Forming Faith Blog

See, Believe, Follow (John 1c)

Posted on December 23 2025 by Gregory Rawn

In the last section of John 1, Jesus gathers his first disciples as they see, believe, and follow him. How can we also see, believe, and follow Jesus?

A close up of an eye, seeing.
Photo by Shirsendu Adak
Season of Christmas

Merry Christmas (still)! This reading marks the second Sunday of the Christmas season and the eleventh day of Christmas out of 12. This is also the second reading within our theme: Encountering the Messiah. We started in the Gospel of John on the fourth Sunday in Advent with the Prologue and the closest thing John has to a nativity story. Last week, we read the middle of chapter 1 with the testimony of John the baptizer. Now we finish chapter 1 as John’s testimony loses him two disciples and gains Jesus his first five.

More Testimonies

John has a much different account of Jesus’ first disciples from the other three. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) have variations on Jesus encountering Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John and calling them to follow, which they immediately do. In John, on the other hand, the first two disciples start as disciples of John the baptizer and then follow Jesus without an initial call. In fact, Jesus only directly calls Philip. The rest come as a result of the testimonies of John (Andrew and an unnamed disciple), Andrew (Simon Peter), and Philip (Nathanael). This focus on testimonies in the first chapter balances nicely with the very end of the Gospel:

This [the disciple whom Jesus loved] is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.

John 21:24

It is thought that the second disciple of John the baptizer, who is unnamed in John 1:35, is this same unnamed disciple, who is traditionally identified as the disciple John (so many Johns!). This fits with the other Gospels, which have John, son of Zebedee, as one of the first-called disciples.

See

Repetition is one way that a text like the Bible provides emphasis. And there is a significant amount of repetition in this last part of John 1. The most-repeated word and its synonyms are about sight. John watched Jesus and called people to see (behold) him. Jesus sees John’s disciples following him and asks them what they were looking for. He then tells them to come and see. After Simon was brought to Jesus, Jesus looked at him. Philip invited Nathanael to come and see Jesus. Jesus saw Nathanael coming and then told him that Jesus (supernaturally) saw him before they met. Then Jesus promises Nathanael that he would see greater things, even the Son of Man acting as Jacob’s ladder.

Of the 13 occurrences of sight words, Jesus was seen three times, and he saw seven times. Twice, sight was part of an invitation (along with “come”), and the last was the first disciples seeing where Jesus was staying (probably not too significant). 

More Sight

Two other significant stories in this Gospel relate to sight. Jesus heals the sight of a man born blind (John 9):

Jesus said to [the healed man], “You have seen [the Son of Man], and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”

John 9:37-39

Then, near the end of the Gospel, Thomas demands to see the Risen Lord as his fellow disciples did. Jesus visits Thomas, and though he does not directly criticize his disciple, he does say:

Jesus said to [Thomas], “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

John 20:29

As you can see, seeing is directly connected to believing.

Believe

While the word “believe” only shows up once in this section, it is evident throughout. John clearly believes that Jesus is the Lamb of God (Messiah). Andrew believes enough to tell his brother Simon that they have found the Messiah. Philip believes enough to tell his friend Nathaniel that he has found the Foretold One (Messiah). And Nathaniel confesses his belief that Jesus is the Son of God (Messiah). 

Of course, faith (the same Greek word as belief) is the theme of the Gospel of John (the rest of the Bible, and Christianity in general). In fact, the Gospel writer is explicit about his purpose for writing:

But these [signs] are written so that you may continue [come] to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:31

Believing, indeed, leads to following.

Follow

Seeing is primarily a passive event. Sure, we can look for something and watch it (direct our eyes), but our eyes see by receiving light that has bounced off an object. We can get into long theological debates about how active we are in coming to believe (have faith) in something or someone, but it is somewhere between a reaction (or gift) and a choice. And while we can choose to believe something, it is more often that we choose to continue to believe something and act on it.

Acting on belief (faith) in Jesus is following him, whether tentatively or confidently. Andrew and the unnamed disciple might have started (literally) following Jesus out of curiosity, to find out what John was talking about, but they were soon convinced (believed) that Jesus was indeed the Messiah (verse 41). After that, they followed with their whole selves for their whole lives (minus some fear and denial around the crucifixion). 

Seeing, Believing, and Following (for Us)

While we do study and analyze the text of the Bible, that’s not where it ends with any type of practical ministry. We seek an understanding of the meaning of the biblical passages to know how they apply to our lives and the lives of our faith formation participants. Here are some of my thoughts:

  • Seeing: While we cannot see Jesus face-to-face now, we can act out Bible stories to see the stories come to life. But we can also see Jesus in the people around us, seeing his love enacted and those in need of that enacted love.
  • Believing: As we see Jesus around us, we can not only come to believe teachings about Jesus (like in the creeds), but we can also come to believe in (trust, have faith in) Jesus, too.
  • Following: After we have seen and after we have believed, the next step is to follow Jesus. What should we do with this faith of ours? How can we live so that other people see Jesus in us and come to believe?

Helping others see, believe, and follow is indeed the essence of faith formation.

In God’s Messiah,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

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