Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Co 1:3). Amen.
“Come and see.” That is an invitation that is pretty easy.
Let’s take a simple example. Snow returned to Minnesota and the Metro this past week. If a child wants his mother to look outside, all he has to do is say, “Come and see. Roads and rooftops coated and covered in white.” He doesn’t have to know at what temperature precipitation is no longer in the form of raindrops but snowflakes. Or even the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius. (Does anyone?) If it is a result of high pressure or low pressure in the atmosphere. What is the definition of a bomb cyclone or a polar vortex. Leave that to the experts. “Come and see.”
It wasn’t snow that Philip wanted Nathaniel to see, but the Savior. Come and see. Come and see Jesus who locates us and Jesus who links us. We read from …
John 1:43-51
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, who calls to us and connects us to God,
“Come and see.” That is an invitation that is very effective. Those three words can get a mommy to move away from the stove to peer out of the window. In my house, there may or may not be excitement about flurries or blizzards.
But Phillip was thrilled. He had met Jesus. He wanted the same for his friend, Nathaniel. It was easy and effective.
Come and See …
1. Jesus who locates us (43-49)
2. Jesus who links us (50,51)
1. Jesus who locates us (43-49)
We have so much information at our fingertips—on a laptop or a cell phone. You can check a website or a weather app to find out if the accumulation is going to range from 4 to 71 inches. That comes as a result of a search. It is Jesus who finds us and we then find others. Come and see Jesus who locates us.
It had been an eventful few days. John the Baptizer had pointed to Jesus and proclaimed about him: “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). Jesus had spent another day with two disciples (Jn 1:35-39). One of them was Andrew who went to track down his brother, Peter. He wanted to introduce him to Jesus. And he did.
It was then that Jesus made some travel plans. “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee” (Jn 1:43). There was a wedding in Cana. But there was some unfinished business as far as a companion along the way. “Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me’” (Jn 1:43). That was more than just to be a tagalong, but to be a disciple—one who would listen to and learn from Jesus. It is important for us to realize who found whom. It was Jesus who located Philip—as well as his friends from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter (Jn 1:44).
It is the same with us. We were dead in sin (Eph 2:1). But Jesus did not leave us there. He found us. He had to because we couldn’t. Just like if your shovel is buried under a pile of snow. You have to uncover it. It is Jesus who summons us, “Follow me” (Jn 1:43). It may have been at the baptismal font. Or it could have been through his spoken Word. And we go after him (Mt 16:24). And as we do, we no longer walk in the darkness of sin, but in the light of salvation (Jn 8:12). Come and see Jesus who locates us to go with him and to hear about him. And we trail after him with the same prayer as that young man, Samuel: “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Sa 3:10). But Phillip turned away from Jesus, not because he turned Jesus down. There was someone who needed to know about this. Someone compared sharing good news to water in our hands. We can’t hold it, it just naturally runs out. Whether or not Philip ran, he did remark when he found Nathaniel, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (Jn 1:44). The wait was over. The Messiah was here. It wasn’t a certain feeling in his gut, but the sure fulfillment of God’s promise. He was confident because Scripture confirmed it.
The Lord answers our willing prayer that we are giving him our ear. And when we come to his Word, we see the One whom Moses promised would be the Serpent-Crusher, pulverizing the devil’s head for good (Ge 3:15). Or the Prophet, preaching words of eternal life from town to town and village to village (Dt 18:15; Lk 8:1; Jn 6:68). The many prophets also make plain that the Spirit of the Lord was on him to preach good news to all (Is 61:1). He is Immanuel, God with us, born of the virgin (Is 7:14; Mt 1:22). He is the very one who would be pierced for our transgression so that he could provide peace (Is 53:5), Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We are right with God because of “The LORD Our Righteousness” (Je 23:6). Come and see Jesus who locates us to save us from our sin (Mt 1:21).
But Nathaniel wasn’t convinced. Yet. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (Jn 1:46). He knew from the prophet Micah that the Christ would be born in the little town of Bethlehem, not the backwoods town in Galilee (Mi 5:2). Philip didn’t make an argument, he just made an appeal: “Come and see” (Jn 1:46).
That is a good model to imitate. We might not be able to answer every objection. That shouldn’t stop us any more than telling someone the time even though we don’t know how to build a clock. We can still encourage without making excuses. “Come and see Jesus.” He located us and locates others through us—no matter how extensive our Bible knowledge is or how much of a Bible expert we are. We will let the Holy Spirit create faith and continue it—no matter who it is or where they are. We join the prayer of the psalmist: “May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you” (Ps 67:3).
Despite some initial hesitation, Nathaniel hurried after Philip. “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false” (Jn 1:47). Jesus read his heart and realized that he was really a believer—no deceit or dishonesty, eagerly and earnestly anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, not letting his doubt get in the way of seeking the Messiah. There was no hiding his sin like you put a worm on a hook to catch a fish, but a holding on to his Savior. That kind of a person is blessed because the Lord doesn’t count his sin against him (Ps 32:2).
When God scans our hearts, he spots our sin (Ps 139:1,2). But he uses that knowledge for our good. He is aware of how he can remove our guilt. He does it by placing it on Jesus. At the cross our sin is forgiven, sent away forever.
Jesus’ identification shocked Nathaniel. The two of them had never met. “How do you know me?” (Jn 1:48). Once again Jesus demonstrated that he knows all things. “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you” (Jn 1:48). What Nathaniel was thinking about or meditating on in the cool shade Jesus was aware of. And that was enough for Nathaniel. “Rabbi [that is, Teacher], you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (Jn 1:49). When he came, he saw Jesus:
“the Son of God” (Jn 1:49)—true God, sent by the Father.
“the King of Israel” (Jn 1:49)—the One from David’s line to sit on David’s throne forever (2 Sa 7:12-16; Lk 1:33). The Magi worshipped him, the “King of the Jews” early on (Mt 2:2,11). Later on Pilate attached that sign above his head: “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Mt 27:37). He wrote it as a joke; we understand the truth in joy.
That concise confession can be on our lips too. When Jesus locates us, we come to see him for who he is: He is God’s Son with whom the Father is pleased because Jesus has established a spiritual kingdom of which we are members (Ps 2:6,7; Mt 3:17). He rules over all for our good (Eph 1:22). Come and see Jesus who locates us to give us life with him right now and forever (Jn 20:31).
2. Jesus who links us (50,51)
Perhaps you are perusing an article about the weather on the internet. There is a word in a different color than the rest of the text. If you click on it, it takes you to another place on the World Wide Web. You could be reading about a coming storm and there are some words in blue: “what is the worst winter hazard?” You hit that and it sends you to something else. The term for that is a link. In a way, that is what Jesus does. Come and see Jesus who links us.
Jesus had more to relate to Nathaniel: “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that” (Jn 1:50). Soon Jesus would change some water in wine. Jesus would reveal his glory with that and the disciples would put their faith in him (Jn 1:14; 2:11). That, along with all of the other miracles—the blind seeing, the lame walking, even the dead rising—all would confirm who Jesus is—the Christ. Add to that all the time he taught and preached. They would also witness Jesus’ suffering and dying, resurrection and ascension.
We come to see that Jesus is true God and true man. His words and works confirm that he is our Savior. And then like those early disciples, we continue to grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Jesus, discovering more and more about him (2 Pe 3:18).
And then Jesus addresses the whole crowd with one of his authoritative statements that he stresses as valid and vital: “I tell you the truth [that is, this is definite coming from the One who is the truth (Jn 14:6)], you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (Jn 1:51). Jesus references that time when Jacob was running away from home (Ge 28:10ff.). He had tricked his father into giving him the birthright. His brother Esau planned to kill him. That was enough to convince him to head out. A few days into the trip at Bethel, the Lord appeared to him in a dream to assure him that he was still with him and that he still loved him. God had removed the wrong and restored the relationship. In that vision, he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and down—bringing his needs to God and God’s help to him.
Jesus is the One who has bridged the gap between earth and heaven perfectly and completely. He is the only link between us and God. That is why the “Son of Man” came (Da 7:13,14). God himself became one of us—with flesh and blood—to seek us and save us (Lk 19:10). And now heaven stands open to us and stays open for us. Come and see Jesus who links us to his Father (Jn 1:14). Jesus bought us with a price, the price of his blood, to be his own (1 Co 6:20). And we are.
Come and see. That is an invite that is effortless and efficient—especially when it comes from a little one. It can get a person to stop what they are doing and stare even at snow. It is what Philip shared with Nathaniel. Jesus found Philip and Philip found Nathaniel. Come and see Jesus who locates us. We were lost but now are found. Come and see Jesus who links us to God. He brings us and all to him. Yes, come and see Jesus. Happy Epiphany. Amen.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us” (Ps 67:1). Amen.
January 14, 2018
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