Jesus is not afraid of your investigation. He’s not afraid to invite you in – to bring you close – because He knows who He is. And He knows what He is offering. There is no guile, no insecurity, no anger at those who are truly seeking.

There is no insecurity in the Son of God.

He’s not like us. We subtly beg for compliments, we subversively week affirmation, we passive aggressively look for allies – but not Jesus. Jesus knows what He’s about. And He knows that what He offers is the only thing that truly satisfies.

It’s against that backdrop that we find the very simple but profound invitation of John 1. To set the context, John the Baptist was the religious draw of the day. With his eccentric dress, his biting rhetoric, and his fearless demeanor he challenged the religious establishment calling all who heard his message to repent, for the kingdom was at hand.

But John also knew that he was only a messenger; his entire life was meant to point to another. And so in John 1, when Jesus came walking toward him, it was the perfect thing to do for him to deflect the attention from himself and onto Jesus:

“Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

There were those who heard John say this – those who had been following John himself. But hearing the pronouncement, they stopped following John and started following Jesus. And the Bible tells us that Jesus, knowing these two men were following Him turned to them and asked them a simple question:

“What are you looking for?” (John 1:38).

The truth is, they didn’t know. At least not yet. They didn’t know what they were getting into. They didn’t understand the journey Jesus was about to take them on. They didn’t grasp the fullness of what it meant to truly follow Jesus. So they returned Jesus’ question with another question:

 “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” (John 1:38).

That’s when Jesus said four words that changed their lives. And four words that can still change your life:

“Come and you’ll see” (John 1:29).

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