An Invitation to Meet Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Today’s lectionary Gospel passage - about how people meet Jesus
It follows another previous story where Andrew & probably unnamed Philip
Introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist who’s baptising people in Jordan River - incl. Jesus
Jesus invites Andrew & Philip to spend day with him
Afterwards Andrew go finds his brother Simon Peter to tell him he’d met Messiah
He then convinced his brother Peter to come with him to meet Jesus - & he did
Today we pick up on Philip’s story… (slide)
Friends Invite Friends
Friends Invite Friends
Note - Andrew, Peter, Philip, & Nathaniel are all in Judea visiting John Baptist
Andrew, brother Peter, & Philip all from same fishing village Bethsaida in Galilee
Just like Andrew goes tells closest friend, brother about Jesus… (slide)
See Philip invited to travel back to Galilee with Jesus so goes tells his closest friend
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 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.”
Thing about all these men - left families, homes, work / jobs to go find John Baptist
At time - strong end times expectation amongst Jews - Messiah / end time prophet imminent
All these men searching - for truth, searching for answers, hope for future
They’d hoped perhaps John Baptist was promised Messiah - but John points to Jesus
& they all are convinced Jesus really is Messiah been looking for ...
So Philip looks for & finds his friend Nathaniel from Cana - from same area (slide)
Interesting where Jesus goes next after passage to attend wedding where performs 1st miracle
Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
So both Andrew & then Philip encounter Jesus - when they’re convinced Jesus is Messiah
They do something very natural - go find their family & friends to tell them about who found
But its important that they were all searching - some found what were looking for first
Illus - Watch these adverts & tell me if they convince you to buy their services / products?
[Play Video]
Often times view evangelism as standing on street corners preaching at people
In Acts do see Apostle Paul engaging in public discussion in Corinth
But that’s because it was part of their culture to take part in public discussions
Evangelism isn’t about selling people gospel message...
Hoping we can convince them to buy into message & say yes to coming to church
Instead more often than not evangelism involves friends, family, acquaintances
Telling them about who we’ve met, introducing them to Jesus...
& then allowing God to do rest - see this sequence occur as continue (slide)
Scepticism & Prejudice are Inevitable
Scepticism & Prejudice are Inevitable
After Philip introduces Jesus to Nathaniel there inevitable & common reaction still see today
Its common for people to be sceptical about Jesus & gospel (slide)
Also common for people’s views about Jesus & gospel to be influenced by own prejudices
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Here Nathaniel reveals his own prejudice - related to religious belief & bit of snobbery
1st Nathaniel already seen John Baptist but he’d said wasn’t Messiah - disappointed?
2nd Nathaniel knew no OT prophecies talk about Messiah coming from Nazareth
3rd Nazareth small rural town under 200 people - not important city like Jerusalem
No one as important Messiah / Israel King could come from nowhere place like that
So Nathaniel naturally sceptical friend’s announcement actually meeting Messiah
Nathaniel wasn’t only one to hold same scepticism about Messiah from Nazareth (slide)
Even Jesus own people couldn’t get beyond him being Jesus - Joseph’s son, carpenter
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Nathaniel’s scepticism & prejudice towards small towns isn’t that different from today
People hold prejudices towards church, christianity, bible, & Jesus for variety reasons
Some might be intellectual, some emotional, many seem irrational reasons...
But all come from person’s upbringing & experiences - much may not know about (slide)
Because event’s & words effect people internally ways not visible / evident outwardly
Illus - as an example here’s video footage of influence society has on young children
Notice how they respond to simple experiment regarding 2 toy dolls [play video]
No one can effectively remove or reprogram someone’s prejudices regarding gospel / Jesus
It requires an internal change only God can accomplish through H.Spirit (slide)
So rather than stand arguing Philip makes wise choice take his friend to meet Jesus
Jesus Will Reveal Himself
Jesus Will Reveal Himself
This is where our work of evangelism stops & God takes over
Its important we see distinction between sharing our experience with Jesus & introducing Him
And when Jesus takes over He reveals himself to someone in ways really profound (slide)
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Number things going on in vs -1st Jesus speaks as though already knows who Nathaniel is
Jesus comments about seeing Nathaniel sitting under fig tree are meaningful for him only
Its not clear what meant or why was significant but for Nathaniel was personal & profound
Through that personal revelation Jesus suddenly revealed he was who Philip claimed
All those prejudices/scepticism gone in instant - Phillip didn’t argue or convince him
Jesus supernaturally released Nathaniel from them so he’d see/understand truth
2nd Jesus calls him true Israelite referencing Jacob in OT - trickster / known for his sneakiness
Cheated his brother out of his inheritance & tricked father-in-law out of wealth
Jacob was a Jewish Patriarch - father or founder of Jewish faith (slide)
When God got hold of Jacob & revealed himself to Jacob in wilderness in a vision
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
So notice similarity of Jacob’s vision & what Jesus promises what Nathaniel would see
God revealed himself in vision - of angels going up/down stairs from Heaven to Jacob on earth
Vision promised Jacob God directly reveal understanding of who He is to Jacob
And promised Jacob he’d experience God’s presence with him personally
Jesus tells Nathaniel experience similar vision of angels going up & down from Heaven
But this time its not Jacob or Nathaniel at bottom of stairs receiving God’s revelation but Jesus
I.e. Nathaniel discover who God is & experience his presence personally through Jesus
Jesus was in constant connection & communication with God Father - while on earth
& through Jesus life, ministry, death, resurrection & ascension revealed God to all
Today only Jesus - through Spirit of God - can reveal who God is to us
Only Jesus can show us personally that he’s who he claims to be - not something we can do
Evangelism in scripture mostly = people talking friends, family, others come in contact with
People who are already searching for something - truth, hope, freedom, peace...
& telling them about who Jesus is, then inviting them to come & see for themselves
Rest God’s hands - reveal truth about Himself allow them experience His presence
We want to see this church grow - right?
We want to see people put their faith & trust in Jesus & gospel message - right?
We don’t need argue, convince, embellish or edit truth about Jesus or gospel
All we need do - tell those who searching of family, friends, people God brings to us
Tell them about Jesus we know from truth God’s revealed to us through scripture...
And to tell of our experiences of GOd’s presence in our lives...
And then invite them to come & meet Jesus for themselves...
Then its up to God to do the rest...
So my challenge to you today is this; (slide)
If you want St Paul’s to continue as church community into future
Are you willing be like Philip & tell others you’ve found Jesus & invite them to come & see?
I’ve found Jesus - why don’t you come & meet Him?
Let’s Pray
Almighty God who has revealed himself to us through his Son Jesus
We acknowledge we’ve failed as your people, unwilling to invite others to meet you through Jesus
Bring back our love for you, for your Son Jesus, and your personal revelation through scripture
Bring back our excitement for our faith, trust & hope we’ve placed in you
Gives us the discernment to know who are those who are for truth, answers, hope, peace
And courage to tell them about God who’s revealed himself to us & invite them to come & meet Him
We ask this in the name of Jesus our Saviour, Amen