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But our Savior in His tender mercy, does not ridicule their
answer, nor give them the brush off, nor reject their attempts to follow
Him. As He does with us, when our
prayers and requests are far from perfect, He accepts them anyway. And with a tone of love in His voice, He
responds to them … “Come and see”. And
they went and spent the day with Him. It
was only one day. But it was one day in
the literal presence of God on earth.
And for both of them, one day was all that was needed. It took only that long for Andrew to decide
that his brother Simon (later called Peter) needed to come and follow
Christ. What Andrew was actually
proposing to his brother was a radical idea, whether back then, or even now in
modern times. Andrew was not asking his
brother to take a part time job, so he could study scriptures in the evenings
as time permits, and when it was convenient.
Andrew was literally asking his brother to drop everything, quit your
job, give up all assurances you won’t starve to death. Leave your family behind, leave every other
responsibility you have in this world, and at present trust me, I have found
the Messiah all Israel has been waiting for.
In essence, Andrew asked his brother to give up his entire life, and
begin a new one.
Simon Peter was not rich.
He had no mansions to dispose of, or tax shelters to wrangle out
of. But he did have a life he was
familiar with. He made enough money to
eat, cloth himself, and take care of his family. It was something to him, like our lives are
something to us. But perhaps based on
the fervor in the eyes and expression of Andrew, Simon knew he had to check
this out. Andrew brought him to Jesus,
but before he could introduce him to Jesus, He called him out by name. And what is more He gave him a new nickname,
“a stone” or perhaps better interpreted “a pebble”. Simon Peter must have liked the idea, and he
stayed, leaving as Andrew had proposed his entire former life behind, in
exchange for the complete unknown of following this Son of Man.
The next day, Jesus went into Galilee into the same home
town of Andrew and Simon Peter and found Phillip. And in verse 43 Christ calls out to Phillip
and says … “follow me”. To me this is
the essence of our Lord and our Gospel.
Those who, what looks like on their own, are seeking God – find
Him. John and Andrew found Christ
because they were looking for Him at the side of John the Baptist. Christ accepted them as followers. Simon Peter was called by his brother, and
came to Jesus based on the words and witness of one who he trusted, even though
up to then, he had no personal experience with Jesus. But Jesus accepted him as well. Phillip however, was at home going about his
daily routines. He had no one to call
him into service, he had no expectations to meet the Messiah. But Phillip was about to have the best day of
his life, when out of nowhere, comes the God of the Universe, to ask him
specifically to … “follow me”. Whether
it is we who are looking for God, we who will find God through the testimony of
another, or we who find God because God is looking for us – there is no
distinction on the part of God to accepting us into His service. Phillip, being called, did not delay, he
immediately followed.
Phillip knew in less time than it took Andrew, who it was
who called him. His first thought was to
call his brother as well. So in verse
45, Phillip calls to Nathaniel his brother and says … “We have found him, of
whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph.” Phillip appeared to know
this in an instant. That is the mark of
being touched by the Holy Spirit, to find wisdom in a spiritual matter that you
had no inherent reason to know. Phillip
did not hedge his bets. He did not say
it “might” be him. He did not appear to
doubt, and perhaps in a further rebuke to the priests of his day, Phillip cited
the very patriarch of their religion Moses, and all the prophets who followed,
as the evidence that this was the Messiah.
Nathaniel however, was a skeptic.
Nathaniel would have made an excellent modern day American
Christian. For his first response was …
“can any good thing come from Nazareth?”
Nathaniel felt like Nazareth was the Harlem of his day, a
neighborhood known more for crime than for accomplishment. Given that Jesus was supposed to have come
from such a wicked place, how could he be the one they were looking for? For Nathaniel where you come from
mattered. Phillip does not ridicule him
for his response. He does not judge his
brother harshly, or rebuke his lack of faith and trust in pretense. Instead, with a faith in Christ that could
have only originated outside of himself, having just met Jesus only a little
while ago, he responds … “come and see”.
I doubt Phillip knew he was actually quoting the words the Savior
Himself used with Andrew and John only a day ago. But those words imply Phillip had no doubt
about who he was following, and he knew too, when Nathaniel saw for himself, he
would be convinced.
Jesus, knowing all things, decides to give Nathaniel a boost
in his faith, and seeing him coming he declares to those around Him … “Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
A rather nice compliment, but as Nathaniel is quick to perceive, you
would have to know me for quite a while, in order to know I am an honest man in
my dealings. Nathaniel challenges this
new Jesus in verse 48 … “Whence knowest thou me?” So when did we meet, and how do you what kind
of person I am. Jesus responds with an
answer only God could know. It is clear
these two have never met. It is clear
Nathaniel is trying to call out Jesus by challenging Him in how He might know
what He is talking about. But the answer
Jesus offers is a private one to Nathaniel.
For only Nathaniel knew where he poured out his own heart to God in
prayer. He did this only when he was
alone. He did not pray in the temple and
under the spectacle of a public audience.
Instead he sought solitude before he came to God to confess the private
thoughts and feelings of his heart. He
craved solitude to do this and he had found a private spot where he knew he
would be alone when he did it.
Verse 48 continues … “Jesus answered and said unto him,
Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” Jesus was saying directly to Nathaniel,
something private, that only Nathaniel would understand; you sir, were praying
to me, I am the God who heard your words under that tree when you were alone to
pray. The rest of the disciples might have
simply thought that Jesus had seen Nathaniel before, or had encountered him
some time in the past. Nathaniel knew
this was not the case, and knew that only God could know what Jesus knew. In verse 49 Nathaniel responds to Jesus
saying … “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of
God; thou art the King of Israel.”
Nathaniel first acknowledges Christ as the Son of God. He marks His divinity first, as he knows the
private answer Christ has given, having heard the prayers of Nathaniel. He then proceeds to reveal he shares the
common misconception that the Messiah is there to restore the kingship to
Israel.
Jesus responds in verse 50 saying … “Jesus answered and said
unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.” He continues in verse 51 … “And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
In a subtle way, Jesus turns the attention away from the misconception
about which Kingdom He is here to establish, and points them forward to His
ultimate ascension into heaven where they who were gathered there would all be
a witness to. At the same time Jesus
confirms His divinity by stating that Angels would be attending to Him, and
that indeed He saw Nathaniel where no one else knew he went to pray. Jesus also addressed Nathaniel’s skeptism, by
saying to him, “thou shalt see …”. If
Nathaniel must see to believe, as his brother Phillip had responded when he
first challenged the Messiah, Christ lets him know, there is far greater things
which he will see as they move along together.
Nathaniel had already been convinced.
The lesson is perhaps more for us. It is Christ who hears the desperate prayers
of our hearts, no matter where we are when we give them voice. He hears them even when they are nothing more
than thoughts in our brains. There is no
privacy when it comes to us and our God.
There was never supposed to be the need for privacy, as an intimate
relationship was always the intent of our God with us. Our nakedness was never a barrier to spending
time with God, nor was our union between man and woman in the sacred vows of
marriage. Our God desires to be with us
at all times, and is unashamed to call us His children, despite what we do, and
what we desire. His goal is to see us
freed from our sins and bondage to pain and evil. His goal is to see us restored to the
perfection He intended. Therefore Jesus
points out to Nathaniel and to us, is it HE who hears our prayers when we think
ourselves alone. It is HE who meets the
needs of our hearts, and longs to show us His great love for each of us. It is HE who values the prayers of a single
person, and knows us better than we know ourselves. This is the lesson of the discipleship of
Nathaniel, despite our skepticism, Christ is still here to save and redeem us.
All throughout these first few encounters, our responses to
God are far from perfect. We come with
the baggage of our own misconceptions about the interpretation of scripture and
the mission of the Messiah. Yet our God
is patient with each of us. He does not
rebuke our lack of faith, or judge us as we deserve. He does not cast our efforts aside, or reject
our service because of our imperfections.
He did not tell a single person who wished to follow Him, that they were
not welcome. Only Phillip had been
directly called to that point in time, yet 4 others were there and welcomed as
well. Even in the earliest part of his
ministry, while he was still gathering disciples, Jesus was not condemnatory,
judgmental, or requiring that his followers have a perfect understanding of
truth. Instead He was happy to welcome
them into a collective mission to redeem mankind, a service oriented mission in
which they would be a part. This is the
mission, in which He still welcomes us today.
Christ knew then, as He knows now with us, a perfect understanding of
truth can only happen as we spend more time with Him. Only then will our errors and misconceptions
about scripture, be corrected in the face of the love of Christ. It is with Him that truth can be revealed,
for He is truth. It is we who are
changed and molded by the encounter.
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