Read John 1:35-51

John 1:38,  Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

The group was split pretty much 50-50.

“What do you mean, ‘Jesus talks to you!?’ He was around over 2000 years ago and, and we have the Bible which tells about Jesus and God and all that. But nobody believes that Jesus talks to you!”

The other side pushed back.

“Jesus talks all the time! He rose from the dead after all, and He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us. What’s He doing if He’s not talking to us?!”

Henry had taken a poll of the group by having those who believed Jesus talks to people today move to one side of the room and those who thought that was crazy move to the other side. The kids were a little hesitant at first, but then they began to move. Yep. Pretty much 50-50.

Adam knew what side he was on. Definitely. He heard His voice dramatically earlier in the year, “Adam, I love you.” No question. Jesus pulled him out of his darkness, waking him up from being a zombie in the grip of deep isolation and loneliness. As he began reading the Bible and spending time with Jesus, he was becoming more familiar with what He sounded like. Oh yeah. Jesus speaks all the time.

Henry pulled the group back together and after allowing for everybody to calm down he gave them an assignment.

“I want you to go home this week and read John 1:35-51 every day with your journal open and pen in hand. I want you to listen. Certainly think, but don’t just think, listen too. I want you to write down what happens.”

The gathering broke up into their small groups.

Ben waited a few minutes for the guys to settle down. Pete was messing with Schuyler, Nick had sat right down with a thoughtful look on his face. Tom was checking out his phone and Adam was looking at Ben, a little impatiently. He wanted to get into it.

“Hey guys, let’s get going. Who wants to read John 1:35-51.”

“I’ll read it.” Tom said, opening his Bible app.

“Alright guys. What do you see?”, Ben asked.

“John calls Jesus the Lamb of God again,” someone answered.

“Yeah, and two of John’s guys chase Jesus down,” Pete added.

“Why did they do that?”, Ben asked.

“They wanted to get to know him,” Adam answered immediately.

“And what does Jesus do?”

“He invites ‘em to hang out.” Schuyler said.

“And what did they find out?”

“He’s the Messiah, the Christ.”

“And what does that mean again?”

“It means he’s the King,” Nick said jumping in, seeing an opportunity to display his knowledge.

Ben smiled.

“The Jews didn’t have a king because they were under the thumb of the Romans. Well, they had Herod but he wasn’t a true king. He was appointed by Caesar. They were hoping that their true king would show up to kick the Romans out.”

“That’s right,” Ben affirmed.

“They thought Jesus was that guy?” Adam asked. That didn’t seem like the Jesus he was getting to know.

“Not everybody figured Jesus out.” Nick suggested.

“They still don’t.” Pete said. “People are stupid.”

“C’mon Pete. People aren’t stupid.” Schuyler intervened. “It’s not like Jesus is wearing a sign or anything. He is a little mysterious.”

“So why do think Jesus invited those guys to hang out?”

“Jesus wanted them to get to know him?”, Tom offered.

“I think so,” Ben replied. “What’s going on with the next part. What’s going on with Nathaniel after Jesus invites Philip to follow him?”

“Philip tells Nathaniel about Jesus, but Nathaniel isn’t buying it. I guess Nazareth was a nowhere kind of place.”

“What else do you see?”

“Philip gets Nathaniel to come check him out.”

“Then what happens?”

“Okay, now it gets weird.” Pete said. “Jesus sees the guy coming and acts like he already knows him.”

“Check it out. Even Nathaniel thinks it’s weird. He asks him, ‘How do you know me?”” Schuyler said.

Adam was reading the text closely as he listened to the group banter. “It’s as if Jesus already knew Nathaniel—I mean knew him really well. Like he knew what kind of guy he was and everything. And that really grabbed Nathaniel.”

“How does Nathaniel respond to that?” Ben asked.

“He calls Jesus ‘the Son of God’ and ‘the King of Israel.” Adam answered.

“What’s going on with that?”, Pete asked. “Why the sudden change?”

The group went silent.

“That’s the question.” Ben said. “What’s going on with that?”

“It looks like even Jesus was surprised,” Adam offered.

“Yeah, and then he says that bizarre spiritual stuff, whatever that means!” Pete said.

“You know, it looks a little bit like the time Jesus asked ‘Who do you say that I am?’ and Peter jumps in with ‘You are the Christ’ and Jesus tells him that the Father revealed it to him.” Nick said, with eyebrows knitted in concentration. “I think that’s in Matthew somewhere.”

“Matthew 16 actually,” Ben said with growing excitement. “How does that help?”

“It’s like God is talking to him on the inside while Jesus in talking to him on the outside.”, Adam said with some energy.

“That’s why Jesus says that spiritual stuff,” Pete added. “It’s like Nathaniel was dialed in or something.”

“That sounds pretty good to me.” Ben said. “So why do you think Jesus wants us to hang out him?”

“So we can dial in, too?” Schuyler said hesitantly.

“Maybe so,” Ben replied. “Let’s hang out with Jesus this week in John 1:35-51 and see what happens.  Be sure to write stuff down in your journal. We’ll check it out next week.”