Session 17
Q. The Scripture spoke of two disciple of John,
Son of Zechariah, who left their teacher and followed the Lord Jesus
Christ. They did not talk to Him until
He turned to them and spoke with them. We
clarified that God Almighty always turns to Man and talks to Him; this by no
means belittle or diminish His status and greatness. He is not a silent God, neither is He
separated from His creation. Today, I
would like to ask you a question which is pursuant to what we’ve started last
episode. John 1:38 and 39 state, ‘Then
Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you
seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when
translated, Teacher), "where are You
staying?" He said to them,
"Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained
with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). Now why did the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be
to His Name) ask the disciples of John, son of Zechariah, this question,
"What do you seek"?
A. In fact this is a critical question in dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ,
whether throughout His life on earth, or up to this moment. Anyone who deals with the Lord Christ (Glory
be to His Name) needs to identify what he exactly needs, and why does he follow
or talk to Him. Some people long to
please the Almighty seeking His blessings and bestowments on earth. They seek that He protects them from the evil
of the slinking whisperer and the scourge of envy. They long that He protects them along with
their beloved ones from the unexpected and unseen. Their thoughts are confined
in the limited duration of their lives on earth. As for their eternal life, they do not give
it much thought. Others may attempt to
please the Almighty to avoid His wrath, and to escape His punishment and
retaliation, not knowing that He is Love.
He loves them, and does not wish that they should parish. He wishes to
become a Father to them, to assist them in their weakness, and guarantee to
them eternal life. The Almighty wishes
that those who love Him do so because He is the Mighty One who possesses
Amazing Love and Grace; He is the One who pours out an overflow of a special
kind of Love into the hearts of those who come seeking Him. Thus a person does
not only love God Almighty, but is able to love himself and others as well,
regardless of their denominations, religions, inclinations, or reactions
towards him. This person is among the
successful. It is extremely important to
identify the motive behind following Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. What about the
disciples of the Lord Christ, why did those follow Him? Those twelve people abided by Him throughout
the duration of His Ministry on earth, which is about three years and one
third.
A. In fact, not all their motivations were pure and straightforward. Some followed Him because they witnessed His
obvious miracles, and some believed that He should become King of the Jews and
wanted to sit by His side in the Kingdom: One on the right and the other on the
left. One of them was even a thief and a
traitor; he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) and turned
Him in to be crucified. Yet, some of
them were indeed sincere and genuine in heart; one of those told Him, ‘Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ John 6:58
Q. Isn’t it amazing
that the Disciples should have so much disparity whereas they’ve spent years
along with the Lord Jesus Christ?
A. Indeed it is amazing, since knowing His glorious person fills the heart with
joy, and gives meaning and a new taste to life.
But who are those disciples?
Considering that they are but people – much like the rest of us, there
is nothing odd about it. Man usually
follows his own interests, and even sins and weaknesses. The amazing thing about this group is that
they were teachable and corrigible.
There is nothing weird about Man being a sinner: being selfish or being
thief. But the disaster occurs when
being such, yet refusing to come to the Almighty to admit his sins, and to seek
His forgiveness and pardon, using the intercession of our Lord, Prophet and
God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. Why didn’t those two disciples ask anything
of the Lord? Why did they just ask Him
about where He was staying? Also, what
does the word ‘Rabbi’ here means? Do you
mean to tell me that they could recognize that He was the Lord God Almighty revealed in human flesh?
A. No, they hadn’t yet recognized that He was God Almighty revealed in human
flesh. The word ‘Rabbi’ here means
‘teacher’ and not Lord God. In fact they
just wanted to get to know Him better, and stay a bit longer with Him in order
to perceive His Mission. It is clear
though that once they’ve sat by His side, they could not separate from Him all
day long. They even abided by Him
throughout His stay on earth – they had become disciples. Even more, they haven’t and will never
separate from Him forever and ever. He
is ever always living in heaven and His tomb is empty on earth; they are living
in heaven with their God, and hence they will never ever separate. This is therefore the greatest request ever
to be fulfilled. For Man to enjoy the
company of the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) makes all other needs
diminish in his eyes. They have thus
asked for the greatest request ever.
Q. Dr. Nagi, John 1:40
say, ‘One of the two who heard John speak, and
followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.’ Who is the second disciple who accompanied
Andrew?
A. It is clear that the second disciple
is
Q. Verse 41 says about Andrew that, ‘he first
found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the
Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ)’. What do these words mean?
A. The word ‘Messiah’ is the Greek form
for the Aramaic word, ‘Meshha’, and the Arabic Word,
‘Massih’, the anointed one. Up to this day, the Jewish tradition believes
that the Messiah is the expected person who will reinstate the throne of King
David to the People of Israel, will deliver them from their enemies, and will
submit all nations under their feet.
Q. Did any man anoint
the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) while being on earth in order to
start His ministry as would a king, prophet or priest?
A. The Lord
Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) is not just like any other man who would
need a person to anoint him in order to fulfill his mission. He is God Almighty revealed in human flesh. He anoints people to fulfill the tasks with
which He assigns them. No one anointed
the Lord Christ. He was anointed though,
but not with earthly anointing oil - His mission, nature and redemption were
but celestial and heavenly. He said
about Himself, ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because
He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor’, Luke 4:18. He was anointed by the Spirit of God, not by
earthly anointing oil. The Spirit of God
here means the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Almighty.
Q. Dr. Nagi, the word ‘we have found the Messiah’ in John 1:41
attracted my attention. What is your
comment?
A. The word ‘we have found’ implies more than one person, not only Andrew. It also means that they were searching for
and expecting the Messiah; In fact the Jewish people were all searching for and
anticipating the expected Messiah during the time when the time when the Lord
Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) came to earth. As I mentioned in a previous episode, the
people were enslaved to the Romans, meanwhile it had been 400 years since the
Lord God Almighty sent them any words or prophet – it was a long period of
silence. Everybody was looking forward
to the coming of the Messiah St. John the Evangelist, Andrew and others, having
seen the Lord Jesus Christ, and saying ‘we have found the Messiah’, they were
but expressing the anticipation of the entire Jewish people.
Q. John 1:42 says,
‘And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You
are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas"
(which is translated, A Stone).’ Did the
Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) find out this information on His own?
A. It is clear from the context that the
Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) knew this information on His own. It is only natural though, that Andrew would
introduce his brother Peter to the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name)
saying, ‘This is my brother, Simon the son of Jonah’ or this is my brother Cephas’. The Lord
Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) wouldn’t have then needed to repeat what He
said. It is amazing though that He knew
that the new comer was called Simon, his father Johan, and that he had another
name, Cephas, meaning a stone. He did the same with another person called
Nathaniel, of whom we’ll talk shortly.
There is nothing odd about all this, since the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory
be to His Name) is the All Knowledgeable divine person.
Q. Verse 43 says, ‘The
following day Jesus wanted to go to
A. Well, one word coming out of the
mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) is enough for any man to
leave all and follow Him. The Lord
Christ (Glory be to His Name) is not an earthly prophet who calls people to
adopt His new religion – talking to them into accepting His Call neither by
patience and good preaching, nor by threatening and temptation. It is enough for Him to say one word. If the person was sane and wise, he would
follow Him without argument, and would discover that He is the way, the truth
and the life. Or else Man loses this
life and the hereafter.
Q. Dr. Nagi, your answer intrigued another question. Throughout the entire Holy Scripture, I’ve
never read that the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) called any person
to accept Christianity as a religion.
How would you explain this?
A.
The Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) did not come down from
heaven to promote a new religion, or to call people to accept the doctrine of
Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ
(Glory be to His Name) is not a founder of a new religion, nor is Christianity
merely a religion. It is a new life that
the Almighty bestows on whoever believes in the Lord Christ. The Lord Christ (Glory be to His Name) is
savior from sins and transgressions – the only intercessor and mediator between
God and
Q. The Holy Scripture says, in John 1:45 and 46,
that Phillip did not only follow the Lord Christ, he found Nathaniel and told
him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets,
wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathaniel said to him,
"Can anything good come out of
A. This incident represents the life of
every true Christian who came to know the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His
Name) as a personal savior. The story
starts with a simple person much like Phillip, Nathaniel, John, and Peter, you,
any person, or me. It starts with a
person feeling a sense of need for God Almighty. This is because there is certain emptiness in
the human soul, a void that could not be filled except by the Almighty. Thus every one seeks to know Him. This is clear in all cultures and
religions. Even those who do not know
the One true God, who created heaven and earth; they try to worship any God
they have made and set for themselves to worship. In
Q. Dr. Nagi, is it
Man’s duty to search for God Almighty, or is it the Almighty who reveals
Himself to Man?
A. In fact both. Man longs to know the
Almighty, and seeks to find Him with all his heart. Yet Man needs to fulfill the conditions that
allow the Lord God to reveal Himself to Man.
Man cannot possibly get to know the Lord God on his own. The Arab proverb that says, ‘It is by logic
that we get to know God’ is indeed wrong.
God is Spirit and cannot possibly be known save through the spirit. Indeed we use the minds that God Almighty
gave us in thinking about Him day and night.
But it is Him who reveals Himself to us, and comforts our hearts by
believing in His glorious person.
Q. You mentioned that there are conditions that
need be fulfilled in a person in order that God may reveal Himself to him. I would like us to mention those conditions
before concluding our episode.
A. The most important conditions that
need be fulfilled in a seeker of God are:
First, humbleness and a sense of need for the Almighty
Second, willingness and readiness to accept whatever God reveals about Himself.
As for humbleness, the Holy Scripture is clear about it in James 4:6, ‘God
resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’. This is also mentioned in Proverbs 3:34. As we said earlier, the most precious among
all blessings is that of knowing the Almighty, and being able to accept His
mercy and forgiveness of sins. The sense
of need to God Almighty coupled with humbleness and submission in asking Him to
declare His truth opens the door of grace wide open.
Q. What about the second condition?
A.
It is not less important that the first.
Willingness to accept God’s way in revealing Himself is indeed crucial
in this respect. It is essential not to
set predetermined conditions for the Almighty, and not to hold fast to
doctrines, religions or teachings that could set obstacles for Him to reveal
Himself.
Q. Could you please give us an illustrative
example to clarify this point?
A. Well, one may come to the Almighty
with a strong sense of need, asking Him, ‘Lord, please reveal Yourself to me. But,
I do not, nor am I willing to believe that the Lord Christ (Glory be to His
Name) is more than a prophet. He could
be one of God’s good followers, full stop.
I do not, nor am I willing to believe that Christianity is the conclusion
of all other religions, and that it preceded no other religion; nor am I
willing to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) is the
last messenger sent by God, nor is He the Mast of all Prophets. I do not, nor am I willing to believe that He
is the only way to heaven, nor that He was the only One whom Satan could not
lay a finger on. I do not, nor am I
willing to believe that He is the only intercessor and mediator between Man and
God: The only One whose intercession
will be accepted on the great Day of Judgment.
Nor am I willing to believe that the Holy Bible is God’s Revelation, and
being His Holy Scripture, He is able to protect it from mingling and
alteration. I do not, nor am I willing
to believe in redemption, nor in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Essa Son of
Mary was not crucified, and I am not willing to believe that He was
crucified. I do not, nor am I willing to
believe that the Lord Jesus Christ (Glory be to His Name) had to die on behalf
of the entire human race. I also do not
believe in His resurrection, and His being established on the throne of
God. I do not therefore believe that He
is the judge of the living and the dead on the great Day of Judgment. Now coming will all these predetermined
provisions and assumptions, being abstinent about not opening one’s heart and
mind to God Almighty to reveal Himself, makes
it impossible for the Almighty to extend His grace of revelation to this person
(Translator). The Holy Scripture tells
us that God revealed Himself to us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
also through God’s written words in the Holy Bible – far beyond all deception.
Q. What should Man do
– being raised on these beliefs? How
could Man rid himself of all this in one moment, and accept others that easily?
A. Man is not demanded to rid himself of anything and accept something
else. All Man needs to do is call upon
the Lord saying, ‘Lord, there is so much inside me, doctrines, teachings, and
provision that may contradict with what your reveal to me. Please open my mind and heart to you
alone. I am willing, by your might and
power, to accept your revelation no matter what you reveal. Open my heart, and enlighten my soul to know
the truth and follow it. Keep from me
whatever is false, and let me hate it.
Reveal your love and forgiveness; unfold your plan to rescue me from
eternal hell, and to have access to eternal life. You are the most merciful ever.