35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 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?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter. (John 1:35-42 – English Standard Version)
Here were two disciples of John following Jesus, after hearing John the Baptist said Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus turned to them and asked, “what are you seeking?” In the New International Version, it is translated as, “what do you want?” Jesus was asking the two disciples of John, “what do you want?”, “why are you following me?” We all have desires. There are many things we want in life. I want to have better quality of life. I want to have better relationships with those I love. I want my family to be happier. I want to have a better career. It is interesting how the disciples of John answered Jesus. They answered, “where are you staying?” They did not mention any of their personal wants. They simply wanted to know where was Jesus staying. They wanted to know more about Jesus and actually spent one day with Jesus. Following Jesus may simply begin with the willingness to know more about Jesus. It is not about how Jesus has comforted us when we are sad. It is not about how Jesus has blessed us and we are grateful. We will experience God in many incidents when we walk along with Him. And these experiences would definitely strengthened our relationships with Jesus. However, our desire of following Jesus should not rely on our experiences. Our journey of following Jesus should begin with the willingness to know more about Him. If we do not know Jesus, we may create false expectation in how we are going to experience Jesus. When our experience does not match with the expectation, we get disappointed. We will question about the faithfulness of Jesus. We will question our faith. If you never have the desire to know more about Jesus or you has lost the interest in knowing Him, pray for it. The desire to know Jesus should be the drive to follow Him.
“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?””
