PASTOR'S MESSAGE

 

Come and See

John 1:43-51

               The fable is told of a lion, who was stalking through the jungle one day, when he came across a young bull.  The lion and the bull got into a tremendous battle.  But in the end the lion killed the bull and ate him up.  The lion was so pleased with himself that he threw back his head and roared a mighty roar.  Unfortunately, the noise attracted a hunter, who tracked the lion down, took aim and killed him with a single shot.  The moral of the story is:  when you are full of bull, it’s wise to keep your mouth shut!

            Perhaps that’s the advice that Philip was following in our text for today, when he witnessed to Nathanael.  You see, according to our text Philip had just become a follower of Jesus Christ.  He believed Him to be the promised Messiah, the One prophesied about in Scripture.  And he shared that message with his good friend, Nathanael.  But when Nathanael scoffed at him and said:  “CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH,” Philip did not rely on his mouth.  He didn’t trust his own ability to persuade Nathanael or convince him of the truth.  Instead, using Jesus’ own tactic, he simply said:  “COME AND SEE!”  Maybe Philip knew that the most effective way to witness is not to argue people into Christianity, but simply to confront them with Christ and His saving love!  In other words, Philip had experienced the power of Jesus’ forgiveness firsthand.  And so he led Nathanael to Jesus, so that he could experience it too.  Or as Frederic Godet, the French theologian once said:  “One lighted torch serves to light another!”

            Truly, as Christians that is our one main purpose in life – to bring people to the light of Christ.  And yet, in order to that we need to use words.  Not our words, but God’s words, so that like Philip we can lead people to the true Word, Jesus Christ, and point them to His Inscripturated Word, the Bible and His Visible Word, the Sacraments.  To put it simply, we need to share God’s Word with people, because only God’s Word can rescue them from their sin and bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Like Philip, we need to invite people to come and see Jesus in His Word.

            Unfortunately, not everyone wants to hear that message.  Not everyone is like Samuel in our Old Testament lesson – ready and willing to say:  “SPEAK, LORD, FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH.”  Even we ourselves at times can get so wrapped up in our daily tasks and duties, as well as the cares and pleasures of the world, that we forget to take time to partake of God’s Word and Sacrament.  And when we neglect those Means of Grace, that’s when we can fall into the cynicism of Nathanael, the cynicism which scoffs and says:  “CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH.”  Interestingly enough, the Greek root for the word ‘cynic’ comes from the word for ‘dog.’  That’s because the cynical philosophers of the ancient world were considered to be rude, shameless and abrasive, like barking dogs.  And that’s what happens, when we cynically stray away from God’s precious Word and Sacraments – we get caught up in rude, shameful and abrasive sins, which tear us to pieces like a barking dog. 

            My friends, for that reason it is vitally important that we too regularly come and see Jesus, for the forgiveness and restoration of our soul.  We need to daily come and nourish our faith on His Holy Word, through Bible Study and devotions.  We need to frequently come and feast at His heavenly banquet table, where He feeds us with His body and blood for pardon and absolution of all our guilt.  And thankfully, Jesus longs to pour out those Gospel blessings to us over and over again, just like He did for Nathanael in our text.

            We are told that, when Jesus first saw Nathanael, He said to him:  “HERE IS A TRUE ISRAELITE, IN WHOM THERE IS NO GUILE.”  Of course, our Lord’s Words bring to mind the Old Testament patriarch, Jacob, the one whose name means: ‘trickster,’ the one who was full of guile, which is why God changed his name to Israel.  And yet, the word guile  actually means: ‘bait for catching something.’  It was used of the Trojan horse which destroyed the Greeks.  And so, when Jesus said that Nathanael had no guile, He meant that he was a straight-forward person, who was honestly looking for the truth.  The point being that the only place to find the truth is in Jesus Himself and His Word.  All the other supposed ‘truths’ we find out there in the world really come from the devil, who wants to catch us with the bait of his deception, the Trojan horse of his lies, so that he can trap and destroy us for all eternity.  But Jesus wants to rescue us from that with the truth of His unconditional love and forgiveness and salvation.

            Well, Jesus’ answer must’ve impressed Nathanael, because he immediately declared Him to be the Son of God.  That’s because although they had never met, Jesus knew all about him.  For Jesus told Nathanael that He had seen him under the fig tree, before Philip called him.  Now for the Jews, your fig tree was a private place of peace and security, where you could meditate.  And yet, Jesus in His omniscience had seen Nathanael under the fig tree.  Obviously, it was only because He was true God that He could do that.  And my friends, He does the same for you and me as well.  He knows every intimate detail about us – even our most wicked thoughts.  But what is even more amazing than that, is that He loves us just the same.  And as true God He has the almighty power to erase all our wickede sins in His cleansing blood, which is just what He did when He died on the cross.  Jesus sacrificed Himself to bring us the true peace and security of His heavenly kingdom, which is what He was getting at, when He told Nathanael:  “I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, YOU SHALL SEE HEAVEN OPEN, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON THE SON OF MAN!”

            This is a clear reference to the dream that the Old Testament patriarch Jacob had at Bethel, when he saw the stairway reaching from earth to heaven.  And Jesus’ point is that He Himself is that stairway to heaven.  He is the only bridge that can span across the chasm of our sin and lead us back into God’s waiting arms.  As St. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5, “FOR THERE IS ONE GOD AND ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF AS A RANSOM FOR ALL MEN!”  By His death on Calvary, Jesus ransomed us back from sin, death and hell, and opened up the gates of heaven, so that we can walk right in through faith in His name.

            That was the answer to Nathanael’s cynical question:  “CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH?”  The answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’  Not only can something good come out of Nazareth, but the best good of all did come from there.  Namely, Jesus Christ our Savior.  And there is no greater gift than that.  In fact, ironcially the name ‘Nathanael’ in Hebrew means:  ‘gift of God.’  But the real Gift of God was standing right in front of Him in the person of Jesus Christ, who embodies in Himself the gifts of pardon and peace for all our guilt.  And all of that we receive through faith in His name, which is also a gift from God – the gift that we are to pass on to others.

Max Lucado tells of a missionary, who wanted to help a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle of Brazil.  They were dying of a contagious disease and he needed to get them to a medical clinic.  But they would not cross the river to get there.  They believed that the river was full of evil spirits, and if they entered it the spirits would kill them.  The missionary tried to convince the Indians that the river would not hurt them.  He put his hand in the river and splashed some water on his face.  But he got no response.  Then he dove into the water and swam across the river and back.  The Indians waited intently, and then cheered.  He had entered the water and escaped death.  So then he said, “?Follow me,?” and they did.

            My friends, in an even greater way that’s what Jesus Christ did for you and me.  He entered the waters of death and hell at the cross and rescued us from them.  By the power of His Holy Spirit, He has made us His followers, so that we can believe and be saved.  And that’s the message He wants us to share with others, just like Philip did with Nathanael.  Which means that we need to point people to Jesus and His Word, by inviting them to church and sharing the Gospel with them.  We also need to pray fervently that God would give us opportunities to share our faith and then equip us with the right words to share.  And we need to pray that the Holy Spirit would touch the hearts of people to make them receptive to our preaching of the Gospel.  But above all we need to exemplify that Gospel in our daily lives, by forgiving and unconditionally loving all people, even those who disagree with us!  May God help us to share that message not only in our words, but also in our actions, as we invite people to ‘Come and See!’  Amen.

                                            

           

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