Come and See -- Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 2B
John 1:43-51 New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
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“Come
and See.” That’s what Philip told Nathaniel after Jesus called him to be a
follower. The season of Epiphany
(Ordinary Time) is a moment during which we pay attention to the ways in which
God is manifested in Jesus. Led by the
star we come to pay homage to the one in whom God is made known (Matthew 2:1-2). Those who follow the star, who see and hear
the good news, have the opportunity to bear witness to the one who has come
into the world as the revelation of God.
It has
become a well-known fact that many Christians find it difficult to share their
faith. Several years ago Martha Grace Reese published several books that share the news that mainline Protestants
struggle with the “e-word.” We tend to
keep our religious beliefs to ourselves. For one thing, we consider religious beliefs
to be private, but we also have an aversion to offending others. Thus,
religion, like politics remains off-limits in polite company. But, can we keep
silent about that which defines our very being?
When
Jesus went to Galilee, after his time at the Jordan where he had called Peter
and Andrew to join him, he added to his band by inviting Philip, who happened
to be from the same town as Peter and Andrew, to join them. Perhaps Peter and Andrew introduced Jesus to
Philip. After Jesus invited Philip to join him as a disciple, Philip decided he
had to share the news with Nathaniel, who might have been a brother or a
friend. Philip told Nathaniel the good news.
We have found the one the Scriptures talk about. He is Jesus, son of Joseph, from
Nazareth. Philip is excited. He’s ready to join up. He’s willing to spread the news. But he meets a skeptic in Nathaniel. How
often is this story – we’ve got good news to share but the one we want to share
it with is seemingly unimpressed.
Perhaps Nathaniel has heard this kind of news before!
In the
case of Nathaniel, at least in John’s story, the issue seems to be Jesus’
hometown. Nathaniel and Philip come from
Bethsaida, along the Sea of Galilee.
Nathaniel, like many people, are wont to do, isn’t always impressed by
people from rival communities. Apparently, he’s not a big booster of Nazareth’s virtues – how can “anything good come out
of Nazareth.” But, perhaps it’s not
normal community rivalry (growing up in Klamath Falls, we looked with disdain
at our rivals in Medford). Nor is it
necessary that Nathaniel is thinking of the moral virtues of Nazareth’s
citizenry. Perhaps the issue is where
Nazareth fits in with Jewish Messianic expectations. As a community Nazareth was
nothing special – just a small village lying near the never mentioned capitol
of Galilee, Sepphoris. There was nothing
in Scripture that connected it with messianic expectations. Surely, one should
be looking to someone from a place more significant than Nazareth to be the
redeemer of Israel, which may explain the importance that Luke and Matthew give
to Bethlehem. We don’t expect great things to come from small insignificant
communities (though history is littered with examples). Nathaniel expresses the same skepticism that
many of us have applied to this story.
But Philip isn’t deterred by Nathaniel’s less than enthusiastic embrace
of his message. He just says – “come and
see.” Let your eyes and ears determine
whether or not I’m right about this man who is teaching in the area. Isn’t that
the point of evangelism – not to convince with arguments but simply invite
people to come and see what this faith is all about?
Nathaniel
may have come with Philip reluctantly, but his encounter with Jesus would be
mind-altering. Jesus gets his attention
with a comment about his being an Israelite without deceit. Nathaniel’s
response appears at first to be a bit cocky:
“Where did you get to know me?”
How did you know I’m an honest man who tells the truth (as I see it)? Part of me wants to read Jesus’ statement as a
piece of sarcasm, which elicits the sense that Nathaniel might be a bit taken
by himself. Whatever the nature of
Nathaniel’s sense of his own righteousness, Jesus seems to answer rather
straightforwardly: “I saw you under a
fig tree.” I saw you talking with Philip
a long way off. With this John
introduces us to a Jesus who is not bound by at least some human
limitations. When we read these words,
we need to read them in light of the earlier prologue. Jesus may be fully
human, but there is something very different about him. He is the Word of God
in the flesh (John 1:14). He can see
things that you and I cannot.
With
this response, the once skeptical Nathaniel is immediately converted. He had agreed to Philip’s invitation, and now
he understands why Philip was excited.
This man standing before him had to be the promised one. Filled with awe, Nathaniel addresses Jesus
with three important titles: Rabbi, Son
of God, and King of Israel. He affirms that
the one whose origins are in Nazareth is now worthy of veneration.
That Nathaniel recognizes him to be
a teacher is not surprising. The more
significant – long term – titles are Son of God and King of Israel. These are
messianic titles, reflecting John’s belief that for all his humanness Jesus
embodies the divine presence. He is the
chosen one who represents God and will rule over God’s chosen people.
Jesus’
response to Nathaniel’s confession of faith in him is once again
intriguing. It is almost as if Jesus is
saying to him – well, you’re impressed by my ability to see you from afar, just
wait till you see the angels ascending and descending on “the Son of Man”
(another title, and here we probably should be taking our clues from Daniel’s
vision of the Son of Man). There is
certainly an allusion here to the story of Jacob’s ladder, where Jacob has a
dream where he sees a ladder connecting heaven and earth with angels descending
and ascending. In response Jacob declares:
“Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” Jesus seems
to be inviting Nathaniel to come and witness the ongoing connection between
heaven and earth that is centered in his own being. Jesus is the one who serves as the “gate of
heaven” (Genesis 28:10-17).
Nathaniel came to Jesus as a
skeptic and followed him as a disciple, for even if he didn’t understand it
all, he knew that he had found the one he was looking for. But even more than that, he had been found by
Jesus.
Comments
And the follow on, 'what ought the church, as God's instrument in the world, be doing with, and about, this information concerning God?' And finally, I wonder if you will be examining the sources of our information about God (I'm thinking here of the Wesleyan quadrangle) and, especially the richness of Scripture in its story and metaphor, as a source for God's self-revelation, and for what it communicates about language choices in how we point to God.
I keep thinking of the Wedding at Cana as metaphor, Jesus'reluctance, the effective prompting by the all-to-human Mary, the party atmosphere, the implications of the initiating miracle of transforming the essential potable liquid water into potent wine, a wedding where the presence and role of Jesus is wholly unexplained....