By Allan Wilks
John the Baptist had disciples. But, as he preached, called for repentance, and baptized day after day near the Jordan River, he told his disciples that his ministry was all preparatory for someone else. Then, one day, while two disciples were standing nearby, John suddenly pointed to Jesus, who was walking by, and said, likely with great excitement, “Behold the Lamb of God,” or simply, “See for yourself—the Lamb of God!”
We might try to imagine the disciples’ thoughts at that moment, but the Bible doesn’t tell us. We do know, however, that the men followed Jesus. Seeing Him for themselves and being armed with John’s testimony was enough.
John the Baptist had experienced a moment like this earlier. As he was baptizing Jesus, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) This was God’s great gift to John: an invitation to see for himself the identity of the One he had been preaching about.
After seeing Jesus, John’s two disciples wanted to know where He was staying, presumably so they could spend more time with Him. The Lord graciously responded to their inquiry with an invitation to know more: “See for yourselves,” He said.
One of those two disciples was Andrew. He was so excited that he went to his brother Simon (soon to become Peter) and told him that they had found the Messiah. Maybe Simon was skeptical—after all, that was a bold claim—so Andrew’s response was to take him to Jesus. We can imagine Andrew saying, “Just come and see for yourself!” Peter did, and this interaction was the beginning of his lifelong loyalty to Christ.
Nathanael was a skeptic when Philip made a similar claim about the Lord. “See for yourself,” replied Philip, and Nathanael, too, was completely won over when he met Jesus.
Just as those disciples received invitations to see for themselves, so the apostle John invites us, in the fourth Gospel, to see who this amazing person is. The entire book is just such an invitation, and by the end of it, John feels he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what can be said about Jesus (John 21:25).
This invitation is at the heart of missions: to see for ourselves who this man is and then to follow Him. John begins his Gospel with the famous words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The essential idea of a word is communication, and this is exactly what the Lord Jesus is. After centuries of God communicating His holiness and love via the Scriptures and the prophets, He sent His precious Son and invited the world to see who He really was.
Of course, we can’t literally see Jesus today. John’s purpose is to allow us to see Jesus through his eyes. And countless people have become followers of Christ simply from reading John’s account.
This idea of seeing for ourselves is especially relevant in our postmodern age. To the person who avoids any discussion on truth or doctrine, we may say, “Just see for yourself. Meet Jesus Himself; study Him; learn from Him; listen to Him; see His purity and love and compassion and authority. Then, you will understand who God is, who you are, why you are precious to Him, and what must happen for you to enter His glorious kingdom of light.”
John has much to tell us about Jesus—how He is light and life and truth and resurrection and food and drink. But, mostly, John tells us to come to the foot of the cross and see for ourselves. Ralph E. Hudson expressed it well:
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now, I am happy all the day!
Lord, may I be more like You every day so others may see You and come to know You, whom to know is life everlasting.
Allan Wilks, CMML vice president, technology
Originally published in Missions magazine, August 2024. For more content, sign up for a free subscription (US) to Missions at CMML.us/magazine/subscribe
