What an invitation!  ‘Come and see’.  This is the invitation given by Jesus to Andrew and his friend.  They were followers of John the Baptist, but now John is pointing them to Jesus.

 

The words are simple and yet profound.  Jesus is inviting them to come with him. Not only that, he is inviting them to come and see.  This little word ‘see’ in the original language means more than just seeing with our physical eyes.  Jesus is inviting them to understand and experience who he is and what his presence really means.

 

When we have met Jesus like this, we long for others to know the difference he makes in our lives.  This is what happens.  Andrew invites his brother Simon Peter.  The following day Philip invites his friend Nathanael.  ‘Come and see’. 

 

Who are you?  How would you answer that question?  When John the Baptist was asked, he gave an unexpected answer.  He could have said he was Elijah or the Prophet.  Jesus later declared that he was.  However he chose to point to one who was greater.  It wasn’t that he suffered from low self esteem or insecurity.  John knew who he was!

 

Not only did John know who he was, he knew why he had come.  His mission was to point men and women to one who was greater – to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world and baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  Yes, the Son of God.  John’s longing was to see Jesus revealed in his generation.

 

We use words to express our thoughts and feelings.  They reveal who we are.  Often though, our words are filtered through our fears and insecurities, so we hide our true selves.

 

God is so different!  He never hides truth.  He has perfectly expressed who he is, not only through words he has spoken to men, but through the one who is called ‘the Word’.  We read this in the first verse of the Gospel of John.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Who is the Word?  Yes, it is Jesus.  That is clearly shown to us in verse 14, where it tells us that the Word became a human being and he lived on earth as one of us.