John 1:35-51, November 15, 2009

Icebreaker: Think of a time when you had such great news that you couldn't wait to tell a friend about it.  Share this with your group.

Scripture:

John 1:35-51  35Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?" 39He 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. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). 43The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of 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." 46Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth." Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israealite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" 48Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 51 And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Study:

Andrew and another disciple were disciples of John the Baptist, and so trusting John, when he introduces them to Jesus, they want to find out more about Him. In verse 39 what does Jesus invite them to do?

After spending an afternoon with Him, what are Andrew and the other disciple (probably John himself) convinced of?   And what does Andrew do immediately?  Who does Andrew tell his brother, Simon Peter, Jesus is?  Why is this significant?  (Compare what Andrew found out from Jesus, to what John the Baptist tells Andrew in verse 20)

When is the last time you spent a whole afternoon with Jesus?  What kind of affect did it have, or what kind of affect do you think it would have?

Jesus is the one who calls Philip, but then what does Philip do almost immediately?  What is Nathaneal's first reaction?  How does Philip encourage him?  (v.46)

There is little else mentioned about Andrew in the gospels, but look who he brought to Jesus.  Who haven't you told about Jesus that might end up doing great things for His Kingdom?