A Study of John's Gospel

John 1:43-44: Follow Me

Follow Me

A study of John 1:43-44

"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."

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭43‬-‭44‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Galilee: "Galilaia", "Γαλιλαία"; proper locative noun - Galilee = "Circle" or "Circuit"; the name of a region of northern Palestine, bounded on the north by Syria, on the west by Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais and their territories and the promontory of Carmel, on the south by Samaria and on the east by the Jordan. It was divided into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee.

-He Found: "heuriskō", "εὑρίσκω"; verb - after searching, to find a thing sought.

-Philip: "Philippos", "Φίλιππος"; proper masculine noun - Philip = "lover of horses", an apostle of Christ from Bethsaida (in Galilee).

-Follow: "akoloutheō", "ἀκολουθέω"; verb - to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him.

-Bethsaida: "Bēthsaida", "Βηθσαϊδά"; proper locative noun - Bethsaida = "house of fish", a small fishing village on the west shore of Lake Gennesaret, home of Andrew, Peter, Philip and John.

Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

The day after Andrew took his brother Simon to see Jesus, and Jesus renamed him "Peter", Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When He got to Galilee, He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In this passage Jesus goes to Galilee and invites Philip to follow Him, and Philip does so. By asking or telling Philip to "follow" Him, Jesus was inviting Philip to become His disciple. The verb tense of "follow" carries the implication of a continual following as a student follows their teacher or a servant their master. This was a simple call to a radically different life. We also know from other gospel accounts this was likely not the first time Jesus met Philip. Jesus knew many of the 12 disciples beforehand, but this is the moment Jesus officially invited Philip to follow Him as His disciple.

Philip was from Bethsaida which means something like "house of fish", "house of the fisherman" or "fisher town". The name is of course appropriate because it was a fishing town located at the point where the Jordan River enters the Lake of Galilee. Jesus calls people from all walks of life to follow Him. He calls people from fishing towns like Philip, and he calls people with education like Paul. Jesus is not limited by our background or upbringing. He calls all people to Himself, and He makes us into the people He wants us to be as we follow Him.

This was the 4th day in the events John began telling us about in verse 19 that started with John the Baptist being questioned by representatives from the Sanhedrin, the ruling, Jewish, religious group. Over the course of this account we see words like, "seek", "found" and "follow" come up again and again. What we are reading about is different variations of people being called to follow Jesus. First, we read of John the Baptist directing Andrew and likely John the apostle's attention to Jesus, at which point they follow Him and He invites them to continue to do so by saying, "come and you will see". Next, Andrew tells his brother Simon they had "found" the Messiah, and he then "brought" Simon to meet Him. Now we read of Jesus deciding to go to Galilee to tell Philip to "follow" Him. Later in this chapter we will also read of how Nathanael responds to Philip's invitation with some skepticism, but ultimately does decide to "come and see" and in doing so also begins to follow Jesus.

It is easy to read through this account briskly but we should stop for a moment and appreciate what is happening here. This is an account of the moment when these people's lives changed forever. This is an account of people finding the Messiah, or more accurately, being found by the Messiah. And this is often how this still happens today. Through various, but often similar means, Jesus calls people to Himself. He may use the direction of a teacher, like John the Baptist with Andrew and John. He may use the relationship of a brother to bring someone to Him like with Andrew and Peter. He may come to someone Himself through His Word like He did with Philip, and He may even use the curious skepticism of someone like Nathanael in the verses that come next to draw someone to Himself.

God uses many different methods to call people to Himself, and much of the time His methods involve us simply inviting others to "come and see" Jesus with our words and how we live our lives. Whatever the method or means used, it is always only by the power of God that anyone can turn from their old life to follow Him to new, eternal life. Jesus has made salvation available to all mankind, but we must respond to His invitation to "follow" Him. Whether the invitation comes from His own lips or the mouth of one His followers, we must respond with believing faith in order to receive forgiveness for our sin and obtain the eternal life of joy and pleasure forever more promised to all those who follow Him.

Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

If we have decided to follow Jesus, this passage should cause us to gratefully reflect on the moment when we, by His grace, answered His call to follow and believe. If we are not followers of Jesus, we should take the opportunity to prayerfully "come and see" who Jesus is, and respond to His call to follow Him.

For followers of Jesus this should also cause us to prayerfully consider who we can invite to follow Jesus, and how we can grow in faithfully extending this invitation to more and more people. It should also cause us to examine our hearts and minds as we pray for Jesus to help us surrender the parts of us that do not want to follow Him. Even in following Him we still battle against our old sin nature, but by His power in us, we can deny our flesh which wants to go its own way, and humbly, joyfully follow Jesus in His true and everlasting way.

Self Reflection:

Jesus, thank you for calling me to follow you, and giving me a heart that has responded to your call. Are there any parts of my heart or my life where I still need to repent and follow you in humble obedience to your will?

Is there anyone in my life Jesus is calling me to invite to "come and see" or to "follow" Him?

Thank you Jesus for finding me when I was not even looking for you. Thank you for dying and rising again to give me life in You.

#FollowJesus #MessiahHasCome #Faith #love #biblestudy