Come and See
Rev. Mark Porizky
1/15/2006
John1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses
in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and
see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him,
"Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael
said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before
Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw
you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of
God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him,
"Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You
shall see greater things than these." And he said to him,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels
of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
Where does belief begin? How does belief begin? These are the questions that were on my mind as I read today's passage from the Gospel of John.
Jesus was beginning his ministry by selecting, calling persons to be his disciples. Already he had chosen Andrew and Peter. Next he chose another man from their hometown, a fellow by the name of Philip.
Philip
went to his friend Nathanael; "We've found the Messiah; he is Jesus who
is from
The
answer, if I’m honest is, of course, but I’m predisposed as a UCLA Bruin
alumni to think badly of USC Trojans. Another
option is that of John Chrysostom, who lived in the late 4th century.
Chrysostom says that Nathanael's question did not express rivalry
between communities but rather his question revealed he had been taught that
the scriptures predicted the Messiah would come from
Whether Nathanael's question was rooted in city rivalry or religious training, I think it is important to note the way Philip responded. He did not argue. He did not try to force Jesus to Nathanael. He simply offered an invitation to a friend. "Come and see."
I
suspect each of us can name several friends or colleagues who have talked
about churches the way Nathanael talked about
And Nathanael went. Why did he go? I doubt it was because he suddenly believed what his friend Philip had said. I think he went because Philip was his friend; his friend had invited him, and I suspect part of his motivation may have been he hoped Philip was right. In most of us there is a longing for good news that is profoundly true.
As Nathanael was approaching Jesus but before he had been introduced, Jesus said (in effect): "Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, no guile, a man who does not put some sort of "spin" on everything, a man who is blunt, honest and to the point."
"Where did you get to know me?" Nathanael asked. "Before Philip told you about me, I saw you in the shade of a fig tree," Jesus said.
Christ knew Nathanael even before Nathanael had heard about Jesus. And Jesus did not merely know Nathanael's name, he knew Nathanael. He knew the sort of person Nathanael was. This is the way it is. Long before anyone has told us about Jesus, Jesus knows us - really knows us. Not just our sin, our weaknesses, faults and failures but also the best within us, our strengths, possibilities and potential. Jesus knows us - really knows us- whether we know him or not.
To use the slang of my college days, Nathanael was "blown away." He was amazed that Jesus really knew him even though he had never met Jesus. It was all Nathanael needed to trigger his belief. "You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel!"
Where did this affirmation come from? There is no evidence of lengthy conversation, much less a thorough education process. Jesus saw into his life, saw who he really was, and Nathanael believed.
This week I have been thinking about: "How did I come to believe in Jesus Christ?" It is easier for me to talk about how I have learned about Jesus than it is for me to talk about how I came to believe in Jesus Christ. As a child, prayers and going to church were as much a part of my family's routine as three meals a day. My first Sunday School teacher was a woman we called "Miss Lohr." I don’t remember much about her except that I remember thinking she was a really Godly women, and that I should try to do more of the things she said I should do. She even visited me once when we were sick. Greg Izay was a struggling movie actor who put up with our junior high non-sense trying to teach us Sunday School, and I remember absolutely nothing of any of his lessons, but I remember Greg, and I remember Greg knew me, and he cared about me, and he believed in Jesus. Joe Kelly was my high school English teacher and football coach. He used to take me running with him after my dad died. A member of my church who never talked about Jesus, but I loved Jesus more because of him.
The memories go on and on, blending together in a kind of collage.
I remember calling myself a Christian when I was sixteen, but I had many friends who asked me to come see Jesus long before I made that decision.
There are those who might think they can discount my journey toward belief as merely my being shaped by my environment. And I was. But that no more explains the mystery of it all than a botanist's analysis of a rose explains the mystery of there being a rose.
Where does belief come from? How does it happen? Whether it happenslike Nathanael's sudden grasp of the truth of Christ or my gradual process of maturing, it is a mystery of grace.
Jesus responded to Nathanael's declaration of faith saying: "Do you believe because I told you that I knew you before you knew me? You will see greater things than this." There is more to belief in Christ than merely the initial recognition of Christ. There is more to our relationship with Christ than our initial encounter with Christ.
Jesus said to Nathanael: "I tell you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man." To decode that statement one needs to be aware that in ancient times many people believed there were special places, holy places, where the messengers of God (angels) came from heaven to earth and went from earth to heaven. These were places where people could receive messages from God and send messages to God. I suppose it was something like those places where the cell phone really works. They were very special, holy places, such as the place where Jacob dreamed about the ladder from earth to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending?
Jesus was saying to Nathanael, "This is my role in life. I am the one through whom there is clear communion with God." It is through knowing Jesus, not from being on a certain mountain top that God's good news is made known. It is not being at a special location that enables us to be in communion with God but rather being in relationship with this special person, Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus was talking about using that language so strange to our ears -- that we would see angels (the messengers of God) ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
How does belief happen? How do any of us reach the point where we affirm that Jesus is the Christ and then through Jesus, begin a special communion with God? We can describe the journey -- be it a journey similar to Nathanael's or mine, or yours or someone you know. We can describe it, and sometimes think we really understand it because we have composed an accurate description.
But such descriptions are about like a good photograph of the ocean; they do not reveal the reality of the depths beneath the surface. Trying to track down where belief really begins eventually leads us into the territory of holy mystery.
But although how we have come to believe is finally a profound mystery, once we have believed, once we have stood where Nathanael stood, once we have recognized Jesus Christ, it is impossible for us to live as if we had never encountered Jesus. Even if we reject him and refuse to pick up our cross and follow him, we can never quite forget the Jesus who knows us, who really knows us.
We may reject his teachings, but we can never quite forget his claim on our lives. We may reject his call for us to pick up our cross and follow him, but once we have met him, we can never quite forget his message of God's love for the world. Once we have stood where Nathanael stood, we can never quite forget the love of God and the claims of God's love on our lives.
And it is the Phillips of the world, people like you, who are the ones to say “Come and See.” I’ve never been able to talk anybody into believing in Jesus, even though being a minister people seem to think I can. No I can only love them, be their friend, and in so doing invite them to be touched by what has touched me.
Janet Galbraith story. My friend. Hospital story.
“Come and See.”
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Web Site: SAPC-CT.HOME.ATT.NET
Office Email: SAPC-CT@ATT.NET
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