Come and See

Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from John 1:43-51
on Jan 18, 2009 at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Houston
 

"Come, follow me," is a rather odd way to introduce yourself to a someone but in the Gospel According to John that is how Jesus introduced himself to Philip. Of course there was probably more to the conversation than that. Perhaps it went something like this.

Jesus says: "Hey, Philip. My name is Jesus. I'm from Galilee. Where are you from?"

Philip replies: "Bethsaida."

Jesus continues: "Oh, so do you know Andrew and Peter? They live in Bethsaida."

Philip smiles and says: "Oh yeah, I know Andrew and Peter. Bethsaida is small town. Everyone knows everyone there."

Jesus responds: "Well, I grew up in a small town, too."

Philip says: "Really? Where did you grow up?"

Jesus smirks and says: "I grew up in Nazareth."

Philip laughs and says: "Wow. That is a small town. But it seems like I have heard about a family in Nazareth. Israelite royalty. If you can imagine those two words going together. Israelite. Royalty. Hard to imagine in these days when Rome rules our world."

Jesus replies: "Yes, I am familiar with the royal family of Israel. In fact, you are speaking about my family. My father's family traces its lineage back through King David to Father Abraham."

Philip smiles and says: "Well. Pleased to meet you, Jesus. It is my privilege to meet someone from the royal family of King David ... Wait. Wait a minute. I know who you are. I've heard talk about you around here. A young man from the royal family who is, according to some, the very Messiah we have been waiting for all these years. Are you that one? Are you the Messiah."

Jesus smiles in return and responds: "It is as you say. Let's sit down and refresh ourselves with some water and look at the Hebrew scriptures. I'll use our holy texts to show you my true identity but I do have one condition for this revelation."

Philip says: "Anything you want."

Jesus looks him straight in the eyes and says: "Come follow me."

We don't know every word that was exchanged between Jesus and Philip but we do know the result of their conversation. Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" 

Philip tells Nathanael he has made the greatest discovery in the long history of the Jewish people. He has met the Messiah in the flesh who is alive and walking the earth. He describes their amazing conversation: "He explained the scripture to me. You've got to meet him, Nathanael."

Nathanael says, "Huh. Sounds interesting. So where's he from?"

Philip: "Nazareth."

Nathanael replies: "You've got to be kidding." Come on, Philip, give me a break. That small town? Nazareth?

What do we know about Nazareth? We know it was the place from which Jesus' mother came and the place where Jesus grew up. According to Harper's Bible Dictionary Nazareth was an insignificant agricultural village near a major trade route to Egypt. Population: Almost 2000 people. Nothing worth mentioning ever happened there. Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. No wonder Nathanael says: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" 

I must confess I took great comfort from this text when I was growing up in an obscure small town in Mississippi. Like Nazareth, Morton, Mississippi never graced the pages of the Old Testament. Morton was and still is a chicken town. There is a big chicken rendering plant right in the middle of downtown. And boy does it ever smell when it gets to burning. The only famous person to ever come out of Morton was Deuce McAllister, the running back for the New Orleans Saints, and when I was growing up there Deuce hadn't yet been born. Yes, it did my young heart good to know that, like me, Jesus grew up in an obscure small town.
 
But Philip didn't hold that against Jesus. Philip told Nathanael, "Come and see for yourself."

"Come and see," Philip told Nathanael. "Come and see."

Last weekend, during the All Ministry Team day, we considered how to share hospitality in this congregation. Hospitality begins with an invitation: "Come and see." Extend that invitation to your unchurched friends. To invite someone to church, you don't have to have a long theological discussion, you don't have to know the Bible better than they or be more holy than they are. All you have to do is extend the invitation: "Come and see." You don't even have to worry about how they respond to your invitation. Their response to the invitation is between them and God. All we are responsible for is extending the invitation: "Come and see."

So Nathanael did. Nathanael came to see Jesus. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he greets him. Notice how Jesus takes the initiative in calling his disciples. He doesn't wait for Nathanael to introduce himself. Jesus greets Nathanael when he seeing him coming. And he says something good about him. Here's the first thing he says: "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body." We all like to hear people say good things about us. Especially when what they say is true and sincere. Nathanael had scoffed at Jesus' home town. "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding me." Now Nathanael scoffs at Jesus' warm greeting. Nathanael says, "Where did you get the idea that I am a real Israelite without a false bone in my body? You don't know me." 

How often have we thought about ourselves. Someone wants to enter into a deeper relationship with us but we are reluctant to let down our guard. We recoil, thinking, "You don't know me." It is a way of saying I am not ready to be vulnerable to you. I do not trust you enough to let you see who I really am. Another way we extend hospitality to one another is by being vulnerable enough to let other people know who we really are without the masks and facades we normally wear for self protection.

Jesus extends hospitality to Nathaniel. Jesus claims he already knows Nathanael even though they haven't met before. Jesus says, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." What was Nathanael doing under the fig tree when Jesus saw him? Was Nathanael speaking to someone about his dissatisfaction with life? How he wanted to change things but didn't have the strength? Or had Nathanael been talking to God under the fig tree? Had Nathanael been pleading with God to show him the way forward in his life? Had Nathanael been pleading with God to send a leader to guide his people to victory over the Roman army and culture that had a stranglehold on the people of Israel? We don't know what Nathanael had been doing under the fig tree when Jesus him but it must have been something important for Nathanael to respond as he did.

Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" This confession of faith is remarkable. Note the progression in the three designations of Jesus. Rabbi! Means teacher. Religious instructor. It's like calling a minister, "Pastor." A way of acknowledging what someone does and their role in society. "Rabbi! You are the Son of God." Now that is over the top. Son of God! We may call many people "Pastor" but we never have called someone "Son of God" while looking into their eyes. Son of God! Nathanael has had an epiphany about the identity of Jesus. "Son of God! The King of Israel." The King of Israel. Now that brings it right down home for Nathanael and Jesus. These two Jews. Both are aware of their people's need for a savior. Both know that Jesus is from the royal family. He is qualified to be the King of Israel. He hails from the royal line of King David. The King of Israel.

And in that moment Nathanael signs on to follow Jesus all the way down the line. It will be a rocky road. There will be confrontations with other religious leaders. It will mean living on the road. Never sure where you'll be sleeping tonight. It will mean leaving behind his business, family and livelihood. It will mean following Jesus until you one day see him hanging dead on a cross with a sign above his head written in three different languages so everyone can get the message: "The King of Israel."

Jesus said to Nathanael, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again." Jesus has called Nathanael a true Israelite. Now he refers to the story of the original Israelite, a man named Jacob, whose name God changed from Jacob to Israel. The father of their nation. Jacob had a dream one night. He saw a ladder in the sky. Jacob's ladder. Angels were ascending into heaven and descending back down to earth. Jesus refers to that story about the beginning of the nation of Israel because Nathanael has just signed on to follow the King of Israel.

All of this Nathanael experienced before he even spent 15 minutes with Jesus. His other adventures with Jesus are too many to name this morning. In fact, we aren't really sure whom Nathanael is. He is never listed in the group of 12 disciples. Some think he is known to the disciples as Bartholomew. Who is Nathanael? He is you. He is me. He is all disciples of Jesus Christ. All of us who were skeptical in the beginning. All of us who were not ready to take the risk of following Jesus. All of us who changed our minds because someone invited us to come and see.

Come and see. That is what Philip said to Nathanael. That is the challenge he laid down. That is the opportunity he provided. Come and see Jesus. Come and see Jesus. Invite someone to come and see. Invite someone to come and see Jesus at this church. Pick them up. Drive them here. Come and see. We are only required to issue the invitation. We are not responsible for the response. Come and see. That is all that Jesus needed from Philip. Just to invite Nathanael. Come and see. Jesus took care of the rest. He always will.