Welcome Valley Bible Studies

Lesson 8: John 1:35-51

John 1:35-51
Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John
speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Background Information
Our text calls Jesus the “Messiah” (or Messias) and “Christ”. These English words represent the Hebrew and Greek forms of the same name. Messiah is from the Hebrew. Christ is from the Greek. (Hebrew was the Jew’s national language. Greek was the universal trade language spoken by most people in Jesus’ day.) In each language, this name means “The Anointed One.” Anointing was a ritual in which olive oil was rubbed on someone’s head. The person thus “anointed” was set apart as a special servant of God. A prophet might anoint a future king to set him apart from the rest of the nation as God’s choice of rulers. There is also an element in which anointing represents being given special standing and power by God. Thus, the Christ would be the One God chose and empowered to lead and deliver His people.

The word Master is used here in the sense of Teacher.

Related Scriptures
Genesis 28:10-16
Deuteronomy 18:17-18 (Moses is speaking.)
Isaiah 53:1-12 (One of the prophets writing about the coming Messiah or Christ.)
Luke 1:30-35

Questions
    1. a. Who told Andrew about Jesus? b. What was their relationship?
    2. a. Who did Andrew tell about Jesus? b. What was their relationship?
    3. What did Jesus say to Philip?
    4. Who did Philip tell about Jesus?
    5. What did Jesus say about Nathanael’s character?
    6. What did Nathanael say about Jesus?
    7. Jesus spoke of Himself in a way that reminds us of Jacob’s vision from God. Would this suggest that Jacob’s vision had been God’s way of telling him about the coming Christ?
    8. Did the Jewish people of Jesus’ day believe that the Bible taught that the Christ would come?

This study is in the public domain and may be copied and distributed freely.