Question 1 “What are you looking for?” See John 1:35-39

My most common answer to this question is, “My reading glasses.” But when you remind me that this is more of an existential question, I have to stop and think for quite a while. That's a deeper question.

The NIV translation of this question is “What do you want?” My guess is that the translators want to draw out the aspect of desire and motive that is part of the Greek word zēteite.
“What do you want?” is a much easier question to answer. We all have an up to date list of our wants that we carry right in our pocket.

What do I want?

“That’s easy. I have my list right here. Let’s see….I want warmer weather, please. And I want another piece of cake, thank you. And Jesus, as long as you’re asking, I want a little more time to read and some new exercise equipment. In fact if you can hook my Kindle up to the new elliptical machine that would pretty much take care of the list that I have today.”

But Jesus didn't say “want”. He said zēteite. The disciples understood that Jesus wasn't asking about the list of wants they had in pockets. He was asking them about the deep yearnings that bubbled up to the surface when they saw Jesus walk by. What did they see in Jesus that motivated them to walk in his direction? What promise did they imagine Jesus would fulfill? What hope did Jesus kindle in them? What were they looking for?

Just like you and I, they couldn't quite define it. So they answered, “Where are you staying?”
That’s a pretty good answer.

“What am I looking for?” If you’re like me, you’ll say, “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it sure seems like Jesus is headed where I want to be, so I’ll just stick close to him.”