Come and see

Christ Church, Mar 14 2004:6.00pm
John 1:35-51

Tonight's reading from John's Gospel concentrates superficially on the calling of the first disciples. We're told that the first were 'two disciples' - of John the Baptist. Jesus calls them with the words Come and you will see. The disciples go to see and their first reaction is to go and tell others, with those words Come and see. So it snowballs until we have Andrew going to Nathanael with those words Come and see
The passage has as much to do with evangelism, with the invitation to Come and see. So, let's look at this special case of Nathanael, which ties in with that earlier reading from Genesis 28

What a fascinating account! Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and immediately, as he has done with every one of these men, makes a pronouncement on his character. Jesus knows what is in men. John 2:24 tells us Jesus knew all men, meaning he saw what their condition was. Is Jesus here is exercising the omniscience of deity? The famous Phillipians 2 passage tells us he laid his divine status to one side. I do not think that in his earthly ministry he exercised omniscience. There are times when he tells us he did not know some things, and an omniscient God knows everything.
What happened here is that Jesus was so aware of the makeup and nature of humanity that he could accurately read what we would term 'body language'. We have all had some experience with this. We see an expression on someone's face, and say, "I know what you're thinking" -- and we're right. How did we know? Because we were reading that person's body language. If I could read accurately I could tell what kind of people you are at a glance just by the way you are sitting, the way you look, and so on I could tell that some of you are very sleepy, and I could tell that some of you are very alert, watching, and interested! (I hope you're watching and interested!
Jesus could read people instantly and accurately in a way no one else could. He saw Nathanael approaching and instantly he read what Nathanael was like: Here is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is nothing false! There was no deceitfulness, no tendency to hide or be devious.
Jesus read Nathanael, and said in effcet, with a play on words, " Here is an Israelite without any Jacob in him.”, for the name Jacob meant “deceiver”
Nathanael's immediate response was, How did you know me? Jesus replied, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you John, here, is not using the word that means to visually observe or see, rather that means “to perceive, to understand”. In effect what Jesus is saying to Nathanael: "I saw you with my eyes, visibly, over there, talking with Philip. I saw Philip telling you something, and I saw your response. I could not hear your words but I saw you. And in that I saw who you are. I knew instantly, even then, who you were. You told me by the way you responded physically." This is what convinces Nathanael. Here is a man who instantly knows what is in man.
Nathanael's response is a confirmation of his complete genuineness: Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus commends him for that simple, immediate faith: -- You believe, because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that Then Jesus went further and told him, I tell you the truth, you shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God descending on theSon of Man
Nathanael wouldn't have missed the reference to the dream that Jacob had centuries earlier., and the account of which we heard in our Old Testament reading.
Jacob was Mummy’s favourite. Not an enviable thing for a growing lad to be Mummy’s boy. I grew up ‘Mummy’s boy’ and how I got ragged for it! But he’s persuaded by Mummy to deceive Isaac, to dress up as Esau, to put on a coat of animal skin, so his father would think he was manly Esau. Then he went a persuaded his father to give him the inheritance and the blessing. Esau, not surprisingly wasn’t amused. The trick backfired and Jacob had to flee for his life. He really had blown it! He knew he had lived up to his name, for ‘Jacob’ means ‘deceiver’ . So, he runs away from home!- found out and with his famil against him.
He 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. In this we see that God makes a way of access. This dream which we know of as ‘Jacob’s ladder’ means this. For the ladder is the way of access to God. His father had passed to him the Abrahimic blessing and God never reneges on his promises.
So Nathanael would understand when Jesus said him, I tell you the truth, you shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God descending on theSon of Man In effect Jesus was saying, “You are going to understand that dream when you learn of me. You will learn that I am the way to God for man, and the way for God to reach man. I am the link, the mediator, who spans the gulf between God and man." Our Lord intended this to be understood by all his disciples. When you come to know Jesus you have found God
In that passage from John, we read of we found four men at least, whom Jesus had called to himself.
To conclude, four points:

The first is: these are men, not women. I know I may make somebody mad with what I am going to say because it is contrary to the spirit of the age in which we live, but our Lord consistently called men into the ultimate leadership of his church. This is also reflected in the letters of the apostles. They, too, insisted on men being in that final level of leadership. That is not because men are smarter, or better, or more gifted than women, because they are not; it is simply because the function of leadership in that ultimate sense is given, in the wisdom of God, to men.
First and foremost: these were ordinary men. There is nothing unique about them. They were just ordinary people, like us. Jesus could have called his disciples from any group he happened to be with and they would have been successful apostles, just as he made these men to be. That is because the secret does not lie in the men but in the Lord who understands men. who uses them and makes them into what he wants them to be.
Secondly: Jesus never handled any two alike. Andrew was cautious, Peter was impetuous, Philip was shy, Nathanael was guileless. Jesus spoke differently to each of them. He understood them. He took them for what they were. He did not try to make them all fit a mould. He treated them all differently, for he understood who they were.
Thirdly, is the way Jesus knows us today. We, too, are called to be his disciples, as these men were called. Men and women alike are called to be disciples of Jesus. That means he knows what to send into each life. He knows where to put us. The people he wants us to be with, difficult and obnoxious as they may be, he put there. He knows what to permit in your life; he chooses it. Following him means that you accept where he takes you and what he gives you. You look for meaning and purpose according to the wisdom that he represents. You trust him, you obey him, you put yourself in his hands. His promise is that, knowing us thoroughly, he will act in love for our best interests, for our good. And he will do what he starts out to do: he will make each one to fulfill the potential, the possibilities, of life.

That is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.