John 01 : 38 - 39 "Evangelism"

[Mark]

What was the Messiah's perspective on "spreading the gospel"? Why were there some people he wouldn't even speak to and others He went out of His way to find? How can we apply this to our own walk of obedience, imitating His ways?

[Mark]

Then Yeshua turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to him, "Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." (John 1:38-39a)


I was sitting at a conference for leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ. The speaker quoted 1st Peter 3:15, that we are to be ready to give an answer to every man the reason for the hope that is in us. He looked over us in the crowd with determination in his eyes and said, "They’ve stopped asking so we need to get out there and tell them!"
When Messiah spoke to the two disciples, He may have used one of two different phrases in Hebrew. He may have said, "bo raw-aw," which simply means to come and understand or know. He may have said, "Haw-lak raw-aw." Which may better be interpreted, "Walk along with Me and see." The idea of, "Come walk with me," is more than just an individual invitation from one man to another in Jewish thought. It is the invitation to worship the God of all creation, to share in the blessing of the Covenant people.

But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
(Lev 19:34 KJV)

The phrase "haw-lak raw-aw" may be more justifiable because, unlike "bo raw-aw," it can be traced to text of Old Testament Scripture.

Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.
(Psa 66:5 MKJV)

While, in our English helenistic processes of thought, it may seem a trifle invitation; the fact that, of all the words Messiah spoke, this phrase was specifically quoted as His words, leads us to believe that there was something more.
The question the Messiah turned and asked these two stalkers has a variety of meanings. It can mean, "What are you up to?" Suggesting that there is a covert plot in their agenda. Or it could mean it could suggest that they are craving something, seeking to fulfil a desire, a quest for knowledge, or a relationship. It is commonly used in the Greek Septuigent of the Old Testament for those appealing to Adonai, longing for familiar worship.
The Jewish perspective of evangelism is not that gentiles, non-Jews by birth or geneology, are to be excluded from worship and participation in this Hebraic faith. The invitation is completely open. The Jew understands that he is to shine forth as the Light of the world, to proclaim the goodness of Adonai, by his life of righteous obedience, "that men may see your good works and glorify the Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16).
I remember being struck by the teacher’s words, "They’re not asking…" in the evangelistic conference I attended. Why aren’t they asking? Could it be because we are not shining as lights the way that we ought to be? To live according to a Judaic perspective of faith is to live in a way that is definitively set-apart. My personal experience is that when I shared my faith as a Christian evangelist, I was greeted with polite skepticism and, in most cases, eventual rejection. Yet, when I began to pattern my life in the way obedience to in worship, I couldn’t get people to leave me alone! Suddenly they were asking, "What is it that makes you live the way that you do?"
If we are living a way of obedience, we need not be concerned with pressing our message into the world. If we focus ourselves upon the Messiah is worship and submission to His words, we find that there are seekers, longing for something that they see in our lives. All that we need tell them is, "Come and see."