Discovering Jesus: Come and See
Discovering Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsAs Jesus continues to travel and recruit His followers, we see hints that illuminate Him as the God who walks among us.
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Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Come and See
Come and See
Mothers always have a way of knowing what we are doing. It can be a little disconcerting at times when you are a child. Sometimes our behavior gives us away. At other times, it is the pattern of our actions that gives us away. I remember one night after dinner when my mom was washing dishes. In the window she was able to see a reflection of what was going on behind her. My brother was getting into something he was not supposed to. Without turning around my mom told him not to do it. I remember his head coming up and him asking how she knew what he was doing. She told him she had eyes in the back of her head. She said God had put them there to help mothers keep track of their children. My brother said he did not believe her. He quickly started doing different things asking her to tell him what he was doing. Each time she was able to identify what he was doing. By the time he left the kitchen, he really was not sure she did not have eyes behind her head. At which point, she and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
That is a fun story, but the truth is we really do not have those kinds of skills. Even with all the technical advancements we have that can track people most the time, no one person can always know where another person is or what they are thinking. However, disconcerting as it can be, there is one who does. God has the ability to know and see us all the time. He knows everything we do and every thought we have.
In today’s story, we find that this ability hints once again to the truth about Jesus.
Today’s passage is found in the book of John. Please stand with me as we read it together.
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.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “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 will see greater things than that.” 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.”
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Different cultures put emphasis on different things. Different generations can be like another culture and do the same things.
The Hebrews were not so concerned with chronology as they were with relating different events. The Greeks were the opposite in that chronological order was important to them.
Those of us from the baby boom era and before tend to be more concrete in our reasoning and we like a chronological order to things. One of the issues that lends itself to what we call the generation gap is that later generations have tended to be more abstract than concrete. So chronology is one of those things that is not as important to them. The chronology of when something happened is not as important as what took place for them.
I must admit that I am very concrete and linear in the way I think. For this reason, I am sometimes frustrated in my Bible study as the chronology is not always clear.
However, even though Bible study can be challenging, it also never gets old as you can always learn something new.
It is important to remember that there are many events, particularly in the earlier part of Jesus ministry that are unclear. We know that Jesus spent sometime in Judea before heading back north to Galilee. It is also believed that Jesus returned first to Nazareth where he was not accepted before he went to Galilee and began calling his disciples, though in reading the passage in Luke 4, we find that the people of Nazareth were wanting him to do some of the miracles they had heard he had done in Capernaum. To try to piece it all together is just too frustrating as there are too many details not related since they were felt irrelevant to the disciples.
The truth is, they are irrelevant. Today’s story is one of those that is confusing. Our Bibles often title passages indicating that Simon, Andrew, James, and John were the first disciples called, yet the reading of today’s passage makes it sound like Philip was the first.
Just where this takes place is confusing. In the reading of scripture it makes it sound like Jesus called Philip in Judea before he heads to Galilee. In fact, the reading of the gospel of John would seem to indicate that Jesus called Simon and Andrew when he first met them and the events along the Sea of Galilee were a later call.
Others report that Philip was called while in Bethsaida before Jesus went to Capernaum which would put his call ahead of the fishing four we spoke of last week, yet here again, it has always been taught that Simon and his crew were the first called.
So, we see that there is much confusion around chronology, but acknowledge that the chronological order is insignificant to the import of just what happened.
We do not know where exactly Jesus is, but we find Jesus has made a decision to leave for Galilee. Here again, nothing is indicated, but Jesus has obviously had some acquaintance with Philip. Perhaps Philip has been hanging around where Jesus has been speaking and they have had further conversations getting to know each other. Now we find Jesus seeking Philip out and inviting Philip to join Him on His journey to Galilee.
We also find noted that Philip was from Bethsaida which is where Peter and Andrew had grown up before moving to Capernaum. This may be an indication that Philip is an acquaintance of theirs. Perhaps childhood buddies.
What appears to be unique about Philip is that unlike so many of the others, there is no indication that he is introduced to Jesus by another. You get the feeling that he on his own account has been around listening and getting acquainted with Jesus. Perhaps Jesus knew Philip had plans to go to Galilee also. This would be an open door for Jesus to seek Philip out and encourage him to accompany Jesus on their mutual trip.
Or perhaps they are somewhere not too far from Galilee and it is a short trip. Jesus knows that Philip will have an opportunity to question Jesus more along the way. It is difficult to say whether Philip understood Jesus to mean “follow me from here on forward” or “follow me” on this trip.
I must stop here and back up some. One of the difficulties of growing up in the church is that we sometimes go into Bible study with preconceived notions based on past teachings. As I studied this week, I realized that I may have spread those preconceived ideas last week.
When Jesus called, what I call the “fishing four,” we so often have the notion that they get up, leave their professions from that day forward, to work alongside Jesus. Truthfully, we have all been taught that from the time we are in earliest Sunday School. Allow me to back up and clarify that notion.
First, as I shared last week. These mean were previously acquainted with Jesus. These men left that day with a notion that Jesus had something more important for them to do. However, they did not leave their professions entirely on that day. Several times later in scripture we find them back in their boats fishing. Granted, they were spending a great deal of time with Jesus, but there were still times when they were fishing.
Jesus ministered around Galilee for awhile. It is possible that on quiet days, they were back in their boats fishing. Even Paul sometimes relied on his profession to provide for him financially as he ministered.
Sometimes we give these men too much credit and perhaps heap unnecessary guilt on people. In my experience, God never calls someone and they get up and start an entire new profession all in one day. What I have found is that God places the idea of a call within us. It is then a waiting game and God works with us in that waiting time to help us to grow and be prepared and ready to say “yes” when the time comes that He does call us to move.
I believe there is no reason to think it was any different with the disciples and the notion of such is perhaps poor teaching on our part. So there is no reason to think that Philip has just met Jesus and is instantly giving up all he has ever known to follow him. Jesus is just leading Philip in the first step of a new direction for his life.
Now, back to Philip’s story. Philip makes ready for the journey. First, he finds his acquaintance Nathanael. We never really learn their association. Nothing indicates they are family or partners such as the association with the fishing four, so perhaps it is just a close friend (in later scriptures, they are often linked together by name like you would expect two best buddies to be). It is even possible that Nathanael is traveling with Philip so Philip needs to alert him to this change in plan.
What is interesting is how Philip approaches Nathanael. The scripture gives a sense of breathless excitement. He does not approach Nate to say, “I am departing for Galilee.” Instead, he declares...
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.”
His pronouncement almost makes it sound like they are familiar with Joseph but it is difficult to know if this is true. It is also interesting that Philip was evidently not alone when he was with Jesus for he tells Nate, “WE have found...”.
Now think about it. If you have heard all your life that a Messiah will be coming and you suddenly are convinced you have met the man, would you be breathless with excitement to find your best friend and tell him (or her)? Sure you would!
Here is where we see our human nature at work. The unbelievable is always difficult to believe until you see it yourself, even when your best friend says it.
Nate is skeptical.
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Some say that Nate’s response is in part due to a bad reputation that Nazareth had. Probably similar to what I have been told about Elgin. I am told that once upon a time, Elgin was known as a place of much drinking and carousing and that is the sort of reputation some say Nazareth had. Yet, others say that there is no such reason to believe that Nazareth had a bad reputation, it is just that it was a small insignificant town whose main industry was farming.
I think we can relate to that. I grew up in small towns and was often looked down upon for it. I remember one time when my high school choir group were on a choir tour in a larger town and they teased us about being from a “podunk” town. Later one of the guys I graduated with became a well known comedian/illusionist and people were shocked that anyone in our town could amount to much.
That is the response of Nathanael, to which Philip responds, “Come and see.” Philip knew that Nate would only believe when he heard for himself. You can almost visualize Nate’s reluctant response. Get the picture, he is comfortably situated under a fig tree. It was actually a common Jewish practice for Jews to go sit under a fig tree to study the scripture and pray. I read somewhere that this is still done today out of tradition. Philip has interrupted him and insists he get up and follow him. You can almost hear him sigh and say, “Oh, okay.”
What comes next literally blows Nathanael’s mind. Whatever he was expecting, it was not what happened. As he approaches Jesus says, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
Now remember, Nathanael has been under the tree probably praying and reading scripture. He is not just studying out of expectation, he really loves this time with God and is seeking to learn from it. It is as if this man Jesus has looked right into his heart. His response is the same as any of us would give. “How do you know me?” He may be thinking, “have I met and spoken with this man before?”
Then Jesus explains.
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
The word “see” is translated from various words in the Hebrew. In this case, the word is horáō, hor-ah'-o; and means properly, to stare at (compare G3700), i.e. (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear:—behold, perceive, see, take heed.
The Psalmist recognized this ability of God’s in Psalm 139.
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.
Jesus literally admits that in his mind, he saw Nathanael under that tree taking note of what he was doing. Nathanael was no Jew who left scripture and prayer for the Sabbath, but had a habit of personal devotions.
Nathanael’s response? “You are the Son of God; king of Israel.” Remember, Philip introduced Jesus as the son of Joseph even though he professed Jesus as the one scriptures had described. But Nathanael is the first person to declare Jesus the Son of God, which proves what Jesus said about him. Later in the scriptures Jesus tells his disciples, “if you know the Father, you will know the Son.” We see Nathanael giving proof to that statement.
At this stage in Jesus ministry, we never see Him openly say, “Yes, I am the Son of God.” However, the evidence is still there, for only God is omniscient yet we find Jesus demonstrating this same attribute in this moment. Omniscience refers to God’s perfect knowledge of both himself and that which he as created.
Lexham Survey of Theology God’s Omniscience
The Bible portrays God’s knowledge as unlimited, comprehensive, and perfect in every way; God is omniscient (the Latin term scientia means “knowledge,” and the prefix omni- means “all”; hence omniscient means “all-knowing”). In contrast to our knowledge, which arises from the passive conformity of our minds to given truths or objects, God’s perfect knowledge follows from his active willing as the Creator of all.
In Jesus mind, he was able to see and know what Nathanael was doing under that fig tree. He perceived Nathanael’s desire to know and serve God. That perfect knowledge and understanding that Jesus had of him was all he needed to decide to follow Jesus that day.
We actually see further evidence of this ability of omniscience when Jesus declares that Nathanael will see much more as Jesus discloses that he knows events that are yet to happen.
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.”
Philip and Nathanael do follow Jesus and become two of the twelve disciples. They are not as well known as some of the others, but then not every pastor is a Billy Graham either. It does not mean that they were not just as loyal or played a less important part than the others. Both were martyrs. Church tradition has it that Nathanael carried a gospel of Matthew to northern India and was later crucified in Albania. Philip was accredited for bringing many to Christ and church history has it that he was eventually stoned to death. It should be noted that he is not the same Philip we read about in the book of Acts as many assume. (Briefly identify story).
They were obviously both seekers and they found what they were seeking after.
However, here are some reflections of important aspects from today’s event.
If there is any question that Jesus was only a man, today we see differently. Jesus was the Son of God and demonstrated that through the ability to see and know Nathanael from afar.
Perhaps what Jesus saw was provided through God’s eyes. God is omniscient. He is also Omnipresent. However, Jesus was somewhat limited in his physical body at this point. That was one of the sacrifices He made taking on the form of flesh.
Omnipresent means that “God is everywhere present and is not limited to any location or physical space.” God saw Nathanael. He knew what Nathanael was doing. He even knew the thoughts Nathanael thought.
Reflect back with me to our opening scripture.
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.
God is always able to be with us (omnipresent), and He is always all perceiving what is happening in our thoughts (omniscience). This can be disconcerting. We do not always have the purist of thoughts. However, it is also amazing to know that even though we are far from holy in what we think, say or do, God loves us enough to send His Son to die on a cross that we may be saved.
It is also important that we not give the same attributes to Satan. Satan may have some supernatural abilities, but he is not omnipresent nor omniscient. Satan and his minions may tempt us in ways that can feel like they know us, but the truth is that they do not. They can only guess based on their knowledge of human nature. We should never attribute too much power to satanic beings. We need to be careful not to underestimate him, but neither should we attribute to him the powers of God.
Not only is God omniscient and omnipresent, but God is holy. If we have committed our life to him, His Spirit has come to live within us. In our earlier passage from Corinthians, Paul warns us against inappropriate behavior considering that a holy God is in residence within us.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
This past week, my prayer group was discussing a verse in Hebrews that states if we continue to sin, we are essentially stomping on the grace of God.
29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Conclusion:
God loves us. He knows all about us and every wrong thing we have ever done, yet He sent His Son to die for our sins.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ did not wait for us to repent before He died for us. He died for us before we even knew we had a problem. When we come to Him, it is not with the idea that we will clean up our lives and then give our lives to Him. If that were the case, we would never make it. It is not something we can accomplish on our own. That is why He went before us. We come to Him and His Spirit works from within us to help us. If we could do it ourselves, He would not have needed to make the sacrifice.
Once we make the choice to accept the gift of salvation offered us, available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are making a choice to discontinue living in a sinful way. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God directs us to make changes in our lives to live according to His holy ways.
Now, I need to add that this does not mean we become instantly perfect and never sin again. We are human and we are works in progress. However, when we realize we have sinned, we apologize and work harder to do better.
The realization that God loves me as imperfect as I am, despite the wicked things I have done, helps me to want to be different. With my desire and His power, I know He will help me to reach the goal of being with Him forever. Paul puts it so well when he describes it like trainers for a race. Allow me to close with his description.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Please bow your heads with me.
Our Father, which art in heaven blessed by thy name.
You are perfect and you know and are aware of every imperfect thing I have ever done. It colors my face with shame and my heart with trembling, yet You sent Your Son to earth, to die on a cross that I may be saved. Help me each day, to do a little bit better at growing in Your grace. I pray that with each passing day, I will take on a little more of the Spirit of Christ and my life will daily be growing in purity so that I never put You to shame or stomp on the gift of grace you gave me.
May we ever proclaim Your goodness to others that they may also know the blessing You offer each of us Father.
Thank you and in Jesus name we pray, amen.
10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.