John 1:42

John 1:42 says, And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.  John says Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.  This is our calling, to bring people to Jesus.  When we bring them to the knowledge of Who Jesus is, then it is up to them how they respond.  Our purpose is to tell them we have met the Messiah, we are following Him, and invite them to meet Him as their Messiah.  When Peter came to Jesus, Jesus knew who he was.  When we encounter Christ, we can be sure He knows not only who we are, but our very nature.  Simon Peter was not named a rock or stone because of his physical strength, nor even for his spiritual strength as it existed at that time.  He was called a rock because Jesus saw what his spiritual strength could become.  When Christ calls us, He calls us to become what we can be through faith in Him. Verse forty-three adds, The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.  The next day, Jesus went to Galilee and saw Philip and said, "Follow Me."  He did not tell Philip where He was going but asked him to follow in faith.  God does not tell us every step of our journey with Him, but simply says, "Follow Me."  Verse forty-four continues, Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip was from Bethsaida, as were Andrew and Peter.  Verse forty-five states, Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Philip went to Nathaniel and told him they had found the One that Moses in the law and the prophets had written about, in other words the Messiah.  He was Jesus of Nazareth.  Verse forty-six adds, And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.  Nathaniel asked, "Can there anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Philip simply said, "Come and see."  When people are skeptical about Jesus, all we can do is invite them to come and see.  Verse forty-seven continues, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.  Jesus acknowledged Nathaniel before he even got to Him as being an Israelite in whom there was no guile.  Verse forty-eight says, Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.  Nathaniel asked how Jesus knew him, and Jesus told him while he was sitting under the fig tree, before Philip called him, Jesus saw him.  We never come to Christ without Him knowing us.  We did not know Him before, but He knew us.  Verse forty-nine adds, Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.  Nathaniel then professed Jesus to be the Son of God.  Verse fifty continues, Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.  Jesus told him that His seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree was nothing compared to the miracles he would see.  Verse fifty-one concludes, And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man;  He told Nathaniel that he would see the heavens opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.  We need to realize the power of Christ to do what He has promised.  Andrew and the other disciple of John the Baptist came to Jesus by way of John's witnessing as to Who Jesus was.  Peter came because Andrew brought him to see Jesus, and Nathaniel came because he doubted that Jesus could be the Messiah.  It does not matter how or why we come to Jesus, only that we come and believe.