Here is a teaching of part 2 chapter 1 of the book of John. If you want to check out Bible studies of part 1 and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
I'm going to pick up where I left off last week, which is at verse 35.
Jesus' First Disciples
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the lamb of God!" 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter.)
All right, so I'm going to stop right there because there are a few things that I want to say. So Andrew was one of the disciples of John the Baptist and he heard him say that the lamb of God was there, so he went to go find his brother, Simon. Andrew told Simon that they found the Messiah so he brought him to Christ and they started following Jesus. We find out that Jesus calls Simon, Cephas (which is translated to Peter.)
So what is a disciple of Christ? A disciple of Christ is someone who believes in Jesus and someone who wants to follow him in their daily life. It also means that they want to put God's word into action by seeking to live the way Christ wants them to live. So Jesus' first disciples went and they followed him. As we will see throughout this book of John, Jesus' disciples are always where he goes.
In verse 42, when Jesus just looked at Simon and said, "Simon, son of John, you'll be called Cephas," this already shows that Jesus Christ is all-knowing. He knew that Simon was the son of John. It doesn't say anything about Simon telling him or Andrew telling him, but he knew that.
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." 48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the son of God; you are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
So Jesus saw Philip and told him to follow him and here where it says to follow him, he means to follow him directly, like go with him and follow him, but also this is him saying, "Follow me," as a disciple. Phillip found Nathanael and told him that they found "The one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. The first thing that Nathaniel said was "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" So it seems like here, the people of Bethsaida and the people of Nazareth don't get along. So Nathaniel didn't think that anything good could come from there, but he went ahead and followed Philip to Jesus.
When Jesus saw Nathaniel, he said, "Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false," he was giving him a compliment and basically just saying that he's a truth-seeker, he tells it how it is, he's real. So then Nathaniel asked, "How do you know me?" And Jesus said he saw him while he was under the fig tree before Phillip called him. I was doing some research and trying to figure out exactly what it meant by he saw him "under the fig tree" and it seems like here, what he saw was Nathanael praying to God in solitude, (he was praying to God where no one could see him,) under the fig tree. So whenever Jesus said that Nathanael automatically was like "Rabbi, you're the son of God; you're the King of Israel," because no one else saw him under that fig tree, so he knew that if Jesus saw him praying to God and seeking guidance from God, that he was the son of God.
In verse 51, this verse was in reference to the dream that Jacob had in Genesis 28: 12 where it says "He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." The Son of Man is Jesus Christ.
John Chapter 1 Bible Study. Part 2
1. How did Jesus’ first disciples hear about Jesus?
2. Who were Jesus’ first 2 disciples?
3. What did Andrew do when he first heard that Jesus was the Lamb of God?
4. What did Jesus call Simon?
5. What is a disciple of Christ?
6. Why did Jesus tell Philip to follow him?
7. What does it mean when Jesus said that he saw Nathanael under the fig tree?
So that concludes chapter one of John. Next week we'll get started on chapter two.
But before I let you go, I want to just say a quick prayer. Lord, I pray that you are with every single person reading this right now. Lord, I pray that you open up their eyes, their hearts, their mind, and their ears to you Lord and that they know the truth of your word. I pray that in every single aspect of their life that they seek to follow you, they seek guidance from you, and knowledge, and wisdom from you to know exactly what it is to do and how to make an impact in other people's lives. Lord, I pray that through this Bible study that we really find the truth of your word and of how Jesus Christ lived on this earth I pray that every single person reading this really understands the truth of these words and they go and let other people know about Jesus Christ and how amazing he is so that everyone they know and love will be saved by him, and when it's their time to go, they'll be going to heaven. I love you so much, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, business, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.
If you want to check out Bible studies of the previous Bible studies, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the previous Bible studies.
You can also follow me on Instagram (_lorenacamille_.) I'll be posting frequently and doing daily stories. I'll follow you back :)
Want to be apart of a community of Christian women coming together, supporting, motivating, inspiring, and loving each other? Join our Facebook Community
Holy Bible. New International Version (NIV
Comments