As the Lord Jesus speaks to Nathaniel, his heart is enlightened. His eyes are opened, he sees the truth, he sees the Light of God. In this Light he receives Life. In describing the reality of what He now sees, Nathaniel says to Jesus “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”. He proclaims Jesus as Lord. He worships Him as the King of Israel. He honors Him as the promised Messiah, the Son of God. In the Light of Jesus, Nathaniel sees Jesus. The Lamb of God draws Nathaniel and brings Him to saving Faith when Philip said to him, Come and see.

The call of Phillip to the ministry is a very poignant one. It is exemplary of the call of God to the elect, those who are made believers in Jesus Christ by the Grace of God. The first point to note here is that Jesus found Phillip. It is the Grace of God that finds you and draws you and puts in your heart a longing to seek God, to learn the Word of God and to obey the commandments of God. It is God the Holy Spirit that sows the seeds of regeneration in the heart of a sinner causing him to come to saving Faith.

Here, we see the work of the Holy Spirit moving Andrew to introduce his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. So in the fullness of his fresh joy went to seek his brother and say to him “We have found the Messiah”. It is God, the Holy Spirit that places in the heart of the Elect a longing for God. In this longing, an individual cannot be satisfied alone in Beholding the Lamb of God and the Riches of God's Grace. Such an individual is also propelled not of Himself to share this Joy of the redeemed with others. The Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus cannot be privatized. A privatized Faith is a dead Faith.

The act of heeding the call of Jesus Christ to come and see is a life of sorrows and of pain, a life of abandonment, a life of casting away, being despised, rejected and scorned. But the Lord comforts the pilgrim in Revelation 3:21 - “To the one who is victorious, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.“ To come and see is an admission into the firstfruits, the overcomer company.

Whey the Lord asks “What do you seek?” They respond “where do you stay?” They fixed their eyes on Jesus and will not be dismissed by a quick interview. They have left their master, from which they learned and lived and had their sustenance, but now they sought to latch on to the incarnate Logos, the Son of God who had all things, even Eternal Life in Himself. For this, they are a type of believers in the Christian church who fix their eyes on Jesus as opposed to the false brethren who only throw fleeting glances.

The depths of this unfolding drama takes a lifetime to plumb deep. All through the gamut of our experience as a believer, the running theme is in “following Jesus”. Jesus' reply to Peter in John 13:36-38 is astounding. He says “will you lay down your life for my sake?” Peter was using words that he did not understand, he had no clue of what he was really saying. He spoke of laying down his life for his Lord. But the Apostle Peter would later realize that He could only be able to follow because his Lord has laid down His own life for him.

The Holy Spirit poured out in the restoration of Israel as foretold by Ezekiel will bring refreshing to the People of God. This Spirit is a life-giving Spirit. It causes life to return to every death and decaying condition of the spirit, soul and body of man. Where the people said, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.” God is saying “Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you and you will live.

Here, the last Prophet of the old order has completed his work. He has pointed to the Consolation of Israel. He has seen and heralded the Way of the Messiah into His Kingdom. He heard the voice of Yahweh, he saw Yashua Hamaschiach, the Son and He saw the Ruach Hakodesh, the Holy Spirit as promised by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel, now descending and resting permanently on the Son. How Glorious was this sight. And here is what the Father Yahweh is saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.

Here we see the Prophet, John the Baptist employ a contradistinction to shed light on the new revelation he received from the Holy Spirit in identifying the Messiah, the Lamb of God and the Son of God. A contradistinction occurs when a distinction is made by means of contrasts. Here, John the Baptist is saying, previously I have known Jesus, the Man. He is my kinsman, my second cousin and the son of Mary’s my mother's cousin and friend. But now, the knowledge that I once had of Jesus is nothing compared to the resplendent brilliance of the light which has illuminated my vision.

John the Baptist spoke as a herald, the one who announces the arrival and presence of the King when he proclaimed to the people “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”. The world here signifies the entire human race that is soaked in sin and placed in direct opposition and hostility to God. Now, God is delivering the rebels, he is offering pardon, he is reconciling the people, he is redeeming the lost.