Four Reasons To Follow Jesus

FOUR REASONS TO FOLLOW JESUS

John 1:35-42

Look again at verses 35-37: Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Let me ask you this: Why did these two disciples follow Jesus?
Basically these are the first two converts to Christ…the first of millions that would follow Christ and I wonder why?

And let me tell you they did more than just follow Jesus.

These guys will suffer with Him…and they will suffer for Him…and they will preach about Him…and teach about Him…and eventually they will die for Him.
And they won’t get rich…and they won’t be powerful…
They didn’t just follow Jesus…they were totally and completely committed to Jesus!
And my question is: Why would they do that?
And that may be your question too: Why should you totally commit yourself to Jesus? Why should you put Jesus over everything else? Why should you sacrifice…endure hardships…preach and teach Jesus…and eventually die for Him?
Why would you do that?

Perhaps for the same reasons these two disciples did.

Let’s look at this and the reasons to follow Jesus.
Look at verse 35 again.

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

The first reason these disciples followed Jesus was because they were told to.
Look at it, the verse says they were disciples of John.
John for several months has been preaching and teaching and saying, “He’s coming! Get ready, He is on His way!”
And now, here in this verse John says, “Here He is…this is the One…this is Him.”
And they follow Him…in part because they were told too.

But wait a minute…people will tell you to do a lot of things!

Some people will tell you to follow this person and others will tell you to follow another.
Some will tell you to follow Mohammed…others will tell you to follow Buddha.
Just because someone tells you to do something doesn’t mean that’s what you should do!

Well, John wasn’t just someone…look back up in verse 19.

These people in verse 19 ask John, “Who are you?”
And John says, “Well, I am not the Christ.”
And he says, “I am not Elijah.”
And he says, “I am not the prophet that Moses said was coming in Deut. 18.”

But look at who he does say he is: “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’

But don’t stop there…notice the little statement at the end of the verse: …as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Do you understand what John is saying?
He is saying, “The prophets spoke of me…and not just the prophets…but Isaiah!
“Isaiah…700 years before said that “I am the one, who came to prepare the way of the Lord who was coming.”
John is saying, “I am God’s messenger!”

And one of the reasons these two disciples followed after Jesus is because they were told to…but not just because they were told to…but because of who told them.

And that is why we need to follow Jesus…and why we need to be committed to Him…because John…God’s messenger…one that was foretold of 2700 years ago by God’s prophet…tells us we need to.
Right here in this verse…John tells us to.

Look at the second reason we need to follow Jesus is found at the end of verse 36. John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

This is the most sensible and compelling reason for anyone to follow Jesus.
He is the “Lamb of God!”

But He isn’t just the “Lamb of God.” Look back at verse 29.

He is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
These people understood what John meant by this.
This statement spoke of atonement for sin…forgiveness.
They themselves had many times taken a lamb to have it offered up to atone for their sins.
They knew that lamb was paying the price for their sins.
Sins were offensive to God…they made separation between them and the source of eternal life.
Sin made one subject to the judgment…to condemnation.
They understood the significance of a “lamb taking away sins.”
If sins are taken away there is no condemnation…there is no hell.

But what was really significant here is they weren’t offering up the lamb…God was!

This was God’s Lamb…God was doing this for them!
And the thing that was really significant is this “Lamb of God” would “take away the sins of the world”…this would be a one time…once and for all sacrifice!
They wouldn’t have to offer up any more sacrifices.
How could they not follow this act of love from God?
This would be well worthy the sacrifices they and hardship they would have to endure.

And the same is true for us.

The main reason we need to follow Jesus is because He and only He can take away our sins and deliver us from hell.
How could we possibly reject this act of God’s love for us?
Here is the source of heaven and eternal life…no wonder they were committed to Him…and that is the reason why we need to be committed to Him as well.

There is a third reason why we should follow Jesus…look at verse 37.

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

Notice what they called Him…Rabbi…Teacher…a master teacher.
They came to Jesus to learn…to be taught…to benefit from His knowledge.

And notice what they say, “Where are you staying?”

They want to get better acquainted with Him.
We do the same thing…we meet someone and we ask, “Where do you live?”
The reason we do that is so we can know more about them…so we might stop in an visit some time.

These two disciples wanted to know more about Jesus…what He was like…what He taught.

They wanted more than what they could get in a brief meeting.

And that is the reason why we need to follow Him too.

There is no one greater that we can learn from.
He gives us a perspective into things that no one else can give…a perspective that will help us stand when others are overcome by fear, confusion, and doubt.
He helps us to see what is real and eternal rather than what is temporary.
He teaches us those things that are moral, right, and sound…teachings that will give us real joy, happiness, peace and security.
He teaches us about children, people, heaven and hell, marriage, business, courage, honor, love, patience, unity, salvation and all sorts of things.
We can learn from men but men’s insights are limited to their opinions, their biases and preferences.
Jesus helps us see the whole picture.

And it isn’t enough to take a turn with Jesus now and then.

A lot of people only want to know Jesus at a distance…and only when it is convenient.
But anyone will tell you that you can’t know the teacher or learn the lessons if you only attend class once in a while.

If we really want to see things as they really are…we need to follow Jesus.

Then one more reason why we need to follow Jesus…look at verse 39:

He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Notice where they stayed?
Nice wasn’t it?
The best carpet…clean…fresh…new furniture…really nice wasn’t it?
The fact of the matter is we aren’t told where they stayed…we aren’t told about the accommodations…
And apparently these two disciples didn’t care…because any place is nice…and accommodating …and comfortable as long as Christ is there with you.
And that is the last reason these two disciples followed Christ: the blessing, the comfort, and the peace and joy that comes from being with Christ…no matter where you are.

It may not have been the best accommodations…they may have gone to a stable…perhaps to a storeroom…

Maybe to a poor man’s house…or a modest home…
May have even gone out under the branches of a grape arbor…we don’t know.
But wherever they were…it was more than enough to just be with Jesus.
Uncomfortable didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Cold didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Dirt floor didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Prison…didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Shipwreck…didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Storm…didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
Death…didn’t matter if Jesus was there.
These two disciples were so well pleased with what they found in Jesus that they stayed with Him all that day.

These two disciples followed Jesus because of the blessing…the comfort…the peace and that joy that came from being with Him…and that is the reason we need to follow Him too.

They followed Jesus because they were told too by John.

They followed Jesus because He was the Lamb of God.
They followed Jesus to learn…to commune with Him.
The followed Jesus because of the comfort, hope, peace and joy of being with Him.

Have you been following Jesus?

Are you keeping Him at a distance?
Have you been following someone else?

Will you repent?

Thinking about following Jesus?
Jesus will accept you?
Will you come?