Turning round Jesus saw them following and asked “What do you want?�

John 1.38

I heard it said that a Fundamentalist is someone who throws the maybe out with the bath water.

I’d like to leave the maybe in my adventure of faith because discipleship involves discovery, the process of discovering or being discovered, which in turn requires a willingness to explore and be explored, to allow the maybe’s to linger.

Andrew and John had been disciples of John the Baptist, but now he pointed away from himself to one greater; tentatively they followed.

Only to be confronted with a question, “What do you want?�

It’s a good question for any would be disciple and worth reflecting on in depth, what is it we want from following Jesus. Our two didn’t have that luxury, “where are you staying?� came the hasty, foot-shuffling reply yet this elicited a profound truth from Jesus, “come & you will see�.

Profound because it is only by following Jesus that you discover his residence is, ultimately, heaven and you have a place there. It’s a discovery that can only be made by going on the journey.

For these two disciples their journey started when another pointed to Jesus and said “Look the Lamb of God� they gathered all their hopes, dreams and maybes and set off after him, maybe this Lent you could do that too.

The narrative continues “they spent that day with Jesus� and what a difference a day made. Spending time with Jesus set Andrew’s heart on fire he knew what he wanted to do above all things. He went and told his brother about Jesus but that wasn’t nearly enough; of greater importance the fact that he brought his brother to Jesus.

“You’ve got to come and then you will see� – Andrew gets it and soon his brother Peter will too.

Could we follow Jesus what about all our maybes, suffering, science, sin, salvation… bring them with you, come as you are and you will see, that’s the journey I’m on.

John writes his gospel to evoke faith, your faith, my faith he wants us to come and see Jesus for ourselves. He’s so edited this writing that only the richest words are here, all that is necessary for belief contained in its pages.

That’s why just before he gives us Jesus’ first words John tells us “Jesus saw them following and asked “what do you want?� John’s telling us Jesus knows whose following after him, maybe at a hesitant distance, and draws us towards himself with a question and a promise.

He knows your heart and mine and the struggles we have with the maybes of this life and invites us to bring them to him, to come and see. I pray that you will take the opportunity to do so – it is a foundational, not to say fundamental, part of the Christian life.

Nick