John 1:29–51

Jesus Is the Lamb of God

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘A man who comes after me is more important than I am. That’s because he existed before I was born.’ ³¹I did not know him. But God wants to make it clear to Israel who this person is. That’s the reason I came baptizing with water.”

³²Then John told them, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus. ³³I would not have known him. But the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and remain on someone. He is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen it happen. I give witness that this is the Son of God.”

Jesus Chooses the First Disciples

³⁵The next day John was again with two of his disciples. ³⁶He saw Jesus walking by. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus.

³⁸Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Rabbi means Teacher.

³⁹“Come,” he replied. “You will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

⁴⁰Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Messiah means Christ. ⁴²And he brought Simon to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas means Peter (or rock).

Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One that Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Here is what Jesus said about him. “He is a true Israelite. There is nothing false in him.”

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. I saw you there before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”

⁵⁰Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”

⁵¹Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”