April 30, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: A "disciple" is one who "follows"; either physically, or by agreement with the Teacher, and there is no direct link to whether, or not, the "disciple" actually believes the teachings.
Introduction: In our studies thus far, we are seeing Author-John shifting from the impact of Witness-John's status as "Rabbi" to Jesus' assumption of that position in the eyes of the "disciples". Author-John's transition from Witness-John to Jesus, the Christ, as the One of Whom Moses and The Prophets wrote "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph", is a deliberate shift to a very major issue of this entire Gospel: pressing his readers to yield to the summons of Jesus to "Follow Me".
For our purposes this morning, I want to focus upon what I am calling, "The Second Step In Discipleship".
When we were looking into the previous day's events, I focused my attention upon "The Beginning of Discipleship", and I made the claim that the "beginning of discipleship" was the answer to the question of Jesus, "What are you seeking?" The disciples gave an extremely superficial answer to Jesus. They were actually "seeking" far more than the knowledge of where Jesus was "abiding". But, their experience of "abiding with Jesus that day" moved Andrew to seek out his brother, Simon Peter, and declare to him, "We have found the Messiah". I am going to focus this morning on 1:43 where I have found what I am calling, "The Second Step in Discipleship".
- I. The Larger "Point" Of The Paragraph.
- A. Jesus is gathering together "disciples", the first three of which were from Bethsaida of Galilee (Andrew, Simon, and Philip: 1:44), and one of which was from Cana (Nathanael 21:2, who was probably Bartholomew). And, then there was that "other" disciple who was with Andrew and was not identified, but is highly likely to be the un-named disciple who wrote this Gospel (21:24) and who also characterized himself as "that disciple whom Jesus loved" in five places (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7; and 21:20), whom we know was "Author-John", one of the two sons of Zebedee (James being the other). This is at the beginning of this Gospel; at the end is Author-John's emphatic record of Jesus' "restoration of Peter" that contains His emphatic demand: "Follow Me".
- 1. The word "disciple" (mathetes) is used by John in 73 texts of this Gospel record.
- a. The word "disciple" is used in 246 texts of the NASB New Testament.
- b. These 246 texts are all found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.
- c. There are no uses of the word "disciple" in any other book of the New Testament.
- d. Acts 11:26 indicates the "shift" from "disciples" to "Christians".
- 2. There are two "levels" of discipleship revealed in the uses of the word:
- a. Those that "follow" Jesus at the physical level (these physically rearranged their physical lives so that they could be with Jesus and go to all the places that He went: these are primarily the apostles who were to be "with Him" and sent forth by Him to mimic His ministry; Mark 3).
- b. Then there are those that "follow Him" in a doctrinal sense in that they accept His teachings, though they carry on their lives without major changes in their activities.
- 1) This is a "two level" use of the word as Author-John used it.
- 2) There are those that were physically following Him at the time when He and they were invited to the wedding feast in John 2:2.
- 3) But John 6:66 says "many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore". Whether this "walking with Him" was "physical walking" or "walking in His teachings" is a question.
- a) In John 2:11 it was the "physically following disciples" who "believed in Him", not those who were "disciples of His doctrines" who heard His teaching on those occasions when they were geographically where He was when He was teaching, but were not consistently "physical-followers".
- b) It was after it was impossible to physically follow Jesus any longer because He had ascended into Heaven in the period of the Acts (11:26) that the term "disciple" was turned into "Christian" and was focused upon the word "disciple" as one who "followed the doctrines of Jesus".
- i. Even today we call "following the teachings of Jesus" "walking with Jesus" though there is no physical level possible.
- ii. This also allows us to understand John 6:66 as it denies "discipleship" to those who run into a "doctrine" they don't like and, subsequently, abandon their identity as "disciples".
- c) This teaches us that there is no "determinate link" between "following Jesus" and "believing His teachings" (Judas Iscariot is the classic proof that one can "follow" without being convinced of His identity as The Teacher).
- i. We see this in our setting among those who call themselves "Christians" but who abandon a "walk with Jesus" as soon as they run into a teaching of His that they do not like, nor are willing to adjust to it.
- ii. At issue is this reality: one can be a "disciple" without being a "believer"; but no one can be a "believer" without first being a "disciple".
- 3. The first use of this word in John's record is in 1:35 and it refers to two of Witness-John's "disciples"; not those baptized by him, but those who remained with him in his ministry activities.
- a. The word translated "follow" (akoloutheo) is used 18 times by Author-John in this record. This record in 1:43 is the fourth time Author-John used this verb in his Gospel. The first three of which are in 1:37, 38, and 40, and they all refer to the physical issues of "following": Physically walking behind someone to be able to go where the one being followed was going.
- b. This verb is then used in 1:43 as a command by Jesus to Philip: "Follow Me". This is not an action that was taken by the general individuals who made up the crowds who "believed in Him" (2:23; 4:39; 7:31; 8:30; 10:42; 11:45; 12:42); it was the action of certain "selected" individuals whose physical lives were going to be re-directed by the requirement that they "physically follow" Jesus.
- c. This verb is only used outside of the historical narrative books (Gospels and Acts) in seven texts (one in 1 Corinthians 10:4, which does not refer to "followers of Jesus") and six times in The Book of The Revelation and only one of them (14:4) refers to "followers of Jesus" and those are the 144,000 who are assigned special ministry activities.
- B. Both of the disciples who, "went and got another", identified Jesus in terms of their understanding of His Messianic identity, Author-John's inclusion of which makes it a part of his "Larger Point".
- 1. Their understanding was filled with error created by their "setting" (in the cultural system in which "Messiah" was only the "Anointed King"), but their identification of Him was "word-accurate". This may actually be like unto 11:50-52 where Caiaphas spoke a "word-accurate" prophecy without any real understanding on his own part of the words that came out of his mouth.
- 2. Andrew told Simon, "We have found the Messiah/Christ". Both "Andrew" and "Simon" were "sons of John" (1:42 in the Nestle/Aland 26, but "Jonah" in The Textus Receptus), and, if we are correct regarding the identity of "the other disciple", that makes four men who are tied to the name "John" (Witness-John; Author-John (i.e., Son-of-Thunder-John); and Sons-of-John, Simon and Andrew (though the Textus Receptus has "Jonah")).
- 3. Philip told Nathanael, "We have found Him of Whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph". But Nathanael went to "Son of God; King of Israel" as soon as Jesus told him that He had seen him under the fig tree.
- C. This is the "setting" of what Author-John wished for us to understand: the second step in becoming a "disciple" is to accept Jesus as "The Teacher" without subjecting Him to one's own "doctrinal likes and dislikes".
- 1. Just as the "beginning of enduring discipleship" is answering the question, "What are you seeking?", the "next step" is answering the question "Who is going to be the real 'teacher'"?
- 2. No one will be an "enduring disciple" who sets him/her self above Jesus in deciding whether a given word from Him is "true", or not.
