Grace, mercy and peace be to you
from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our sermon
text today was inspired by the Holy Spirit by the apostle St John. And we read from
his gospel where it says:
Truly,
truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
Prayer: Come Lord Jesus, and
dispel all the darkness of our hearts through the purity and light of your
word. Amen.
In our Gospel
reading today, we read about how Jesus calls two of his disciples, Philip and
Nathanael. And also right at the end of our reading, after Nathanael, has been
brought to Jesus, Jesus says something not just to Nathanael but to all of the
disciples who were there at that time: Truly, truly, I say to you, you will
see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of
Man. This is a wonderful passage which Jesus teaches about angels and also
about Himself.
So this
morning in our sermon today, we’re going to look at these three things:
firstly, how Jesus calls Philip, second, how Nathanael comes to Jesus, and then
lastly, we’re going to meditate about this wonderful mystery about the angels
that Jesus talks about.
So let’s
read, first of all, about what it says about Philip. It says: The next day
Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now
Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
It just so
happens that in the previous verses, we also read about Andrew and Peter, and
how they came to follow Jesus. Just before, we read about John the Baptist, who
is giving a particularly wonderful witness to Jesus—first of all, John calls
Jesus the light. We read: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He
came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe
through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. It’s
a great thing to stop and think for a minute about what it means that Jesus is
the light. We actually say in the Nicene Creed each week, that Jesus is God
of God, Light of Light. Jesus calls himself the Light of the world. If
we were to imagine all the darkness of the world, whatever it happens to be,
and in all its various forms, Jesus is stronger than all of it. All that is
needed is for him to walk into a room, and darkness is destroyed. It’s just as
when someone turns the light on, and immediately it’s not dark anymore. And
with this light comes forgiveness, comfort, joy, peace, love. There are so many
gifts that come from Jesus, as he shines his light into our dark hearts. It’s a
wonderful thing!
But also,
then John witnesses to Jesus not just as the light, but also as the Lamb of
God. We read where he says: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world! Often in Christian art, John was often painted with a very
long finger—in some sense, this was the most important thing about him. King
Herod, later on, didn’t recognise this. He and his family thought that the most
dangerous part of John was his mouth, so in order to shut his mouth, he had his
head cut off. But the most important of John’s body was not simply his mouth,
but his finger. Who was John pointing to? So even when John has asked for John
the Baptist’s head, John’s finger is still there, pointing to Jesus, as a
witness to the Lamb of God, who in the future will also die a brutal death on a
cross, in order to destroy sin and the power of sin. Jesus is the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world.
And so, it
turns out that Andrew was a disciple of John, and together with another of
John’s disciples, he listens to what John has to say about Jesus, and they
follow Jesus. As a pastor, I always find this a wonderful encouragement in the
ministry. Sometimes, it happens that pastors are removed from their parishes
wrongly and unfairly. This mostly happens because people don’t believe that
their pastor was sent to them by God, but they just think that the pastor is
their employee, who they can hire or fire as the like. This attitude towards
the ministry is simply not biblical, and it is a lot closer to our backyard
than we care to admit. Pastors don’t stay in one place as long as they wish, or
as long as the congregation wishes, or as long as the bishop wishes, but as
long as Christ desires. And so, sometimes, for all kinds of wrong reasons, a
pastor’s ministry is sometimes cut short because of human sin—but what is the
most important thing is not that the pastor gathers a group of people around
himself to follow him, like some kind of personality cult. But the legacy of a
pastor’s ministry is in who he pointed his finger at, just like John the
Baptist: Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And so Andrew
listens to John and follows Jesus, and then Andrew goes and gets Peter, his
flesh and blood brother, and Peter follows Jesus.
In our
reading today, we read about Philip. It actually doesn’t say too much about it.
It says: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and
said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter. It doesn’t even say whether Philip followed him—of course, we assume
he did. But the focus here is not on how wonderfully Philip followed Jesus, but
on the wonderful word that Jesus spoke. It says not that Philip found Jesus,
but that Jesus found Philip. And he simply said, Follow me. And
it just so happened that Philip was from the same town as the two brothers,
Andrew and Peter.
Wouldn’t it
be wonderful if whenever we heard the word of Jesus, that we would simply get
up and go, just as Jesus says, all the time! Isn’t it amazing that Philip just
simply follows him. And yet, the power is not in Philip’s heart, but in the
power of Jesus’ word. Maybe we don’t treat Jesus’ words as very powerful
anymore—maybe we think our own words, our own thoughts and opinions, are just
as powerful as those of Jesus. If only we knew just how powerful, how loving,
how true Jesus’ words to us really are. How is Jesus calling us to follow him
today? How is he encouraging us to walk with him in a new way, and in a new
aspect of our lives?
But then, we
read a longer section about Nathanael. In other parts of the bible, Nathanael
is called Bartholomew. It says: 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?”
We get the
impression here that Philip and Nathanael knew the bible well, and that they
were waiting for the Messiah. Philip says to him: We have found him of whom
Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote. Philip was found first, and
then Philip goes to his friend and wants to share this with his friend. He
knows just what a wonderful person Jesus is, and so it just seems so natural to
him to want to share the news about him with others. But Nathanael is not
convinced straight away. Philip says to Nathanael that the Messiah is called Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael says: Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?
Now, why does
Nathanael say this? It’s not because Nazareth is a bad place, and has a bad
reputation necessarily. We might think of a place where something bad took
place, and then the place has a bad reputation, like Snowtown, north of
Adelaide. Then if something good happens there, we might be a bit cynical and
think, “Can anything good happen in Snowtown?”
But this is
not what’s going on. Nathanael knows his bible well, and he knows that the
Messiah was going to come from Bethlehem, from the city of David. This is what
the wise men want to know when they come to Jerusalem. Where is he who is
born the king of the Jews? And the high priests give the answer from the
Scripture: In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: And
you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers
of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So
Nathanael knows to expect a Messiah from Bethlehem, not Nazareth.
Sometimes it
so happens that we might have a question here or there about the bible, and we
don’t understand how it matches up, or something like that. What happens in our
reading? Philip says to Nathanael: Come and see. Come and bring the
problem to Jesus. Let him sort it out.
And so we
read: Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Jesus commends him for his
careful study of the bible, and for trying to nut things out exactly. Nathanael
is a true Israelite, a faithful follower of God’s word, and he is asking the
right questions, and he is genuinely trying to look for the right answers. And
so Jesus calls him: an Israelite indeed, a true Israelite, in whom
there is no deceit, not a doubter, but a searcher.
But hang on?
This is the first time that Jesus and Nathanael have met. Nathanael hasn’t even
spoken yet. And so Nathanael says 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.”
This is an
amazing thing that happens. We read that even before Philip had gone to find
Nathanael, Jesus already saw him, he already knew him, he already had a
specific plan for him. We often think that we are the ones who forge our own
destiny, but it is not the case. Even before we have begun to even think about
what we want to do, Jesus has already seen us, and looked upon us, and found
us. Jesus here shows to Nathanael that he had the ability to read his heart and
to know his mind.
And whatever
was so significant about this fig tree, this was all that Nathanael needed to
be convinced. He says: Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel! And Jesus commends him, and says: Because I said to you, ‘I aw
you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than
these. This is how it often happens for all of us. We are convinced by
Jesus at such small things, and yet, Jesus blessed the small things and then
leads us into the big things.
But then
Jesus says something not simply to Nathanael but for the benefit of all the
disciples. He tells them what greater things he will see. Truly, truly, I
say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man.
It is not
simply that Jesus will see people under fig trees, but the very next thing we
read about in the gospel of John is the wedding at Cana where Jesus turned
water into wine. They will see all the power of God at work in Jesus, with all
the angels ministering from heaven, and all the angelic power at work through
Jesus. But Jesus’ power is not simply the same as the power of angels, but all
of the angels are servants of him. They ascend and descend on Jesus. Jesus has
an entire army at his disposal, and he says to one, Come, and he comes, and to
another go, and he goes.
Now, here in
the little verse, Jesus calls to mind an event in the Old Testament, where
Jacob had a dream about a ladder going all the way from earth to heaven, with
the angels going up and down upon it. Here we read Jesus interpreting this
dream about himself. He is saying: I am the ladder from earth to heaven, and
the angels are going up and down on me. This is what Jesus says in another
place where he says: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. If you want to go to the Father, then come
and be with me, and the angels of God will carry you up the ladder, which is
me. This is just such an amazing thought! And it’s not us who climbs the ladder,
as if we reach God by our human achievement, but through Jesus’ achievement of
reaching all the way down to us to carry us up in his own arms and on the wings
of angels.
But this
verse is also a very important passage when it comes to spiritual discernment.
There may be other angels at work, which are not ascending or descending upon
the Son of Man. If this is the case, then they are demons. It says in
Revelation 19: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If
something comes to us that is not testifying to Jesus, then it is not from the
Holy Spirit. If there is an angel that comes to us, that tells us something
that against the gospel and against Jesus, then it is not from Jesus, and not
inspired by his Spirit. St Paul says: Even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him
be accursed.
And so
sometimes, Christians find themselves comforted and strengthened by an angel.
But often this comes in times of the cross, times of suffering. If we read
about Jesus’ ministry in the gospels, we read that the angels were ministering
to him, not when he was “having a good day”, but when he was experiencing the
most intense suffering. There are only two passages where angels are said to
minister to Jesus during his life: after he was tempted by Satan for 40 days in
the wilderness, and when he is sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. We
should also remember that. If you want to see an angel, then expect the cross. The
angels ascend and descend on the Son of Man. And the Son of Man is a man of
sorrows, God’s suffering servant, the Lamb of God who takes away and shoulders
the sin of the world.
So it’s
always best to be suspicious if we find an angel coming to us to help us on a
good day to boost our own ego—remember the devil also manifests himself as an
angel of light, as St Paul says in 2 Corinthians.
Now we also
know that Jesus promises to be here in our church, in his human flesh, through
the preaching and teaching of his word, through the speaking fo the forgiveness
of sins in the absolution, through holy baptism, and through the Lord’s Supper.
We know that when we come here, to receive these things, and to receive them in
prayer, that we simply come and join in with his prayers, as he sits at the
right hand of the throne of God. But wherever Jesus is, the angels are there
too, because they are ascending and descending on the Son of Man. They
are spirits who minister, and who perform a kind of heavenly liturgy. Hebrews
says: Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of
those who are to inherit salvation?
And so when
we come to church, and sing and pray, we are simply doing what’s always going
on in heaven. Coming to church is entering heaven for a brief time, to sing
God’s holiness together with the angels and the archangels and all the company
of heaven. If only we knew that the things that go on in our church service
today are things at which angels cover their faces because they are too
wonderful! If only we knew that, then maybe people wouldn’t so quick to want to
throw the liturgy out, and we wouldn’t get so bored with it, as if the angels
in heaven could only ever be doing something that our flesh finds exciting and
new and novel. The angels don’t ascend and descend on you, on your ego, and on
your boredom. The angels ascend and descend on the Son of Man, and like the
wise men from the East, we have seen his star and have come to worship him. We
have come to be united and joined to this Saviour, who is God of God, Light of
Light, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.
Dear Jesus,
bless us with your Holy Spirit today, and gather us to yourself, that each day
we may follow you in faith, and love and in obedience to your word. Open our
eyes that we may realise the magnitude and the splendour of our holy Christian
faith, and send us the peace which transcends all understanding, the
understanding of humans and the understanding even of the angels. Amen.
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