Now You See It, Now You Don't

Who is Jesus? Man of Mystery  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  42:47
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INTRODUCTION

Big Bang Theory — Sheldon is tricked by a trick

Don’t Judge me but one of my favorite sitcoms

Hilarious because of Sheldon’s quest to figure out the secret to the trick!
Funny because they know Sheldon will not sleep till he figures it out
You don’t really know till the end when Raj does the 2 hearts that they are all in on it
What else is funny — you realize that Sheldon is so consumed with figuring it out he misses the obvious — Howard never asks Sheldon to pick a card — till the end when Sheldon gets wise — but even then he is distracted and misses the secret
I hate to disappoint all the Harry Potter fans — but magic isn’t real
Illusionist use psychology
Sheldon was right — magic uses techniques of misdirection and cognitive illusion
Good illusionists know we will be consumed with “How’d he do that” — it is in our nature — we just need to know
We just can’t believe until we see for ourselves!
This is why the really great magicians never tell their secrets
As long as you can’t believe what you are seeing — you will be engagedattentive — keep coming back
Because it is the anticipation — the assumption — the expectation — the mystery keeps us coming back
As long as I am engaged and intrigued — I will keep buying tickets to the next show

If we know everything now then we won’t be amazed by anything later

There is no joy in opening a gift when you already know what is inside!
In many ways — Jesus, our man of mystery — was like a good illusionist
I don’t believe he was being deceitful — but he definitely didn’t tell all his secrets right away
When reading the Gospels — there are many times I just wish he would tell all the secrets
I wish he would just give all the evidencereveal the clues we need to know
But he doesn’t — instead he simply invites them and us — “Come and See” — “Follow me and you will see”
Why does he operate like this? Why keep us guessing?
I think Jesus wants to shake up our assumptions so we will be open to the infinite possibilities in Him
We are easily distracted by what we think we know — what we think we have figured out
We are distracted by our assumptions and conclusions
Here is the thing about assumptions in life — Once we think we know — it becomes very difficult to consider or even notice the infinite possibilities of what can be.
Nathanael got caught up in the misdirection — the assumptions — And almost missed out on the greatest journey of a life time — He almost missed out on a truly life changing experience — why? — Because he assumed nothing good could come out of Nazareth — Jesus’ home town.

TEXT

Jesus is ready to go - to start His ministry — His calling — His reason for being here
30 years old now — Trained up — baptized — Spirit comes down and bears witness
Jesus is now a rabbi — like every rabbi he needs disciples (But Galilee? not a popular place to find disciples)
John has been preparing the way — preaching — baptizing
People are convinced — the talk is starting to spread — the signs point to John
They were so convinced — conclusions and assumptions — they did not recognized the One in their midst
John even tried to convince them — I am not the One — there is your guy — follow Him
Two of John’s disciples followed — Andrew and an unnamed man
It says the first thing Andrew does after his encounter with Jesus is find his brother Peter
So now Jesus has 3 followers — Andrew — Peter — and an unnamed man
This is where were pick up the story...
John 1:43 TNIV
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
We don’t know if Philip was part of John’s disciples — if Andrew, Peter or #3 found Philip - then they are helping Jesus find disciples
All we know is Jesus invited him — the 4 men were on their way to Galilee and they found Philip
Follow me — and he did
What strikes me is they just dropped everything and followed — there must have been something interesting — some curiosity for them to just follow Jesus
Most of the time this is how faith is born — a desire for something better/different — enough interest to “come and see
John 1:44–45 TNIV
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “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.”
More than likely Peter, Andrew and Philip knew each other (Bethsaida was a small fishing community northern shore of Galilee)
But Philip found Nathanael (from Cana) and told him the good news — We have found the One
“Really? Who is he...”
John 1:46 TNIV
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Nathanael can’t believe it — He was from Cana, Galilee — not sure exact location of this ancient city but some think it might have been just a few miles from Nazareth — Nathan knew Nazareth
Nothing good ever comes out of Nazareth!
Nathan had certain assumptions — and from those assumptions drew some conclusions — and he almost missed it
But Nathanael followed Philip — he didn’t know Jesus but he knew Philip and it was worth at least going to see who this person from Nazareth was
John 1:47–49 TNIV
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
What a strange greeting — usually we greet people — “Hi, I’m Jesus what’s your name”
John give us some insight into who Jesus is
Jesus sees us even before we believe
Reminds me of our Psalm this week…Psalm 139
Psalm 139:1–6 TNIV
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
John 1:50 TNIV
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”
You ain’t see nothin’ yet!
John 1:51 TNIV
51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
In verse 47 — Jesus makes a reference to Jacob — “Israelite with no deceit”
Jacob (Israel - deceitful) running from his brother Esau — alone in the wilderness — afraid and God met him
In verse 51 — Jesus makes a reference to Jacob’s ladder (Gen. 28)
Jacob has a dream — he sees a “ladder” connecting the heavens and earth — Angels are ascending and descending
The ancients had a worldview different from ours — the heavens — space above the earth is where gods lived — the earth where we lived
Temples were the normal places that connected the heavens with the earth
gods would come down and live in the temples
What is Jesus doing here? He is giving a show — a reveal — a clue
Jesus is telling them — “I am the ladder — I am the gateway between heaven and earth”

APPLICATION

It makes sense that people were disillusioned with Jesus

John made better sense — He was preachingbaptizing — he was amazing
Jesus was unlike anything they had encountered — Their assumptions and conclusions kept them from seeing
And like a great illusionist — Jesus was not very forthcoming with the evidence or clues that gave away who He really is
Makes sense that Nathaniel's assumption about Nazareth would create doubt in him...
All Jesus does is invite them to “come and see”

I think we get disillusioned in our assumptions as well

The Non-believer

You only know what you have heard — or seen
Frankly — what you hear and what you see doesn’t always give you a clear answer to who is Jesus
Maybe you grew up in the church but grew disillusioned by what you experience
You’ve been hurt by a church — or a “christian” — or a pastor
Maybe you’ve seen things done in the name of Jesus that just don’t seem right
You say to yourself, “Can anything good come from that?”
I am sorry — if you knew the Jesus who called Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael — you would know a very different Jesus — you must “come and see” for yourself
I want to invite you today to do that — to put your assumptions aside — any conclusions that you’ve made — and simply come and see

You have to follow Jesus if you want to know Jesus

You can make assumptions by hearing from othersreading about him — but to know Him is to follow him
How do you follow Jesus?
Decide to follow in your heart
Go where He would go
Show up to Jesus gatherings (2 or 3 are gathered there I will be)
Jesus spent time with those far from God
Jesus spent time serving others
Jesus spent time with His father
You will Never know if you don’t go
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