Invitations to Discipleship—Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 2B (John 1)

John 1:43-51 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

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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                Things move quickly at the beginning of the Gospel of John. After the prologue, which is a theological statement revealing Jesus to be the Word of God in the flesh, we encounter John the Baptist who lets the people know that he’s not the Messiah. Instead, he is the one who paves the way for the coming one. Later, when he sees Jesus coming toward him, he tells the people that he saw the Holy Spirit descend on him. He testifies that the one on whom the Spirit lands is the Son of God. Note that in John’s Gospel, the Baptist doesn’t baptize Jesus, though Jesus comes near. The next day, John the Baptist points out Jesus to two of his own disciples and proclaims that Jesus is the Lamb of God. When the two disciples hear this, they leave John and follow Jesus (it’s as if they hit the transfer portal and went to a better team). One of those two new followers was Andrew, he then went and brought his brother Simon to Jesus, who then renamed him Cephas (Peter). And so it goes, the team begins to form, and it does so by word of mouth. At this point, by my count the team is made up of three people, John’s two disciples and Peter (John 1:19-42).

                The Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Epiphany (Year B) picks up right after Jesus embraces Simon Peter (Cephas) as a disciple. While Jesus had come down to the Jordan—John doesn’t tell us why—and received John the Baptist’s endorsement, he headed to Galilee assumedly with these three disciples (Andrew, Peter, and one unnamed disciple) in tow. When he got to Galilee, he ran into a man called Philip who came from Bethsaida, which is where Peter and Andrew hailed from. When Jesus saw Philip, he invited him to join the crew. Apparently, that’s what Philip did. Now, why Philip answered the call is not revealed, though it’s possible that he knew Peter and Andrew. If so, maybe they introduced Philip to Jesus. Perhaps that introduction proved sufficient so that he could answer the call when Jesus said to Philip: “Follow me.”

                I hope you can see a pattern forming. John the Baptist laid the foundation by proclaiming Jesus to be the Son of God and Lamb of God. He then pointed two of his disciples to Jesus, one of whom invited his brother to join the team. Following that, after returning to Galilee, Philip a man who came from the same village as Peter and Andrew, answers the call.

                After Philip decided that Jesus was the one Moses had promised, he went and found his friend Nathanael, who hailed from Cana in Galilee. He told Nathaniel that he had found the “one whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” The reference to the law and the prophets is a reference to Scripture as a whole. Now while Andrew and Philip had no qualms about Jesus, Nathanael is a bit more cautious despite Philip’s endorsement that included a reference to Moses. Nathanael has a problem with Jesus’ hometown. He tells Philip: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” At least in Nathanael’s mind, Nazareth is something of a cesspool. I don’t know if it’s rivalry or reputation, but Nathanael is concerned about Jesus’ hometown and what that says about him. Perhaps it’s not reputation, but simply the lack of any Scriptural suggestions that Nazareth might be the source of a messianic figure. Whatever Nathanael’s concerns about Jesus’ hometown, Philip tells him to “Come and see.” Yes, see for yourself and then decide. So, Nathanael agrees to at least check out this person whom Philip is so excited about. He still seems skeptical, but he’s at least open to checking him out. When it comes to Philip’s invitation, is this not the point of evangelism? It’s not a matter of trying to convince someone through arguments to come to faith, but simply to invite a person to come and see for themselves.  

Although Nathanael had lots of questions about this Jesus whom Philip had met, once he encounters Jesus his life would be transformed. As Nathanael approached him, Jesus said to this man, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Perhaps taken aback by Jesus’ declaration, Nathanael asks “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me” (Jn. 1:48 MSG). How Jesus knows Nathanael is not stated, but in a sense, Jesus is contrasting him with Jacob, the one called Israel but who is cunning and devious. But that’s not who Nathanael is. Nathanael is willing to ask questions and discern the truth. That seems to be lacking today. I was listening to a podcast the other day about postmodernism, which broke open a rather narrow understanding of reality, the participants in this conversation about the Emergent Church movement acknowledged that what they thought might help renew the church carried with it a danger, one we’re seeing played out today in a “post-truth” world, where alternative facts are rampant. But Nathanael doesn’t appear to have been sucked into the post-truth world.

Jesus responded to Nathanael’s question by telling him that he had spotted Nathanael sitting under a fig tree talking to Philip. With this statement, John reveals something about Jesus, and that is Jesus has certain abilities that lie beyond normal humans or so it seems. Whatever the source of his knowledge of Nathanael, this inquirer is impressed. Nathanael is so impressed that he declares Jesus to be the Son of God and the king of Israel. Jesus then poses a question. Is it because he saw Nathanael under the fig tree that the former skeptic was ready to make the good confession? Jesus then informs Nathanael that he hasn’t seen anything yet. Before long he’ll see much greater things. In fact, he “will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

That last verse in the reading from John 1 is intriguing. Did you notice that Jesus spoke of seeing the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending? Remember how Jacob saw angels in a dream ascending and descending on a stairway to heaven? (Gen. 28:10-12). Could this be another connection to Jacob? Then there is the shift from Son of God, Nathanael’s declaration, to Son of Man, Jesus’ revelation. Marianne Meye Thompson writes of this statement on Jesus’ part: “But curiously, although Jesus promises heavenly revelation, the disciples will see no heavens torn asunder and no angels: rather, they will become witnesses to Jesus’ daily life and work. And here, in his deeds and life, they will see the “heaven opened”; as the “Son of Man” he is the “ladder” who links heaven and earth.” [Thompson, John (New Testament Library) (p. 54). Kindle Edition].

What we see in this passage is that Nathanael accepted Philip’s invitation and had a life-transforming encounter with Jesus even though he started as a skeptic. While we might contrast Philip’s excitement with Nathanael’s hesitancy, suggesting that Philip should be the model disciple, I’m not sure that is true. Both approaches are appropriate. We each come to faith differently. Invitations go out differently. The point that John makes here in the first chapter of the Gospel is that people invited family and friends to encounter Jesus. For some at least that proved transformative.

We’ve seen in recent decades a hesitancy among some Christians, mainly Mainline Protestants, to share their faith with others. Perhaps it’s because they have been targeted by hard-selling evangelists. There is also the sense that religion is private and personal and not something you talk about with others at work or play. Mary Grace Reese,  wrote several books some years back,  the foundational book being Unbinding the Gospel, addressing the discomfort many Mainliners have with the “e-word.” In an age when some Christians have given the faith a bad name, it’s understandable that people would want to keep their faith to themselves. But maybe Philip can serve as a model for us. He has a testimony and an invitation. Is that not something we can all do? That is, share our story and offer an invitation. It’s not about proselytizing or telling people to get right with Jesus, or they’ll rot in hell (have you seen the ad asking whether you are going to heaven and promising to clear things up? That’s not what I’m talking about). So, what do we hear? What is Jesus saying? How might we join Andrew and Philip and sharing the invitation, even as Jesus issues the call to us? 

Jesus calls us: o'er the tumult
of our life's wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth
saying, "Christian, follow me."

                —Cecil Frances Alexander (1852)