Answering ‘Come and See’ With ‘Show and Tell’
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
John 1:45–50 ESV Read More
I love the way that so many of the early disciples are depicted in the Gospels as following Jesus with so little debate, persuasion, or even conversation. The message among a few of them was “We’ve found the one we’ve been looking for.” The message for the Samaritan woman at the well was “This man told me everything I ever did.” And Philip doesn’t get in an argument with his Nathanael, he just tells him to “come and see” for himself.
It’s easy to think that the whole world is against Jesus sometimes. As far as cultural sin and rebellion go, that’s probably the case, but not when people are surveyed. According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of adults in Indiana believe in God at a fairly certain or absolutely certain level. Kentucky (good job team!) takes it up to 87%.
That means that there are a lot of people out there willing to just “come and see.”
The other fact is, they are coming. We encounter new people every Sunday that are needing, wanting, searching, and hoping. We don’t have to have mysterious knowledge like Jesus had of whatever Nathanael was doing under the fig tree, but we do need to show people Jesus when they come and see.
Let’s go to Jesus ourselves. Let’s go and be amazed in simplicity and easy faith. He is the one that we’ve been looking for, and He really wants to gather as many of us to Him as will come. Sometimes we see Jesus in other people, and sometimes He shows up in us as we serve others that don’t notice Him. Either way, let’s respond to Him coming to save us and come and see together what ‘greater things’ He was talking about.
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