43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. John 1:43-44 (NKJV)
Discussion Question:
- How did Jesus "find" you?
Comments:
Even these two simple verses can teach us something about Jesus. Notice that Jesus had a plan, He knew where He needed to go and when. He wanted to go to Galilee, for what reason we can't be sure, but we know that once He was there He performed His first recorded miracle (changing water to wine). We also see that Jesus knew, beforehand, who His disciples were; the verse says "He found Philip," implying that Jesus intentionally sought after a pre-chosen Philip. Philip is unaware of Jesus prior to this encounter but Jesus knew him and sought him. Isn't it great to know that God knew us and had a plan for us even before we knew Him?
Bethsaida was a fishing village on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. According to v44 Philip, Andrew, and Peter were all from Bethsaida; however, Mark 1:29 says that Peter (Simon) and Andrew were living in Capernaum, which is another fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. So what, you might be saying. The reason I bring it up is because this could be brought up by opponents of the Bible as an inconsistency, but like most apparent inconsistencies, this can easily be explained. John states that the brothers, Andrew and Peter, were from Bethsaida and Mark just says that they had a house in Capernaum. It is not too much of a leap to say that the brother were born in Bethsaida but later moved to Capernaum. If someone tells you the Bible has errors and is inconsistent ask them to show you where. Not only will you be able to correct their error but you will have a great opportunity to tell them about the God of the Bible and the amazing thing He has done for them.
2 comments:
Jesus “found me” long ago in a little country Baptist church when I was a kid but I was way to hard-headed to listen. When I heard Him tell me it was time to accept Him, I resisted. Jesus kept working on me but I continually resisted. In the following years, my family stopped going to church but then I met Bill and began attending church with his family. I attended church regularly but was definitely a Carnal Believer. I just refused to completely turn my life over to Jesus. But as we all know Jesus has a plan for us, He gave me a beautiful little girl that changed my life in more ways than just making me a Mom. When Kortney was just days old, He told me that I was responsible for taking her to church and sharing Jesus with her. This time I didn't resist.
I am so thankful that Jesus “found me” over and over and over again. Just as He promises, He never left me or forsake me even when I refused to follow Him.
Jesus found me through the generosity of a man of God who cared enough about a little girl he didn't know that he gave money for her to go to Church camp. I was in the 4th grade and had never met Jesus until that week. What an introduction! I'll never forget the heartbreak of understanding for the first time what Jesus did for me on that cross.
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