Finding God in John 1: An Honest Invitation to Come and See
From the sermon preached on July 19, 2026
Finding God does not begin with the right answer. It begins with an honest question, and in John 1:35-51, Jesus turns to two curious young men and asks it directly: what are you seeking? That single question, the very first words Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John, is still the question underneath every search for meaning today.
A pastor once described this passage using the image of a butterfly effect: a small, seemingly insignificant action that leads to massive outcomes later on. A handful of quiet conversations between a few unremarkable young men, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel, became the foundation of the church that would carry the gospel around the world. Their names are later remembered in Revelation 21:14, engraved on the twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem.
This post walks through that chain reaction: what it looks like to want God, what it looks like once you have found him, and what it feels like when he finds you first. Finding God, it turns out, was never only about you doing the searching.
What Are You Seeking When You Search for God?
John the Baptist lived in the wilderness on wild honey and locusts, devoted entirely to one mission: preparing people's hearts to meet God through repentance and humility. Thousands of people traveled out to hear him preach, and among his own disciples were two young men, Andrew and John (the author of this gospel), who were still teenagers when this account takes place. They had left home, work, and family behind simply because they were hungry for God's word.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." Andrew and John immediately followed Jesus, and Jesus turned and asked them the question that anchors this whole passage: what are you seeking? It is the only time in any of the four gospels that Jesus asks this exact question, and it comes before he answers a single other thing they might have wanted from him.
The two disciples did not really know how to answer. They said, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" It was less an answer than an admission: they wanted to be near him, not just to receive something from him.
Finding God, in this moment, meant being honest about what they were seeking before Jesus ever offered them anything else.
If you have never stopped to ask yourself, what are you seeking? You can start today by naming, out loud or on paper, what you are actually chasing when you chase success, comfort, or approval.
Why Is Sharing Faith With Family the Best Thing You Can Do?
Once Andrew spent an afternoon with Jesus, he did not keep the discovery to himself. John 1:41 records his very next move: he found his own brother Simon and said, "We have found the Messiah." Sharing faith with family was Andrew's first instinct, not a task assigned to him later; he simply could not stay quiet about what he had found.
Jesus met Simon, renamed him Cephas (Peter), and set in motion the life of the man who would become the church's most prominent early leader. None of that happens without Andrew's willingness to bring his brother along. Sharing faith with family here looks less like a rehearsed argument and more like one person saying, "come meet who I met," and trusting the rest to God.
The same pattern repeats. Jesus calls Philip directly, and Philip immediately goes to find his friend Nathaniel to tell him the news.
Sharing faith with family and friends, in this text, is simply what happens naturally once someone has actually encountered Jesus for themselves.
A small, honest step you can take today is naming one person you would want to have this same conversation with, even if you do not yet know exactly what you would say.
What Happens When You Come and See Jesus for Yourself?
Philip's friend Nathaniel was skeptical. When Philip told him they had found the one Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel's response was blunt: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nazareth was an obscure, overlooked town, and Nathaniel's question was a fair one for anyone weighing a big claim against a small reputation.
Philip did not argue the point. He simply said, "Come and see," the same invitation Jesus had already extended to Andrew and John earlier in the chapter. Come and see is not a demand for blind belief; it is an invitation to bring your skepticism along and look for yourself.
When Nathaniel approached, Jesus said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit," and then told Nathaniel he had seen him under a fig tree before Philip ever called him.
Nathaniel's reaction was immediate: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." What undid his skepticism was not an argument; it was the discovery that Jesus already knew him completely, and had not turned away.
The honest step available to you today is simply showing up with your own doubts intact and seeing what happens, rather than waiting until your questions are fully resolved.
What Does John 1 Teach Us About Finding God?
John 1 closes with three young men whose responses to Jesus form a pattern worth naming directly.
1. Andrew: The Brother Who Could Not Stay Quiet
Scripture: In John 1:41, Andrew found his brother Simon and said, "We have found the Messiah."
Application: Real discovery moves outward; Andrew's first response to meeting Jesus was to bring someone he loved along.
2. Philip: The Friend Who Extended a Simple Invitation
Scripture: In John 1:45-46, Philip told Nathaniel they had found Jesus of Nazareth, and answered Nathaniel's skepticism with two words: "Come and see."
Application: Philip never tried to win the argument; he simply offered an invitation and let Jesus do the rest.
3. Nathaniel: The Skeptic Who Was Fully Known
Scripture: In John 1:47-49, Jesus told Nathaniel he had seen him under the fig tree before they ever met, and Nathaniel responded, "You are the Son of God."
Application: Nathaniel's doubts were not a barrier to Jesus; being fully known by Jesus is what finally convinced him.
Where Can You Explore These Questions in Person?
Searching for God rarely feels tidy. It can feel like standing under your own fig tree, half hoping to be noticed and half afraid of what someone might see if they truly looked. Finding God, for most people, is less a single moment and more a series of honest questions; that tension, wanting to be known and fearing what being known might cost you, does not belong to any one zip code.
Wherever you are starting from, whether you are commuting in from Cambridge, working long shifts in the Longwood Medical Area, or already living just up the street in Brookline, that same invitation Jesus gave Andrew and Nathaniel still stands. Mosaic Boston meets at 20 Chapel Street in Brookline, steps from the Green Line D Longwood stop, with services at 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. every Sunday.
You are welcome to come and see for yourself what an honest answer to Jesus's question might look like.
What Will You Do With the Invitation to Come and See?
John 1 traces a short chain of ordinary conversations: John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew brought his brother, and Philip brought his friend. Each one simply passed along what they had already seen and heard. Nathaniel's doubts did not disqualify him; being fully known by Jesus is what finally won him over, and finding God turned out to be less about his effort and more about being found.
Frequently Asked Questions
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In John 1, Jesus meets that search with a direct question: what are you seeking? Rather than offering a formula, the text invites you to name what you actually want, then bring that honest question to him rather than resolving it on your own first.
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In this passage, following meant leaving behind a former teacher, a hometown, and even a family trade to be with Jesus directly. It is less about following an account online and more about full, ongoing devotion to who he is and what he asks of you.
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Andrew did not argue his brother into belief; he simply said, "We have found the Messiah," and brought Simon to meet Jesus himself. Sharing faith with family can start the same way: naming what you have found and extending a genuine invitation, then trusting God with the rest.
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It was Philip's answer to a fair skeptical question, and it is not a demand to believe blindly. It is an invitation to bring your doubts along and look for yourself rather than settling the matter from a distance.
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Nathaniel was startled that Jesus had seen him under the fig tree before they ever met. That detail shows Jesus already knows the reader completely, and the passage suggests that being fully known, rather than being a threat, is where real belief begins.