Pointers on the Lesson H omer A. K ent , T h .D.
Helps for the Children A llison A rrowood
Lesson material is based upon out lines of the International Sunday School Lessons copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education; used by permission.
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Helps For the Children They Came to Jesus John 1:35-49 Memory Verse: “We have found the . . . Christ” (John 1:41). One day as John the Baptist and two of his friends were together, they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son walk ing toward them. John said, “ Behold the Lamb of God” ! When the two friends heard John speak, they followed the Saviour. When the Lord Jesus saw the men following Him, He asked what they wanted. When they asked where He was living, He invited them to come with Him and to spend the day learning of Him. One of the two men was An drew, Simon Peter’s brother. Quickly he remembered that his brother should be told of his wonderful new Saviour and Friend. Andrew brought Peter to the Lord Jesus. The Son of God told Peter that his name should be changed to mean a “ stone.” The next day the Lord Jesus found Philip and said to him, “ Follow me” . Philip found Nathanael and told him that they had found the One of whom Moses and the prophets had written, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. At first Nathanael did not believe that any truly great person could come from Nazareth, but after he became acquaint ed with the Son of God, he said, “ Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” Those who became acquainted with the Lord Jesus wanted to be with Him and to help with His work and to introduce others to Him too. Eagerly they obeyed His commandments and told others of His love and His power. Which of these men have you been like this past week? Have you like John said to someone, “ Behold the Lamb of God,” and had them follow the Sav iour because you made them think of Him? Or, have some of your words been so unkind and so hateful and cross and ugly that no one would care to know your Lord after they had heard you speak? Have you, like Andrew remem bered that some member of your family was unsaved, and have you told them about your Lord? Perhaps like Philip you have remembered some playmate or friend who did not know your Saviour. You have found them and told them of
January 6, 1952 F IN D IN G THE CH R IST John 1:35-49
Pointers On the Lesson The lessons for 1952 begin with a se ries on “ Early Followers of Jesus.” To day^ lesson is an introductory lesson to the series setting forth the importance of the Lamb of God as the Saviour of men and man’s duty to focus attention upon Him. It also records the first gath ering of disciples unto Jesus. This gathering becomes the nucleus from which multitudes of other gatherings have arisen in the centuries which have followed. The Occasion vv. 35, 36 John the Baptist’s main ministry was to get men ready to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He has often been aptly called the forerunner of Christ. He had a deep consciousness of the character of his ministry. Thus in becoming humility John recognizes his own unworthiness and points men to Christ (1:27; 3:30). And so upon the occasion before us he “was standing” with two of his disciples when Jesus appeared upon the scene. Immediately John urged those with him to fix their attention upon Jesus, “ Be hold the Lamb of God!” This is the business of every follower of Christ—to turn men’s attention from self to the Saviour. The Question vv. 37-39 The disciples of John were quick to respond to his exhortation. Not only did they “ behold” Jesus in the sense of look ing at Him. They were determined to become acquainted with Him. Jesus al ways sees those who have an interest in Him and so He addressed a gentle ques tion to those who followed Him. It was the first public utterance of the Re deemer. “What seek ye?” (v. 38). What do you have in mind when you come to Jesus? Some have in mind only the alle-
viation of temporal need. Man’s first need is spiritual. These two disciples followed Jesus’ question by asking Him “Where dwellest thou?” Jesus graciously invited them to His place of abode and there won them to His heart. They doubtless asked Him many questions and He in turn satisfied the deepest longings of their hearts. Life was never the same for them after those sacred hours with the Lord Jesus Christ. Has He won your heart so that all life is different now? The Yearning vv. 40-49 These who came to know Jesus Christ personally at once had a desire to make Him known to others. This is one of the surest proofs of a genuine conver sion. One of the two who found Christ that day was Andrew (v. 40). He at once had a burden for his own brother with the result that “he brought him to Jesus” (v. 42). We have here a splendid illustration of the normal Christian ex perience. The saved one seeks a brother, a sister, or a friend for the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow Andrew through the gos pel story and you will find that he is always on the lookout for someone else. Probably the biggest day’s work Andrew ever did was when he brought his brother Peter to Christ. The next day Jesus won Philip to Himself (w . 43, 44). A like pattern to the one above is followed in his case. “ Philip findeth Nathanael” (v. 45). Too often the New Testament ideal seems to be forgotten today. The winning of the unsaved is left to the pastors, the evan gelists, or other leaders in the church. God intended every believer to be a wit ness (Acts 1:8; 8:4). Philip said to Nathanael, “ Come and see” (v. 46) with the result that the' latter confessed to Jesus, “Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel” (v. 49).
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