August 17 I Saturday

Psalms 97-99

Romans 16

“The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.”   —John 1:35-37

Philip was once a disciple of John the Baptist. Yet, John revealed to Philip as Jesus was walking by, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36). Philip left John and started to follow Jesus. In fact, Philip was one of the first disciples to whom Jesus said, “follow Me” (John 1:43).

Although we only have two accounts of Philip speaking with Jesus, it revealed quite a bit of his understanding of Jesus. At the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus tested Philip by asking, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus already knew what He would do but wanted to hear Philip’s answer: “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:5-7). Philip’s response did not differ from what a non-Christian might have said if asked the same question. Even though Philip followed Jesus, he fully expected to live in the realm of “normal,” just as many believers do. We may profess discipleship but practice no differently than someone who does not know Christ. Philip was keen, enthusiastic and wanted to be around, but he had not understood a thing about knowing Christ.

Another account of Philip speaking was when Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” But Jesus said to him, “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?… Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (John 14:6-11).

Do we truly grasp the magnitude of the Jesus we worship and serve? Have we come to see Him for who He is, believing that He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)? When we put our trust in Jesus, we profess that He is the divine Son of God, capable of immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. As the old hymn goes, “Hallelujah, what a Saviour!”

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I choose to follow You because You are the Saviour of the world, the Lamb of God who is able to take away all of my sins. Thank You that I am able to know the Father through You.