Come and See

Big Idea

Tension: What happens when John, Andrew, Peter, Philip & Nathanael meet Jesus?

Resolution: They are changed by who they see.

Exegetical Idea: When John, Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael meet Jesus, they are changed by who they see.

Theological Idea: When a person truly meets Christ, they should be changed by who they see.

Homiletical Idea: When we meet Jesus, who we see will change everything.

Outline

Intro: What happens when we meet Jesus?

5 Stories

John and Andrew (1:35-39)

hears John the Baptist say “the Lamb of God”

with Andrew he follows Jesus

Jesus turns around asks him, why are you following me?

<DA Carson - meeting their hero, being shell shocked>

They kind of stammer out, “uh, Rabbi! Where are you staying?”

Jesus says, “Come and see.”

So they come and they stay with him. This word is also can mean, “abide” with him. It’s the same word that John later uses to describe the branches abiding in the vine.

I think this profoundly changed John. Maybe not immediately, but I think it really humbled him. Over time, John becomes very humble. He really does not feature prominently in his own gospel.

As for Andrew: it says that he went out and found his brother Simon and it says he “brought him” to Jesus, or led him in. In John’s gospel, this word typically means drag someone imprisoned and bound to Jesus. That it says he probably twists his arm and nags him, until Peter finally acquiesces.

Peter (1:40-42)

Oddly enough, this is probably the only time in Scripture where Peter shows up that he doesn’t talk.

Peter sees that Jesus is the Messiah, the one annointed, and promised by God that he’s going to rescue Israel.

Jesus changes Peter’s name from Simon, the son of John, to “Cephas” or “Peter”. Of course, this is the name that Peter will use as he takes a role as a leader in the church after the death of Christ. That Peter becomes the spokesman for the apostles, and Jesus entrusts him with an enormous amount of authority. That Jesus will tell him, as some of his last earthly words, “feed my sheep.”

Philip (1:43-44)

Philip is from Bethsaida. Which was kind of like a boomtown. It was not that long before the birth of Christ this sleepy little fishing village on the coast of the sea of Galilee. But when Philip the tetrarch, one of the sons of Herod took control, he invested a lot of money in it and renamed it after Julia, the daughter of Caesar Augustus.

We can tell that Philip is probably from a class of people who is sympathetic to this because he uses the name “Philip” which is a Greek name. Later on, when John tells us in chapter 12 that Greek people come to see Jesus, they come to Philip. So Philip is probably a Hellenistic Jew. This is a Jewish person who thinks and acts and talks like a Greek. He’s someone that a lot of Jewish people in his day would have kind of looked at with disgust.

Philip is also probably not a fisherman. Later in John’s gospel, when all of Jesus’ disciples go fishing, the only one who doesn’t come along is Philip. He’s probably a bit more booksih, or beaurocratic. We don’t know what Philip did for a living, but it probably wasn’t workig with his hands. He was, in modern terms, a yuppy.

Philip also has a very simple faith. Yoiu would expect somone like this to put up more of a fight, to argue more, to be more skeptical. But he kind of just takes Jesus at his word.

Philip was also apparently a very shy person. In the four gospels, Philip only is recorded talking a handful of times, and those are here. And even here, when Jesus says “follow me,” Philip doesn’t say anything.

Now here’s what’s surprising, is that this very shy person, this very Greek friendly, goes out and shares the gospel with somebody who we would think would not be receptive.

Nathanael (45-51)

I would love to know how Nathanael and Philip knew each other. We’re not sure, maybe they were relatives, but however they knew each other, they could not have been more different. Philip was a hellenized Jew, but Nathanael, also called Bartholomew, was a zealous, patriotic Jew. Philip was maybe a bit left of center politically, but Nathanael much more conservative. Philip was a bit bookish, Nathanael worked with his hands. Philip was shy, Nathanael was not. Philip was from the boomtown of Bethsaida. But Nathanael was from this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere called Cana.

Now Philip finds Nathanael sitting under a fig tree. And he says to him, “We found him that the prophets and the Old Testament wrote about.” Now, this is actually a pretty good argument. He’s appealing to what Nathanael should have found compelling, the Scriptures. But Nathanael says pff, “Nazareth? Nothing good can come from there.” Now, Nathanael is from Cana, and Cana and Nazareth both compete with one another for insignificance. They’re both tiny little villages in the middle of nowhere. It would be like someone from Dedham saying, “Pff, Holden? Can anything good come from there.”

Now, notice here how shy, bookish, Philip has been given an unnatural confidence and he says, “Why don’t you come and see.”

So Nathanel comes along. And Jesus says, “Ah, a true Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.” Now, we might be tempted to think about this as a compliment, right, he’s honest. BUt it’s kind of like saying he’s hoenst too a fault. It’s somewhat sarcastic. It would be like if you said about something, “He doesn’t how to not tell the truth. Even when silence might be a better option.” Because Nathanael is, of course, a bit of a foot in the mouth kind of eprson. He’s very blunt, very rough around the edges, very opinionated. I relate to him a lot.

So Nathanael says, “Uh… how do you know me?”

ANd Jesus responds, “Oh you? I’ve known you since before Philip came and got you under the fig tree.”

To which Nathanael, appropriately humbled, says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel.”

And Jesus says, “You think that’s impressive, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” That’s nothing. You will definitely see greater things than these.

Overall thoughts

It would be hard to find more different men than these both by temperament, natural conviction, and background. At least three of them are fisherman, but one is not, chances are Nathanael was probably a farmer from the middle of nowhere. Philip, Peter and Andrew were from a boomtown. Philip was middle class, Peter and Andrew were blue collar. John was a particularly inquisitive man, but probably vain and somewhat ambitious. Philip was very shy. Nathanael was blunt.

But this the way that the church has always been. God’s people have always been drawn from all sectors of society. I think God has so painted the church with different colors and backgrounds and temperaments and styles and culture and dispositions because he so wants to show that the only thing which can unite us is Christ himself.

Jesus meets each of them where they’re at. Notice how Jesus doesn’t expect them to be perfect before becoming disciples. Jesus meets them in all their strangeness, is perfectly patient with all of their awkward questions. He pokes them in precisely the right way, and beckons them in to his life. Jesus knows these five men have some rough edges that need to be sanded down. They have some issues. But Jesus is so patient with them.

Who finds who - Notice here there’s kind of aplay on words. Because the disciples think they find Jesus. Right, in vs. 41, Andrew says, “we have found” and Philip tells Nathanael in vs. 45, “we have found” Jesus. But vs. 43 is a little bit more clear, Jesus found them. In fact, later on in John 15:16, Jesus will say....

They are saved because they see Jesus.

I think sometimes we think if we can put on great events, or we can make a really compelling argument, or we can just figure out the magic bullet, just put hte key in the lock, then we can really save the lost. But notice that each one of these comes to Christ in different ways. John and Andrew hear the witness of John the Baptist, Peter is dragged along by a family member, Philip is interrupted, and Nathanael comes because he’s been dared. Really, the only thing they share in common is that they see Jesus. And after all, I think it is somewhat stressed that Jesus is totally human. After all, he’s from Nazareth, he’s the Son of Joseph. He’s a real flesh and blood human being. Yet, there’s also something unearthly, unworldly, supernatural about him. Did you notice that Jesus has seven different big descriptions of him in this passage?

Lamb of God - He is the lamb of God, the sacrifice for sins. He is the one who takes away our sin, who has born our sins on the cross. He is the one who carries our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west. He is the sacrifice that God has provided. He is the new passover lamb, who’s blood was spilt so the angel of death could pass over him.

Rabbi - He is the rabbi, mentioned two different times. He’s the one who teaches the law perfectly. He’s the new prophet that Moses spoke of in Deut 18. He’s the one who will put the Spirit in our hearts so that we keep his law perfectly. He’s the one who applies Scripture and helps us not to be fools.

Messiah - He’s the Messiah. The word Messiah means someone who is annointed. He’s the one who’s been annointed by the SPirit, he’s been given the Spirit so he can do God’s will. What is his annointing for? It’s to do the work that God has for him. It’s to bear our sins and win a people for God.

He of whom Moses and the prophets spoke of - He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He’s the key to unlocking the Scripture. He’s the greater David, teh greater Abraham, teh greater Moses.

Son of God - He’s the Son of God. He’s the one who was in the beginning, and was with God and was God. He is the unique and one and only son of God.

King of Israel - He’s the one who’s going to rule and reign. He’s the king that they’ve been waiting for. He’s the ruler and leader who’s going to establish David’s kingdom again. he’s going to save his people and make those who are not a people into a people. He is David’s greatest SOn.

Son of Man - He’s also the Son of Man. In this context ,this refers to Daniel 7:13-14, where Daniel has this vision of God reigning on his throne. And he sees that the Ancient of Days is seated on his throne, and then something spectacular happens, there’s this one person who he calls the Son of Man. And the Ancient of Days invites the SOn of Man to sit on teh throne with him, and he gives to him a kingdom. So when Jesus tells Nathanael, yeah, you’ll see the Son of Man, this is who I’m talking about. I am the One who’s going to reign.

Jacob’s Ladder - You’ll also recall that Jesus tells Nathanael he’ll see heaven opened and angels will ascend and descend on the the Son of Man. This is probably a reference to Genesis 28, when Jacob is fleeing from his brother Esau who wants to kill him (I have brothers, I understand), and Jacob lies down and he gets this vision of heaven opened and angels descending and ascending. And when Jesus says, “you will see angels ascending and descending, he’s saying, I am Jacob’s ladder. I am the one who connects heaven and earth. I am the means by which God gives you the blessings of the covenant. I am the mediator between heaven and earth.

This is a vision that is incomplete - of course, none of these men have a perfect understanding. Probably the most obvious example is Nathanael. it is pretty clear that Nathanael thinks Jesus is going to set up an earthly kingdom and chase the Romans out. But John says, “no, no, no.he’s actually going to ascend to the throne of GOd and be given the kingdom and reign with God himself. And by the way, he’s going to make a way betgween heaven and earth, but I’m going to do that by the cross.” Nathanael doesn’t have all the details worked out. And those are important details.

IAnd I’m thankful for that, because I don’t always see Jesus for who he is. I don’t always recognize him for his beauty or his glory. I don’t always know what he’s doing in my life. But Jesus doesn’t ask, “Do you get it? Do you understand everything?” Jesus says, “Follow me.”

This is a vision that transforms - This is a vision that transforms by the way.

John becomes humble

Andrew drags his brother to Jesus

Peter gets a new identity

Philip gets bold in his sharing the gospel

Nathanael gets humbled

“remaining with Jesus” - this is of course a word that will later be used in John 15:1-5…

This is a vision that is contagious. Notice how Philip uses the same line that Jesus does, “Come and see.” Notice how Andrew drags Peter to Jesus. Notice how John the Baptist sees Jesus and can’t help saying, “There he goes, the Lamb of God.” When you see Jesus, you can’t help but tell others about it.

Big Idea Reveal: When we see Jesus, who we see will change everything for us.

Seeing is believing - Notice here how John continues on this theme of seeing. Now we had seen back in John 1:4 that Jesus is the light that gives light to the world. And in his life was light. And the light shines in the darkness. And we talked about how one of the enduring metaphors of this gospel is that to believe in Jesus is to see the light. That the light is shining, and if you want to believe in him, it means you have to see him. ANd at least five different times in this passage, we see “seeing words” (vs. 35, vs. 39, 46, 50, 51) to describe people seeing Jesus.

And I wonder friend, as we talk about this, do you see Jesus? Do you see the real Christ? Do you see the glories of the gospel? Do you grasp him? Have you been marvelled and astounded by him? Have you really come and seen him?

It is very easy to tell yourself that you are a Christian, but to never have come and met Jesus.

You say, “I think so, how do I know?” Well, has this vision changed you? Have you found yourself sharing the gospel? Have you embraced the new identity that comes from knowing Christ? Are you abiding in Christ? Are you walking more humbly?

Let’s apply this a bit more clearly....

Application

Jesus meets us where we’re at.

We all need to Come and See Him.

If we would see him, we will be transformed by him.

True conversion doesn’t always mean a big experience. But it does always mean transformation.

We need to keep coming and seeing him.

This means we need to abide - Disciplines of Grace.

This is a vision that is contagious.

There are greater things yet to come.