Before Jesus’s ministry, came John the Baptist. John, like Jesus, had disciples. John’s disciples would have looked up to John. This makes sense because many believed that John was sent by God.
John was a spiritual giant. John had the courage to shape his lifestyle according to his convictions with no compromises. John even spoke out against political and religious leaders because of his convictions. John had courageous faith. Not only did John have courageous faith, but his very birth was considered a miracle of God.
With this, John’s spiritual fortitude is evidenced in the extremity of his lifestyle–living in the desert eating locusts and honey and wearing animal fur for clothes. This kind of behaviour is not unlike that of Isaiah and other famous prophets of the Old Testament. John was the embodiment of the fact that God had plans for his people, even in this dark hour of Roman rule. It’s no wonder that people thought that maybe, just maybe, John was the Messiah that they had long waited for (Luke 3:15).
With this as the backdrop, imagine what it must have been like for John’s disciples when Jesus shows up by the shores of the Jordan river and John says, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). John adds to his description of Jesus with this, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me” (John 1:30).
I imagine they would have been intimidated by Jesus simply based on John’s evaluation of him.
It’s no wonder, then, that when two of John’s disciples saw Jesus walking by, they followed him at a distance (are you ready to leave your John for Jesus)? They didn’t approach Jesus directly. They just followed cautiously behind him. Being fascinated with the mystery surrounding this man, their hero’s hero, I have very little doubt that they followed Jesus at a distance because they were intimidated by Jesus.
My favorite part of the story is what Jesus does. The text says, “Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’” (John 1:38).
There are some people out there who, like John’s disciples, are interested in Jesus, maybe even fascinated by Jesus, yet cautiously follow behind him, keeping their distance. I know people like this. I know people who are apprehensive, or even cautious about Jesus for any number of reasons.
Do you know what Jesus does with people like this? He looks them square in the face and says, “What do you want?”
I think that Jesus asks all of us this question, not just those who are apprehensive about him. These are, in fact, Jesus’s first recorded words in John’s Gospel. I think that John, as a masterful story-teller, is telling the reader that Jesus asks of each of us–those who believe and those who don’t believe– “What do you want?”
To those who believe and follow him, “What do you want?” How we answer this question reveals everything anyone would ever want to know about someone. What a person wants says a lot about them. The desires of a person’s heart defines them.
There’s a story similar to this in Mark 10:46–52 in which a blind man name Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus, begging for help. Jesus’s responds to Bartimaeus by asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” This is odd. I think it would have been obvious from the circumstances what this blind man wanted. He wants his sight restored! Is Jesus that dense? I don’t think so. I think Jesus asks Bartimaeus this question because it’s a question he asks all of us, “What do you want? What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimeaus, unfortunately, couldn’t look past his own circumstances and suffering (no pun intended). He asked Jesus to meet his needs. Are you like that? I’m like that too often, sadly. I think most of us are.
Like John’s disciples and Bartimeaus, when we pursue Jesus, we find not only Jesus, but Jesus helps us to find ourselves by asking us, “What do you want?”
Are your desires focused inward, or outward? Can you see past your own needs and interests to see those of others? Are your blind like Bartimeaus? Is what you want from Jesus reveal that your bent-inward or bent-outward?
