Who is Jesus? Come and see!
John 1.43-51
What was it about Jesus that caught the imagination, fired the enthusiasm and got the commitment of his first followers? Both Mark, from whose gospel we read last week, and John, whom we have just read, tell us that this young man simply said “Follow me” and people came to him, leaving their everyday work to begin a journey of discovery which would lead, for many of them, to a complete change of life and immense sacrifices.
What is it about the Jesus whom we meet in the gospels that captures our imagination and motivates us to follow him? What is it about Jesus that means that many people even today shape their lives according to his teaching and find strength and hope in the stories about him? Who is Jesus and, specifically, who is Jesus for you?
For Philip, Jesus is clearly compelling. His response to him appears to be immediate – as if, looking into his eyes, he recognises his authority, the power of the Holy Spirit that we saw descending on him last week. I sometimes envy those first disciples of Jesus – they had a face-to-face encounter with him that none of us have had. But the gospels allow us to see Jesus through their eyes and to share some of their excitement. Philip buzzed – but I also remember buzzing as a teenager when Jesus seemed to come out of the pages of the New Testament and meet with me personally. I still get that excitement when passages of the Bible come alive for me in new ways. That’s why I love reading it and I love preaching from it.
Philip, too, made connections between the man with the authoritative voice, belying his age, and the scriptures that he had studied in synagogue school. To his friend Nathanael he said, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote…” The Jewish scriptures, our Old Testament, speak of the coming of God’s chosen one, a son of God, a Messiah; and the people of Palestine longed for a saviour – perhaps, particularly, one who would rescue them from the hated Roman occupation. For these young men, a charismatic figure like Jesus brought them hope, hope that was rooted in their Jewish faith and heritage.
Who is Jesus for us, in this time and place? Many of those who listen to me in church or online will have grown up hearing the stories of Jesus and the stories that shaped him and his people. We have heard again recently the prophecies that spoke of a child born to be king, and many of us still know the significance of words written some 3000 years ago being fulfilled in Bethlehem many years later. So, we are not that different to Philip, who knew instinctively that the hope of Israel was embodied in Jesus of Nazareth. God’s eternal plan is focussed in this one man. But in our culture today, this is not easy to communicate. Who is Jesus for the people who live in your street?
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” This was Nathanael’s response to Philip’s excitement. You may be on the receiving end of similar cynicism or doubt – from your family, your friends, work colleagues or neighbours. ‘Can anything good come out of the church?’ might be the cry of some, born of hard experience or simply the fruit of gossip. But to look at Nazareth, a small village in a backwater of first century Palestine, or to look at St Mary’s, the Diocese of St Asaph, or the Christian church throughout the world, is to look at the wrong thing. What we need to ask, what we need to insist, is that people look at Jesus. To look at the church is to look at a human institution, with all its failings. But, as Philip says, “Come and see.” Come and meet Jesus.
There are parts of this story of the meeting between Nathanael and Jesus that take some interpreting and when I find that scholars differ in their understanding of it I am encouraged that it’s not just me that isn’t quite sure what is happening here! I suspect that Nathanael was not so much a cynic as an intelligent informed observer who wouldn’t be quickly fooled. As such, he may represent our educated friends who raise their eyebrows at the first sniff of faith. Nazareth isn’t mentioned in the Old Testament – it didn’t exist in that period – and so Nathanael may not have expected the son of God to be found there, from his knowledge and understanding. But he didn’t know that Jesus was born in the royal city of Bethlehem. As Philip says to Nathanael, so we might say to our friends and family, “Come and see”. Because it is only as you look Jesus in the eyes that you really know his significance for you.
For Nathanael, part of that significance came from being known by Jesus, seen for who he was. As a teenager, the thought that Jesus knew everything I thought, said and did was a little sobering; but as an adult, I have come to realise that Jesus isn’t a snooping ‘big brother’ I need to be frightened of, but a friend who knows me and yet still loves me. All of us want to be loved, and in the pages of the Bible and in the lives of his followers today, Jesus shows that he knows us and that, knowing us, he still loves us. And to be loved by Jesus is to be loved by God.
Who is Jesus? That is the question that is guiding our reflections at the beginning of this new year. For Nathanael, looking into the eyes of Jesus, seeing and being seen, doubt turns to faith in a moment of revelation. “you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus has no doubt that this is the beginning of an exciting faith journey for Nathanael, as he goes on to declare, “you will see greater things than these”.
When I was 14 someone said to me, “Come and see”, and my life has been shaped by faith in Jesus ever since. The influence of this first century teacher has spread out through place and time and today he still says, “Follow me”. I am in no doubt that his teaching is still relevant, his actions still inspiring, his sacrifice sufficient and his love overwhelming. I can only invite you to “come and see”, to find out who Jesus is for you.