Come & See

John 1:35-51

John 1:35–51 NIV

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 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.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 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.”

Most of us probably have stories about failing to initially SEE the value of something until it’s too late.

How many musicians have lamented failure to see the value of their true love until it was too late?

My favorite version of this is Hard Habit To Break by Chicago.

How about a car you sold and now it’s worth way more than you could have imagined?

Anyone have a 1964 Pontiac GTO story?

Do you know how much you can get now for one of those blue Corning Ware casserole dishes from the 1970’s?

$10,000…That’s the number 10…and then put three zeros at the end!

Did you know that you were cooking $10,000 meals in the 1970’s and 1980’s?

In all these examples, we didn’t REALLY SEE the value until much later.

Similarly, in today’s lesson Nathan doesn’t immediately SEE the value in Jesus.

We’re going to learn from Jesus how a simple invitation to “come and see” leads to Nathan and all of the disciples

Come and See

In today’s lesson, Jesus invites the first disciples to come and see.

We have three statements about sight.

We start with Jesus calling Philip and an unidentified disciple.

John 1:39 “Come...and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.”

Then Philip tells Nathan to “come and see” in John 1:46.

Then Jesus makes a promise to Nathan ...

John 1:51 “...you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.””

This is an allusion to what we refer to as Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28:12.

Genesis 28:12 “[Jacob] 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.”

Nathan’s Journey

Nathan experiences quite a rapid transformation once he realizes Jesus’ value.

For context, folks from Bethsaida didn’t tend to think too highly of Nazareth...

Nazareth had less than 500 residents.

Great things aren’t supposed to come from a place like that!

Certainly not a Messiah!

We can therefore understand in verse 46 why Nathan declares...

John 1:46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

But just three verse later...

John 1:49 “Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.””

That’s Messiah language...

How does Nathan get from “not interested” in verse 46...

…to “you’re the Messiah” in verse 49?

It’s a pretty simple formula...

He was invited to SEE Jesus.

Jesus proved his value.

Nathan REALLY SAW Jesus’ value.

Invitation…proof…sight...

The Challenge

The challenge for us is that Jesus isn ‘t physically with us...

How do we invite people to “Come And See” Jesus when he isn’t preaching, teaching a class, healing or having dinner with us?

Paul answers it this way...

1 Corinthians 12:27–31 (NIV)

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31

Only Jesus had all the spiritual gifts.

Everyone believer is given at least one spiritual gift.

It’s in sharing our gifts that Jesus becomes real.

In his book, Life In The Body, Gary Inrig shares this illustration:

Several years ago, two students graduated from law school. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, who had last his left arm. The armless friend guided the blind friend down a flight of stairs one day. From that point forward, the blind friend carried the books for the armless friend. The friend who had lost his arm continued guiding, and also read the course material to his blind friend. The individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other.

Body of Christ

Christianity is a come and see thing.

People come to see Jesus and, ideally, they find Jesus in you.

“Come and See” that we accept and love all people like Jesus

“Come and hear” someone speak wisdom over your life that connects you to Jesus.

“Come and receive” the gift of faith as you walk with Jesus in the community of Jesus.

Come and bless those same people with your own gift.

Before long, like Nathan, people see Jesus through eyes of faith.

They believe in Jesus and trust him, because they’ve seen him through us.

Lord’s Supper

One of the ways we are invited to Come and See is through the sharing of the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 NIV

16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.

We who are many, are one body...

And the one body participates in the body and blood of Christ.

As we receive the Lord’s Supper, I wonder if you are able to perceive more than just the bread and juice, or wine...

Can you see through the elements and perceive how they are a spiritual glue?

A means by which we become one with Jesus?

A means by which we become one with each other?

A means by which Jesus becomes more and more real...

Come…Come to the table and see.

Let Us Pray...