When I was young I had a best friend named Glen. We were inseparable. We played on the same Little League Baseball team from age 11 until we graduated from high school. We played pick-up football, baseball and basketball together, most always on the same team. And once we got in high school, Glen was very instrumental in helping me make the basketball team.
As kids, it was a good bet that if I wasn’t at Glen’s house, he was at mine. Our parents liked it because we lived on different streets, but our houses were only separated by a vacant lot, which stood between them. So if our parents wanted us to come home to eat or do a chore, or whatever, all they had to do was to give a shout and call us home. It was a wonderful arrangement because we could almost always hear them when they called.
But, being kids, we didn’t always respond to their call. At least not right away. Oh, most of the time we did. But sometimes we put off going home for a while. Other times, we just plain ignored their call and pretended we never heard them, only to straggle home later with a bunch of excuses as to why we did not answer their call sooner. Those were not the fun times and we usually suffered the consequences of our delay.
Well, in today’s Gospel reading, we learn of a call given by Jesus to several ordinary men, a call that they could choose to answer or not, a call to “Come and see.” Our lesson today begins with verse 35, where we find John the Baptizer and two of his followers most likely discussing the recent events that had seen John’s ministry hit an all-time highpoint. John has been preaching repentance and preparation to huge crowds! Everyone seems to be coming to hear him. The common people come gladly and respond. The “religious” people come to check him out and see just what is going on. Best of all, just two days prior to today’s lesson, a truly phenomenal thing took place! Jesus Christ, the Messiah Himself, had shown up! Jesus came again and John tells the people, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
Now John had already taught his disciples that the Messiah was the one to follow, not John. John had told them, “He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” So these men knew just what to do. Carpe Diem! They seized the day, grabbed the moment, left John and went after Jesus. John has fulfilled his task from God. He has prepared the way for the Lord. His mission is essentially over, while Jesus’ mission is just beginning. John has pointed others to Christ and stands there now in majestic solitude as a man who has fulfilled his calling from Almighty God.
Now, in the story, Jesus hears these men following Him, turns around and the passage says Jesus “saw” them. This is not a casual glance at them. No siree. This is a deep, penetrating look right down to their souls. Jesus knows that these men will become His closest friends and one day He will lay down His life for them. Jesus looked at them the way a parent first looks at their newborn child. Then Jesus asks them a question. “What do you want?” He is asking them, in essence, “Why are you following me?”
What a great question! It is a question we should ask ourselves once in a while. Why am I following Jesus? Why am I going to church? What are my motives for following this Galilean carpenter?
When I first read their response I thought to myself, “What a strange answer to Jesus’ question.” He asks them, “What do you want?” and they answer, “Rabbi (which means “teacher”) where are you staying?” In reality, it is a roundabout way of requesting some time with Him. So Jesus grants their request and says, “Come, and you will see.”
What a great answer. “Come, and you will see.” Jesus still gives that same response to anyone and everyone who wants to find out just who this Jesus is and what He has to offer mankind. We can still spend time with Jesus and get to know Him intimately, by taking the time to read and study His Word, the Bible. It is the best “quality time” one can have. These disciples spent one day with Jesus and became thoroughly convinced that He was the long-awaited Savior, as evidenced by Andrew telling his brother Simon (later called Peter), “We have found the Messiah!”
Andrew’s name in Greek means “manly”. Religion these days has this tendency to portray and expect ministers to be soft, sweet and, well, kind of namby-pamby, wishy-washy. Well, I can tell you that Andrew, Peter and the other Disciples definitely do not fit that mold. They were rough fishermen and one tax collector. Their lives were revolutionized and filled by God’s grace and love, but they were still manly, not effeminate in the least.
So Andrew and this other Disciple spend the day with Jesus and have a time that will change their lives forever. The first thing that Andrew does after this one encounter with Jesus is become an evangelist! What? That’s right. Andrew realized he had discovered something that he wanted others to have also. He just had to tell somebody! So Andrew begins at the most logical starting point – family and friends.
What a great place to start! But many of us never even try. Andrew could have gotten bogged down with the questions we often ask ourselves when we attempt to tell others about Jesus.
More questions to ask ourselves.
There is a story about a little girl who came home from Sunday School disappointed and down. Her mother asked her why she was so sad. The girl said it was because of her class’ reaction following their lesson that day. “We were taught to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations,” she told her mother, “but we just sat.”
After finding his brother, Andrew shares the Good News with him and then brings his brother to meet Jesus. Andrew is a rather obscure Apostle. He never wrote a book as far as we know, and he is always referred to as “Peter’s brother”, always seeming to play second fiddle to the great Peter. But every time we find Andrew in John’s Gospel, Andrew is bringing someone to Jesus.
In today’s lesson, Andrew brings his brother Simon Peter. In John 6, Andrew brings the boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus, and over 5000 people were fed. In John 12, Andrew brings the Greeks seeking Jesus to meet Him. You never know what God may have in store for someone you bring to Jesus Christ. Andrew, never really well known, brought Peter to Jesus and was used in a mighty fashion for God.
If I asked you, “Who was Edward Kimball?”, most would not know. That’s okay. Not very many are familiar with this obscure Sunday School teacher of years gone by. But Mr. Kimball led a teenage boy to the Lord. The boy’s name was D. L. Moody. The Reverend Dr. Moody led thousands to Christ, even to this day, through his writings.
The next day, Jesus finds Phillip. His name means “lover of horses”. Isn’t that great? Not “manly”, not “chosen of God”, not “gift to mankind”, simply “lover of horses”. Phillip is a very ordinary man. Someone we would call an “average Joe” who tends to be overlooked by others. He is hardly even mentioned in the other Gospels. No one ran to tell Phillip about the Messiah. But Jesus Himself took time to find Phillip. Phillip’s conversion is really non-spectacular when you think about it. Jesus simply says to Phillip, “Follow Me” and Phillip follows. Contrast that to Paul’s conversion. Jesus knocks Paul off his horse with a blinding light and loud voice. But to Phillip, Jesus simply says, “Follow Me.”
Holy Scripture contains significant diversity in the conversion experiences related throughout its pages. Many people today struggle with their conversion because it may not be as dramatic or spectacular as someone else’s. But that is not the test of a true conversion.
It is not:
If Phillip expected Nathanael to be as excited as he was about Jesus, I am afraid he was sorely disappointed. Nathanael’s response was, “Nazareth! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” That is like our going to a friend and saying something like, “We have found the Savior, the Son of God. He is from Sykesville!” and have them respond, “Sykesville! Do you really think the Son of God is going to show up in such an insignificant place as Sykesville? You must be kidding!”
So Phillip has encountered a major obstacle in his witnessing to Nathanael here. What will he do? Should he argue with Nathanael about Nazareth? Should he just walk away in disappointment? Phillip does neither of the above. Phillip actually gives the perfect response: “Come and see for yourself.”
Many times we shy away from witnessing to others because we are afraid they will raise objections that we cannot answer. Well, here is the answer for their objections: “You don’t believe me? Okay, come and see for yourself.” The message is simple: “We have found the One!” The answer is simple: “Come and check it out for yourself.”
Nathanael takes up the challenge and goes to see this Jesus. Now, Nathanael is a real skeptic with a bit of an attitude. I believe he was going to Jesus thinking something like, “Phillip may have been taken in by this guy, but I’ll get to the bottom of all of this.” How does Jesus handle him? Does Jesus tell Nathanael what a sinner he is and that he should fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness? No. As Nathanael approaches, Jesus says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Jesus has focused on the one positive trait in Nathanael’s character that could be praised – his honesty and straightforwardness. Nathanael was a true Israelite not only in name, but in character as well.
Jesus’ comment takes Nathanael a little off guard and he responds, “How did you know that about me?” It was a true statement and a sincere compliment, and Jesus used it to disarm this critic. Then Jesus really amazes Nathanael with the answer to his question, “How did you know this about me?” Jesus responds, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Phillip called you.”
Say what? There was no human way that Jesus could have known about Nathanael’s private moments spent under that fig tree. Something significant to Nathanael was going on under that tree. He may have been praying, meditating or reading Scripture, but what really amazed Nathanael and got his full attention was that it was utterly impossible, in a human sense, for Jesus to have known about that experience. As a result, Jesus reaches Nathanael in a totally different way than Andrew, John or Phillip. Some people can be reached through traditional evangelical approaches, like Phillip. But others are more difficult to reach and may require a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, like a word of knowledge. It is not either-or; it is both. Supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, like revelation, healing and miracles, were all a part of Jesus’ ministry and He has promised those gifts to be available to His Church on Earth.
So Nathanael does a complete turnaround from skeptical unbeliever to a profession of faith in Christ stated as, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” In response, Jesus tells Nathanael, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that!” He adds, “You shall see Heaven opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” This is a direct reference to the story of Jacob’s ladder. Is it possible that Nathanael was sitting under that fig tree reading or pondering that very story when Jesus “saw” him?
Today we have seen four men and their four very different conversion experiences. Jesus called each one in a different way. Each of those men heard the call, listened to the call, and responded to the call. Jesus continues to call people today. He calls each one of us, right where we are. He calls each one of us, just how we are.
Are you a Nathanael? Jesus says to you, “I have seen you in your most private times – oh, not under a fig tree, but in you living room, your kitchen, your bedroom at night crying in the darkness. I know your struggles. I know you inside and out.”
Are you a Phillip? Jesus says to you, “I know others overlook and ignore you. But I will never overlook or ignore you. I came seeking you. I have found you. Follow Me.”
Jesus is calling you. If you have not yet responded to His call, won’t you do it today? And if you have already answered His call on your life, won’t you share what He has done for you with others who so desperately need to hear that He will do it for them too? Amen.
Next week in part 2, we will look at some of the specific things Jesus calls for all of His followers to do.