Disciples Get Close to Christ: Jesus is Not a Prima Donna

Have you ever met a celebrity? Like, have you ever been at your favorite Starbucks, minding your own business, when Taylor Swift comes in? I often wonder what it might be like. In movies, it usually starts with a random pedestrian shouting, “Hey look! Is that so and so?” The Gospel of John describes a moment quite like this: John the Baptist “was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37).

John had been telling everyone about Jesus, saying that his water baptism would be upstaged by the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (verses 32-33). He spread the news that Christ came to take away the sin of the world (verse 29), that people needed to repent, because the kingdom of God was coming near to them (Matthew 3:1-2). John pointed out to his followers that Jesus was that Lamb of God, and those disciples knew what to do. They no longer followed John. Instead, they followed Jesus.

This sort of moment in our day often ends up with dozens of fans getting star-struck. They are so astounded that such a prominent person darkens the doors of the same establishment that they do. And if they get up the nerve to ask for a picture or autograph, they ask with nervous, quaking voices. They don’t want to annoy their idol or leave them unimpressed. But Jesus was not annoyed.

Disciples Are Worth His Time

John 1:38 says that these disciples caught Jesus’ attention. He “saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?'” Can you imagine asking this to a movie star? Odds are, they get mad that you even asked and shut down further interaction. Even if they were super nice, they would still likely find a kind way to dismiss the conversation. But not so with Jesus. He replied in verse 39, “Come and you will see.”

It is significant that the two disciples were not just being overjoyed fans or creepy stalkers. To invite yourself to the home of a teacher was to invite yourself to spend time soaking up the wisdom of that teacher. What they were really asking was if they could follow Jesus and learn from him. Truly, if he is the Lamb of God, who else would they want to be with? And Jesus welcomed them. While they stayed with him, something he did or said must have convinced them further. One of them, Andrew, went back home to find his brother to tell him they found the Christ (verse 41). He brought his brother Simon to Jesus, and Jesus renamed him “Cephas” in Aramaic, or “Peter” in Greek (verse 42).

Jesus responded to common, no-name men with a showing of care that they would never forget. The very fact that these men were in the workforce is evidence that they were deemed less than, for if they had had a chance to learn from the teachers of Israel, they would have taken it. Just as they followed John when he began teaching about the coming of the Lord, they would have been following the Pharisees or the Sadducees.

Even though becoming disciples of the greatest teachers of Israel seemed to be above a glass ceiling, Jesus did not look at them as man did. Jesus understood their value. He saw their potential. And he decided that they were worth his time. The Lord did not grow impatient with those who desired to follow him. He did not suggest that he had better things to do, for to him, there was nothing more pressing than to pour out the wisdom of God to these young men. They asked, and he answered.

And he treats us the same. Though he is deserving of all honor and fame, he does not delight in celebrity; he delights in us. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” And Jesus continues to give us this wisdom today. He promised us that the Holy Spirit would “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). And in our search for truth, when we seek in the right place, we will find it.

Your concerns are his concerns; your doubts are not trivial to him; your questions are not an inconvenience. Jesus tells a crowd in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Disciples Are Worth His Effort

As these disciples spent time with Jesus, he got to know their stories. They told him about their upbringing, about their home town and the people there. So John 1:43-44 tell us that Jesus sought out a young man from Andrew and Peter’s city, Bethsaida. This man’s name was Philip. And when Jesus found Philip, he spoke two of the most powerful words he could have: “Follow me.”

Clearly, he did follow, and clearly, he understood who Jesus was, because shortly after this, “Philip 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.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see'” (45-46). Nazareth was a small, insignificant town, and Philip knew it. He doubted the story his friend told him. But Philip, following his Master’s example, reached out to his friend and offered that gentle invitation, “Come and see.” So Nathanael does just that.

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!'” (John 1:47). And I love how honest the Bible is. Nathanael’s skepticism in verse 48 is clear when he asks, “How do you know me?” And wouldn’t you be just the same? There have been times when I am greeted out in public by people who presume to know who I am. They come up and hug me or shake my hand. “Hey, Sean! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?” And I treat them with kindness and answer their questions while I try to identify them. But in my humanity, conversations like this can be frustrating to me, because someone who probably knows very little about me is acting like we’re best buds. I relate to Nathanael’s hesitancy to trust a stranger who praises his integrity.

Yet Jesus is unfazed by his doubts. Jesus evidently saw a vision of Nathanael at some point before this, because he says to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (verse 48). Whatever he saw Philip doing under the tree was something private, unseen by anyone but God, because it immediately convinced Nathanael that what Philip told him was true. “Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'” (verse 49).

Jesus brings attention to the fact that it took this prophetic revelation for him to believe. He said in verse 50, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” In other words, “If you believe in me because of this one sign, wait until you see what else God does.” This is also a foreshadowing of later when Jesus tells the disciples that “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12). Jesus is giving Nathanael a heads-up, that this sign of knowledge is only the beginning, and because of what he would see and do, his faith would grow all the more.

This is a common theme in the gospel of John. In chapter 4 verse 48, Jesus says to a man who is asking him to heal his dying son, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” And this is no slight or condemnation against the man. Jesus is simply stating a fact about humanity. In fact, the Greek word for “you” is plural, more clearly rendered in other translations as “you people.” Jesus knows that humans have a propensity to doubt. That is why there is an even greater blessing for faith that comes without seeing signs (John 20:29).

But just as Jesus does not turn Thomas away for needing to see his scars or the man who wanted him to heal his son, Jesus refuses to turn us away when we doubt. Not only does he make time and space for us when we seek to learn from him, but he also makes an effort to convince us of who he is when we doubt. To Jesus, we are worth the time and the effort. Jesus is, in fact, not a prima donna.

Are They Worth It to You?

As we see in Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:15-24), he invites both those who recognize him and those who don’t. For those who have the initiative to seek him out, Jesus makes the time. For those who know him not, he makes the effort to seek them out.¹ And if we plan to think and act like Jesus, we ought to do the same.

Sadly, many in the Church have a habit of doing the opposite. Not so much for those who know; those who are actively seeking God, we tend to find easier to welcome. But for those with doubts and fears and uncertainty, it is easy to grow impatient. I have seen far too many skeptics dismissed by Christ-followers because of their questions. When an atheist brings up the problem of evil (why an all-lovong, all-powerful God can allow evil to exist), rather than gentleness and compassion, they are met with a “gotcha” response, belittling the legitimate doubts of the lost. We must be careful not to become enamored by the clap back, addicted to the one-liner responses.

When you encounter those who need Jesus (and don’t we all?), my hope is that you will join with the mind of Christ and ask the Lord to give you wisdom. Ask him to give you visions and words of knowledge about the doubters and the seekers around you. Ask him to use you to do miracles and show signs to those who need them to believe. And be willing to be inconvenienced when he answers those prayers. Let us pray that we never become so impressed by our own faith that we neglect the way of the One in whom we claim to believe.

These potential disciples are worth it to Jesus. Are they worth it to you?

Footnotes

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1. See my post, Harvest in Samaria: Understanding Evangelism as Agriculture. ↩︎