Jesus had 12 disciples. They ranged from fishermen to tax collectors to seekers to zealots. He even had a traitor in the group. The stories of Jesus calling these disciples are well known and often told, but deep diving into John’s perspective in his Gospel highlights some things for us that I find very interesting. 

“The next day again John 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 is referring to John the Baptist in the first part of this passage. He’s standing there in his camel hair jacket talking with two of his disciples when Jesus walks by. When John sees Jesus he exclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” After hearing that, the two disciples traded up as they began to follow Jesus. 

John points to Jesus and says, “there He is, fellas.” He’s the one you are looking for and He’s the one I came to point everyone towards. One of these guys was Andrew, the brother of Peter (more on him in a second), and the other one is unnamed but highly believed to be the author of this Gospel, John himself. 

They followed Jesus because someone they knew and trusted pointed them in the right direction. 

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.” –John 1:40–42a

So now let’s talk about Andrew. He heard what John said and began to follow Jesus. After a brief conversation about Jesus’ hotel/AirBNB situation, Andrew and his friend stayed with Jesus the rest of that day. Notice what Andrew did next. He went and found his brother, Simon (we know him as Peter). He tells his brother they have found the Messiah and then he goes one step farther. He brought Simon to Jesus. 

Andrew recognized the greatness of Jesus, and immediately thought his brother needed to meet Jesus too. 

Simon followed Jesus because his brother cared enough to bring him to the Messiah. 

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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.” –John 1:43–46

The very next day, Jesus called Philip to follow him, and Philip went to invite Nathanael to join the party. Nathanael has some doubts about Jesus’ hometown producing anyone resembling a Messiah, and expresses those doubts in a now infamous question. Notice what Philip does in response. He doesn’t argue or reason with his friend. He simply extends an invitation. “Come and see.” He is confident that getting Nathanael to Jesus will be enough. Jesus will take care of the rest. Philip is convinced of Jesus’ greatness and he wants his friend to experience it too. 

Nathanael followed Jesus because his friend invited him to come and see Jesus’ greatness.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are on mission with Him. And sometimes it can be as simple as these stories. Who in your life do you need to point in the right direction? Is there someone you need to bring to Jesus? Maybe you have a friend who just needs an invitation to come and see. Any season is a great season to bring others to find what we’ve found. But this Christmas season is an especially good time to invite people to come and see his greatness.

Come and behold him. But you don't have to come alone.