John 1:43-45 Wise Men Seek Him
43 The next day, He decided to go to Galilee, and He found, Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”
The beauty of the gospel, according to John chapter 1, is the same beauty that is all the Holy Bible. It fulfills and completes itself. It really doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see how wonderful and complete God’s word is. The God of Genesis is still the Lord of Revelation, and Yahweh of all scriptures. One thing that makes Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, is that He fulfilled all the prophetic words of the Old Testament, everything Moses and prophets wrote about the soon coming Messiah. Lee Strobel is a famous Christian who used to be an atheist. Lee Strobel felt like he was losing his wife to Jesus, so his journalistic skills and investigation of history and God’s word, to learn if Jesus was real or not. Because Lee Strobel is an educated man, from all his research, he learned without a doubt, the Lord Jesus is real and today Lee is a Christian. Even a mathematical genius could study scripture and see that Jesus’ earthly life fulfilled every prophetic word about the Messiah written in the Old Testament. C.S Lewis spends time as an atheist but with his educated mind and studies, he said it is more logical to believe Jesus is the Creator and God, unlike the rest of the world who believes in many gods. Even if the Holy Bible was fairytale-like atheists say, other historical writings and documents tell about Jesus. Flavius Josephus was a 1st-century historian who was part of the Jewish military force and later became a Roman soldier. He had a desire to record history. Most of his writing reads like the Holy Bible. Josephus wrote about King Herod had John the Baptist executed; the following is writings from his book, Josephus Works.
“Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God as a just punishment for what Herod had done against John, who was called the Baptist. For Herod had killed this good man, who had commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God. For only thus, in John’s opinion, would the baptism he administered be acceptable to God if they used it to get not pardon for some sins but the cleansing of their bodies, because it was taken for granted that their souls had already been purified by justice. Now many people came in crowds to him, for they were moved by his words. Herod, who feared that John’s significant influence over the masses might put them into his power and enable him to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise), thought it best to put him to death. In this way, he might prevent any mischief John might cause and not bring himself into difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. “Flavius Josephus
Josephus wrote about John the Baptist, but he also wrote amazing words about Jesus. Much like Philip told Nathanael that Jesus had fulfilled the words of Moses and the prophets, Josephus wrote and said the same things.
“About this time lived Jesus, a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accepted the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted by the principal men among Pilate, and we condemned him to be crucified, those who loved him originally did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had foretold these and countless other marvelous things about him. The tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.” Flavius Josephus
At the time of Jesus’ birth, wise men used words of prophecy to seek a place. It was predicted the Messiah would be born, and the light of a bright star helped them get there. When they found Him, they were filled with great joy and excitement. As a man of God who read scripture himself and a bondservant of the Lord, I find comfort and joy that God of the Old Testament is the same Lord of the New Testament. The Lord Almighty always fulfills and keeps His word. The Lord Jesus loves you, and so do I. God bless you all. His bondservant, Samuel J Head.
