Bible Passage: John 1:43-51
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: January 14, 2024

Bulletin January 14, 2024

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

I want to call attention to a feature of our text this morning that we won’t want to miss.  Maybe you detected it already.  But there is a “thread” that runs through this section of Scripture.  It is this idea of “seeing.”  Philip says to Nathanael, Come and see (v. 46).  Jesus sees Nathanael coming and says, Behold! (v. 47).  “Behold” means “look at this!”  Nathanael is coming to see Jesus but Jesus flips the script and tells Nathanael that he already saw him when he was sitting under the sycamore tree.  Jesus calls attention to the fact it was his own “omniscient” seeing that impressed Nathanael.  But, Jesus says, Nathanael will see even greater things in the future.

It’s all about “seeing.”  We won’t want to miss the lesson Jesus teaches about “seeing” in this text.  We, too, will want to learn the lesson of Seeing the Great, and the Greater, in Jesus.

It is very early in Jesus’ ministry.  He is just beginning to preach and teach.  He is just beginning to gather disciples.  He is on his way to Galilee as our text begins.  He found Philip. (v. 43)  “Found” is a wonderful word.  You “find” something that is lost.  You “find” something that you are intentionally searching for.  Jesus “found” Philip.  Follow me. (v. 43)  Philip was a Galilean boy, grew up in Bethsaida, same as Peter and Andrew.

Philip immediately goes searching for somebody, too!  He finds Nathanael.  Philip tells what he sees when he looks at Jesus of Nazareth.   We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (v. 45)  He sees Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies!  This is quite a confession for so early in Jesus’ ministry!  Nathanael is not so impressed.  Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there? (v. 46)  Nazareth was just a sleepy little “hillbilly” village.   “Hicksville.”

Philip replies, Come and see. (v. 46)  Come, see for yourself.  By the way, Philip here is a wonderful example of how simple mission work can be.  Sometimes we think before we open our mouths about Jesus we’ve got to go to a “class” or a “seminar” and learn to become a great proficient at witnessing.  Training can be of value.  Jesus will train his apostles for three years.  But sometimes it is as simple as saying to your friend, “Come and see.  Come to church with me.”

Off Nathanael goes to see Jesus.  But Jesus sees him first.  And Jesus literally says, Behold!  An Israelite in whom there is no trickery/deceit. (v. 47)  Behold!  See here!  There is something peculiar about the way Jesus speaks of Nathanael.  He calls him an “Israelite.”  Not a Jew.  Not a Hebrew.  But “Israelite.”  Israel was the “new” name the Lord had given to Jacob in the Old Testament.  Remember, Jacob meant “trickster/deceiver.”  The Lord changed it to Israel.  Now Jesus says of Nathanael that he is an “Israelite” who is not a trickster.  At the end of our text, Jesus is going to use language that is a clear reference to the dream Jacob had of the stairway to heaven.  Why does Jesus use these allusions, these references to Jacob and his dream?  Maybe Nathanael had been under his tree meditating on the story of Jacob.  Maybe Jesus is showing Nathanael just how much he could “see”!  Jesus could even see inside a man!

Nathanael is taken aback.  “How do you know me?”  Which is to say, “I’m sorry.  Have we met?”  Jesus then discloses, “I saw you when you were sitting under your sycamore fig tree!”  Nathanael has seen enough!  Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” (v. 49)

Nathanael had seen Jesus do a great thing!  Jesus, the God/Man, had made use of his divine omniscience.  That was great and impressive that Jesus knew all about Nathanael before even meeting or talking to him.  That is a “God thing.”  Omniscience, being all-knowing, is a majestic attribute.  We certainly understand Nathanael’s confession of Jesus as Son of God and King.

But as great as that is, Jesus tells Nathanael he is going to see something greater.  You shall see greater things than that!  I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. (v. 51)   Jesus’ words here are a clear reference back to Jacob’s ladder.  The dream that Jacob had on the first night he was running away from his home and his angry brother.  Genesis 28 tells us: [Jacob] 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.  There above it stood the LORD. (v. 12-13)   With that dream the Lord was showing Jacob that he was still “connected” to Jacob, even though Jacob had been a schnook and a deceiver.  By putting himself in the place of that stairway, Jesus was telling Nathanael that he was going to see Jesus as the “connector” between sinners and heaven!

And of course, the “stairway,” the “ladder” that connects us is Jesus on the cross!  This is Jesus’ greater work!  There he gave his life for sinners.  There, at his cross, is where schnooks and deceivers like us are connected to God through forgiveness and mercy!  And there is nothing greater than God and sinners being reconnected again.

The love and mercy on the cross are the greatest thing to see in Jesus.  It is great that Jesus is omniscient and saw Nathanael under the tree.  It is great that Jesus is omnipotent and healed the diseased and fed the hungry with his almighty miracles.  But, quite frankly, his omniscience and omnipotence can be scary if I don’t know if he likes me!  The greatest thing to see in Jesus is his love on the cross!  That cross is for us the ladder, the stairway, touching the earth where you are and connecting you with your God.  Remember that when you find a Nathanael.  Say “Come and see!”  “Come and see” – not just a great miracle worker.  More than that!  Come and see the one who connects us to God and opens heaven!

Amen.