

We do it the way that Jesus calls us, the way that he defines us and the way that he wants for things to be, and we do it in His name.

So when you follow Jesus, you no longer have to search for anything more.

You can find your rest in Him, and he is the one who equips us and leads us to do what we are called to do.

The second big point I want to make here is that Jesus is the answer to every problem you have ever pondered.

Jesus is the answer to every problem that you have ever pondered.

God's plan for you to be at a cycle of Jesus will not be the same as other peoples, but it will be exactly what he intends for you.

So, as we look here and we see what happens with Philip and Nathaniel, the next day Jesus decided to go into Galilee.

He found Philip and said to him follow me.

What's interesting is this?

We have two very different accounts.

We have one where what was the thing that brought Andrew and the other disciple to follow Jesus?

Well, it was John the Baptist saying Behold the Lamb of God.

Jesus didn't call to them.

Somebody told them.

John the Baptist told them there's the Lamb of God and they said we're going to follow.

Well, the next day Jesus is walking and he says Follow me.

And so there are different ways in which God brings us to following Christ.

Sometimes it's something that he has put in us that draws us to him and we chase after him because there's something that his spirit is doing in us to want us to follow him.

But in other cases Jesus confronts us and says Follow me, stop what you're doing and follow me.

And he says this to Philip here.

He calls to him and says Follow me.

He says Now, Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathaniel and said to him we have found him, of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

When Philip is called to follow Jesus, jesus makes it very clear what he wants for Philip.

There's no Q and A like the other ones had.

There's a very clear call to Philip.

Now for Nathaniel.

It took a minute.

Philip goes and he goes to Nathaniel and he says hey, guess what we have found.

I have found the one who Moses and the law and the prophets have talked about, and he's from Nazareth and Philip's like Really, can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Nathaniel is a skeptic.

He's heard this story before.

Different people have been identified as, or identified themselves as, the Messiah, as the one coming who would rescue his people, but not out of Nazareth.

Nazareth is this small little, insignificant town.

So Nathaniel is a skeptic, he's a critic.

But each story is different, each story of each person's life is different.

But Jesus again brings definition.

It ends all the same when we follow Jesus.

So here's Nathaniel.

He and Philip are obviously been having theological discussions about what did Moses mean?

What did the law refer to?

What did the prophets teach us about the one who is to come?

And so they've been having these ponderings of who is going to be the one.

You know it's interesting too, nathaniel.

I don't know why Nathaniel was sitting under the tree.

It's interesting.

We could think about why he was sitting under the fig tree, and I don't know that it's all that significant why he was there, except that's specifically where Philip found it.

But you know, what's interesting is if you look at the historical and even the cultural scenario there.

The Jewish people were under oppression.

They were oppressed by Rome, they were being taxed, they were going through very, very hard times and who knows exactly why Nathaniel was sitting there.

But it's not hard to imagine that perhaps Nathaniel was discouraged.

The reason he was so skeptical, the reason he was so critical, such a critic, is because life was hard, things were challenging.

So for whatever reason that Nathaniel might have been under that tree, the reality is that it was significant.

When Jesus says to him I saw you under the tree, he knew what he was going through.

He knew what it was that had him there, what brought him there.

He knew what was going on in his life.

The idea of Nathaniel following Jesus was not a surprise.

It was not like Jesus said oh, philip, I called you to follow me, nathaniel.

I saw what was going on, I saw why he was sitting under the tree.

You know, I'm good with you.

That's not what he said.

Jesus actually knew everything that was happening in his life and when he called Philip, he knew that Philip would run and tell Nathaniel and Nathaniel would also follow him.

You know, we might look at our lives like we show up on Sundays and we put on a smile.

We're good around each other.

Last week I told you, you know, a lot of times people say leave your problems and just come and worship Jesus.

And I'm saying bring your problems, because this is how we are confronted with them.

Well, jesus says this whatever is causing you to sit under the tree, whatever is causing you to go through the hardship that you might be going through, whatever the difficulties that you're facing, bring them.

I see you, I see you where you are and you can come and follow me.

When Jesus enters your life, the circumstances and the problems of life that caused you to dream and ponder, for a miracle, they fade away.

Jesus becomes the focus and the joy of the life.

In the place of whatever you've dreamed and whatever you imagine, jesus is the one who steps into your life and your dreams.

What you imagine, how you hoped your problems would be solved.

They find an answer because Jesus is there in your life.

Now you might say to me come on, I've been following Jesus a long time and I still have a lot of problems.

I still go through anxiety, I still have issues in my life.

Well, the reality is that Jesus doesn't necessarily promise that we're going to have all the answers right now, here.

As a matter of fact, when you look at this, when you look at this.

Jesus doesn't even give them a theological argument for who he is.

He does amaze Nathaniel a little bit.

I saw you.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

How did you see me?

Well, he's the Son of God.

He's both God and man.

He's all-knowing, he's all-present, and yet he's still also the man.

But it was enough for Nathaniel to be converted from a critic and a skeptic to being oh, you are the Son of God, you are the Messiah, you are the King.

That's who you are.

Nathaniel was convinced enough.

He didn't need theological arguments.

He did not need all of his questions answered.

He just needed to know that Jesus was everything that he was told that he was.

And what Nathaniel needed to be convinced of is that Jesus saw him even when he didn't think anybody was looking.

He saw him even when he was just sitting separated.

He needed to know that Jesus was who he said he was, that he had the power of God as he enters into his life.

Oftentimes the most pressing theological discussion debate come about because life is so hard and we have nothing else to hope for.

I don't know if you know about this or if you've ever experienced this, but people I think people really, really do want to believe that God or a God exists.

When you're going through a hard time, you want to believe that I can say a prayer and that there's someone who can make a difference in our life, that can just change everything.

So even the atheists, I think, are still questioning is it possible, can someone know where I'm at and they can help me where I am?

I don't know if you've experienced this, but I have been in places where I've had theological conversations with people who are agnostic and atheists, because they are hoping and believing that there is something outside of the realm and the scope of their understanding, something that could change their life, something that could lift them.

Whatever the case, whatever the situation, the reality is that Jesus is the answer to every situational, every societal and every theological dilemma.

He is the answer to all and every problem that we might face, and so, even as church goers, you all are here today.

We're here at church.

We face wind and rain.

Today, I love the fact that Jesus was out on a boat with his disciples later on and he was able to say peace, be still.

It was in some sense insignificant to the greater mission that Jesus was coming to do, but he was able to calm the sea for his disciples, but at the same time they became more and more aware of who he was and they found their rest in him.

Whatever it is that you're going through, jesus is the answer to any problem or dilemma that you might have.

It is important for us to consider that the things that Jesus says here identify to them, to Nathaniel, and fill up who he is.

Jesus is all-knowing.

It's interesting, too, the comment that Jesus makes to Nathaniel.

He says to him he looks at Nathaniel and says ah, here's somebody who, here's a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit, in whom there is no guile, as one translation puts it.

He looks at him and says I don't know if it was Nathaniel's criticism and his skepticism that Jesus already knew about.

He's willing to say how it is out of Nazareth, that's where it's going to come.

He's not going to smooth it over and be all superficial and say, oh yeah, I'll go see who he is.

No, I'm just going to say the way I see it, not out of Nazareth, I don't know what it is.

But what's interesting here?

And I think this is really important for us to understand the last part of this text as we close, and that is this that Jesus says to him here is an Israelite with no deceit.

Now, I don't know if you remember this, but the name Israel comes from a guy in the Old Testament, a guy who also had his name changed from Jacob to Israel, and Jacob means deceit, and there's almost a pithy spin that Jesus has here where he says to him look, here's one who is all Israel and no Jacob.

Here is an Israelite who is all Israel, but he is not a deceiver.

There is no deceit found in him.

He is looking at Nathaniel, saying here is a guy who is part of the people who have faithfully followed the words of God, who have faithfully trusted in the promises of God, who have faithfully obeyed.

Here is one of them.

He is truly an Israelite in whom there is none of the spirit of Jacob.

We see Jacob's deception when Esau is out hunting and he is starving and Jacob is like, yeah, alright, I'll give you some of my porridge or what I've made for you if you just give me your birthright.

He deceived him into taking his birthright.

Jacob met his match when he went to Laban and Laban got the better hand on him and gave him Leah after seven years, instead of Rachel, who he thought he was working for.

But Jacob was one who was full of deceit.

But you know what?

God changed his name to Israel and he became the name that was associated with the people of God, the children of Israel.

So Jesus enters into Nathaniel's life.

He sees him and says you have a sense of purity about you that's not tainted by deceit.

You're not like Jacob.

When we stop to listen and pay attention to what Jesus wants to hear from him, sometimes we just might be blown away.

We might be affected in a way that we weren't expecting.

Nathaniel was somebody who had a reputation or something that Jesus saw in him that was significant.

He was a standard for the way that God's people ought to be.

And then, lastly, if I can get my page to turn here, lastly, jesus is the fulfillment to every blessing that God has promised.

Jesus is the fulfillment to every blessing that God has promised.

At the end of this chapter we see this in verse 50,.

Jesus answered him and said because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe you will see greater things than these?

He said to him, truly, truly, I say unto you.

You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.

What is he referring to?

What is he talking about?

Well, if you know the Old Testament, you might say wait a minute.

There was another time in the Bible where there were angels ascending and descending out of heaven.

Do you remember who that was?

Genesis 28.

Matter of fact, I want to look at that real quick.

I know we're running short on time here, but I want to look at Genesis 28 real quick.

Genesis 28, jacob again the deceiver is there, and make sure I'm in the right chapter here.

Genesis 28, verse 10, and Jacob the deceiver is here and he finds himself in a place.

Genesis 28:10

Hold on, I was in Exodus this whole time.

He finds himself in a place and he is tired and he lays down.

Jacob left Bathsheba and went toward Heron and he came to a certain place and they stayed there that night because the Son had set.

Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head to lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven.

And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it.

And behold, listen to these words that God uses to identify who he is.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and he said I am the Lord, god of Abraham, your Father and the God of Isaac.

The land on which I will give you I'm sorry, the land on which you lie I will give you and to your offspring.

Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad, to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south.

And behold, I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said Surely, the Lord is in this place.

And I did not know it.

And he was afraid and said how awesome is this place?

This is none other than the house of God.

And Jacob said I am the Lord, god of Abraham, the Lord, god of Isaac, the Lord, god of Isaac, the Lord, god of Abraham, the Lord, god of Abraham, the Lord, god of Abraham, and this is the gate of heaven.

So, early in the morning, jacob took a stone that he had put under his head and he set it for a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

He called the name of the place Bethel or Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

What's happening here?

This significant Old Testament figure is there and he falls asleep.

He puts a stone as a pillow under his head and he falls asleep.

And what does he see?

There's a dream.

He has a dream, and what does he see?

Angels of God coming down from heaven on a ladder, up and down, up and down.

And it's this magnificent scene.

And God reminds him of the promises that he made to his forefathers, god reminds him of all the things he's given, and he even gives him the promise the land that you're on, this is going to be yours, and your people are going to be countless and they're going to spread all over the earth.

This is who you're going to be.

This is what I have told you I am going to do.

And then he wakes up and he says oh, my goodness.

He says then Jacob woke up from his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.

He was afraid and said how awesome is this place?

This is none other than the house of God and it is the gate of heaven.

What an amazing thing.

Now we go forward all the way to this moment in time when Nathaniel was blown away.

He saw me under the fig tree.

Wow, you must be the son of God, you must be the king of Israel.

And Jesus says you think that was something, you think that was significant?

Who I am and what I am here to do in this moment.

Come on through who I am and what I'm going to do in this moment.

I want you to look back and every time you've read the story of Jacob, I want you to realize that the promises of God that were given to Jacob are now here.

I am that vision.

It is no longer a ladder.

I am here and in my presence, in my power, everything that we understand, that was given and promised by God is going to come through me.

He says to him that this, surely God and Jacob's response is, ought to be the response that Nathaniel has and ought to be the response that we have.

Surely, when Jesus is here, when he is present, surely God is in this place.

This is where the presence of God is dwelling, because Jesus is here.

God is here, and we ought to be astounded by that.

And so I want us to consider here that Jesus being the new Israel, that Jesus, the Son of man, is communicating, that the gateway, the axis and the means into heaven is not through a ladder but through him.

Jesus is claiming to be the presence of God, which demands full and exclusive worship.

God is here Now.

I want to close with this because I think this is powerful and significant, because Jesus is bringing together his disciples, and this is not just some.

It is a ragtag band of men, if you will.

They're from various backgrounds and various places, but I want you to see that Jesus is not bringing them together because of their significance.

He's bringing them together because of who he is, and their significance is wrapped up in who he is.

But before we close, I want you to see just a small thing, as I consider us here today.

God has brought us together here, and I want to point out one small thing that's helpful for us.

How is it that these people found their way to following Jesus?

John the Baptist announces the Lamb of God, and what does that do that motivates the two disciples to follow Jesus?

Right, andrew, after he finds out and he is convinced of who he is.

He runs and tells Peter come and see Jesus.

Says to Philip, come and follow me.

Philip turns and goes to Nathaniel and says I found him, of whom Moses and the prophets have spoken.

The reality is that Jesus is.

His presence captivates and overwhelms the people who were there with him.

But how do other people come to know?

They go and tell.

Each person who comes face to face with Jesus goes and tell the people that are around them, the people that are close to them, redeemer Church.

When we come face to face with who Jesus is, let us go and tell.

How are people going to know who he is and what he has come to do unless we go and tell?

And who do we tell?

Let's start with the people that are right around us, the people that we're connected to, the people that we know.

Let's tell them who Jesus is and share with them what you know, share with them what you believe, share with them what you have found.

Let's not hide it.

Let us worship and delight in him and let it overflow with praise, just as we read of John's account and how Jesus assembled this close group of followers who would join him in his earthly ministry.

So Jesus is assembling disciples right here at Redeemer Church in Union City.

There's not a clear rhyme or reason to who is here and how he's doing what he's doing.

We all have different stories how we ended up here, very different stories on how we ended up here, but the most common attribute is that when Jesus called to you and you followed him, you did, or you followed him and here you are.

We are not going to always click.

We're not always going to understand each other entirely.

As a matter of fact, as we continue to go through the gospel, we'll find times when the disciples fought and when they argued and they thought more of themselves and they paid less attention to Jesus.

But the reality is that as long as we stay focused and committed to following Jesus and we see him for who he is, as long as he remains the answer to every hope and the fulfillment of every dream, then we will be and do what he calls and leads us to, and we will stay with him, and he has promised that we will live with him forever and ever.

So, redeemer, that is my charge to us today.

Just like these disciples were called from, wherever it was, they were with no significance in and of themselves.

Jesus was assembling men and women who would change the world, and he would do it because he is the Son of God, because he is the King, because he is the Messiah.

So let us trust him and let us follow him today.

Lord, thank you so much for your word, thank you for the truth that we find in this, god.

I pray that you would help us to truly believe in you, that we would truly follow you, that we would understand you.

God, I pray that you would give us the strength and the confidence to follow you as we should, and I pray this things in Christ's name and in man.