John 1:35-42
Two of John the Baptist's disciples deserted him and followed Jesus. John's message was to proclaim the One who would come after him, whose sandals he wasn't worthy to unloose. Still, he was human. He could have felt the sting of human rejection - but I suspect he didn't - that he was so tuned into his calling that he happily and joyfully deferred to Jesus and found fulfillment in the affirmation of God's calling as evidenced by his own disciples change of allegiance.
In the early process of Jesus accumulating his disciples, I love Philip's proclamation to Nathanael recorded in John 1:45, "We have found him of whom Moses said in the Law, and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael was skeptical, but Philip urged him, "Come and see."
Come and see indeed. The Jewish faithful had been looking for the Messiah for hundreds of years. They had some expectations for how he would come that wouldn't sync with the way he came - but as he revealed himself to his disciples, they were quickly convinced he was the Messiah. They still had some erroneous expectations, and those will surface later, but their witness to the reality of the long-awaited Messiah is significant.
Come and see. Nathanael did precisely that and was immediately convinced. Nathanael got to see Jesus in person, but we have the record of what transpired as recorded in the Gospels - the Good News. Jesus came to redeem what was rightfully his to begin with. God didn't send a mere prophet - he sent his only birthed Son...which clearly shows God came himself in human form. Yeshua ha Mashiach. Ioseos Christos. Jesus the Messiah. Isa al Masih. Jesu Cristo. Many translations because he makes himself real and available to every tribe and tongue! Come and see!
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