This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 8.15am, and Grace Lutheran Church, Childers, 9am.
Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.” And he
said to him, “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: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our
hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Our reading today talks about Jesus calling to himself two
disciples: Philip and Nathanael. We read: 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.
There’s not much to this passage! We are told a few things
about various places: Jesus was going to Galilee, and Philip, Andrew and Peter
were all from Bethsaida. But all we are told about Philip’s conversion is
simply that Jesus found him and said to him, “Follow me.” Already
Andrew and Peter had followed Jesus. And now, in our reading today we read
about two more: Philip and Nathanael.
Here we see a powerful word of God from Jesus himself, where
he simply says to Philip: Follow me! This is almost the same thing that
we read when Jesus called Matthew the tax collector. It says: Jesus said to
him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. In the passage today about
Philip, we don’t even read specifically that Philip rose and followed him. We
do read that Philip went and spoke about Jesus to Nathanael, so it’s obvious
that Philip did follow Jesus. But it’s almost not important that
Philip obeyed Jesus, because that’s not the point. The point is that Jesus
called him. And all the power of Philip’s conversion didn’t come from
Philip, it came from the word of Jesus.
Sometimes we meet some Christians who want to tell everyone
about their conversion. And it is a wonderful thing to convert to
Christianity, and to come to Christ. But then for many Christians, they were
raised in a Christian home by Christian parents, they were baptised as
children, and each day has been a day of growth in the Christian faith, but
they have had no massive turn-around in their lives. And so sometimes someone
might say: “When did you become a Christian?” And we would say, “When I was
baptised.” This answer often doesn’t satisfy these people, and so they say
something like, “But when did you accept Jesus into your heart as your personal
Lord and Saviour?” Now—here we see a problem. Yes, it’s a wonderful thing to
have Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour. Without Jesus as our personal Lord
and Saviour, we can’t be saved. But they want to put all the focus on the
question “when did you accept him?” Our accepting, and our receiving,
and our conversion is a very shaky foundation to put our trust in,
because our heart is still full of sin, and doubts, and all kinds of things.
And so we might say, “How do I know that I really converted, that I am really,
genuinely converted, and that it wasn’t all a show?”
Instead of putting your trust in your conversion, put your
trust in Christ’s word to you: Follow me. And in each of our lives,
there is a wonderful day when Christ said these words to us personally, and
that was on the day of our baptism, when he said, I baptised you in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When we were baptised,
Jesus called us by name, just as he called Philip, he gave to us the
forgiveness of sins which he won on the cross, he gave us the gift of the Holy
Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. All the power of our Christian life
comes not from us, and from our response to all these things, but
from Jesus, and his words, and his promises.
In the second part of our reading, we read: Now 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.”
Here we see Philip come to his friend Nathanael, and tell
him that he has found Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now we know
that Jesus wasn’t actually the son of Joseph, but that he was only the Son of
Mary and that his mother was a Virgin. And also we know that Jesus was born in
Bethlehem, but Philip calls him Jesus of Nazareth, because that was the
place where he grew up. But there’s something else that we learn from these
words about Philip and Nathanael. Philip
says: We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets
wrote. What does this tell you? It tells you that Philip and Nathanael were
people who read the bible. They must have studied the Scriptures carefully in
the synagogue, and they were eager to learn God’s word. They had read or heard
the law of Moses and the prophets. And Nathanael asks the
question: Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Now, it was well known by Jewish people that the Messiah was
to come from Bethlehem, and Jesus was in fact born in Bethlehem. The
prophet Micah says very clearly that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. Nathanael
knew this too, and so when he heard from Philip that Jesus was from Nazareth, he
asked the question: Can anything good come from Nazareth? And so Philip
says to him: Come and see.
Nathanael is testing everything according to the Scripture.
And when Nathanael comes to Jesus, Jesus says: Behold, an Israelite indeed,
in whom there is no deceit! Jesus praises Nathanael. Jesus knows
that Nathanael is not being a smart-aleck, or being cynical, as
if nothing of any worth can come from a small place like Nazareth! Many things
of great worth can come from small places—small places even like Maryborough or
Childers! No, Jesus knows that Nathanael is testing everything according to
the Scripture, and Jesus praises and commends him for it.
Jesus recognises that Nathanael is not being deceitful, but that he is honestly
trying to work things out from the Scripture.
Now this is a very important thing, which we should stop and
think about for a while. One of the greatest issues amongst Christians today is
this one question: What is our attitude towards the Scripture? There are many
things going on in the world, many things going on in the church, but they all
seem to come back to one thing: Do we hold the Scripture, the bible, as the
Word of God? Is the bible our authority? When we read something in the
bible that doesn’t sit well with us, do we try to change the bible, or
do we let the bible change us? Do we treat the bible as the word of men,
or do we consider it the word of God?
In the last year, we have been celebrating the 500th
year of the Reformation. And one of the greatest achievements of Martin Luther
was translating the bible into German, so that the people of Germany could
understand it and believe it. Also, from that time, the bible has been
translated into many different languages, and there are many different versions
in English—probably far too many versions! In some parts of the world,
especially in new mission fields, translating the bible is what gave the
opportunity for people to write down their language for the first time. In some
places, the only significant book that is published is the bible, which means
that if people wanted to learn how to read, the only reason for doing that was
so that they could read the bible.
So let me encourage you: we have been so incredibly blessed
to be able to have great access to the bible, and the ability to read
it. If you don’t have time to read it, remember that there are people in
the world who are saving up every last cent they have just so that they can put
their hands on one and read it every day. If you don’t feel as though you
understand it all, don’t worry: just give it a go, and remember that there are
a lot more people around the world who have a lot less education than you that
try to read the bible constantly, even one word at a time.
I wonder whether one of the reasons why the Reformation was
even able to happen 500 years ago is because people generally still believed
that the bible was the word of God. Today in our country, there is no way that
anything like that could happen so long as people say: That’s your opinion,
I’ll have my opinion. When we realise just what it means to say: Thus says
the Lord, then things are completely different, because everything we say
comes with all the power and authority of God himself. We need leaders in the
church today. We need a strong church. But we won’t have one, and we won’t have
good leaders in the church if we don’t seek to learn the bible as best as we
can. One of my seminary lecturers said to us students once that it is our duty
as future pastors of the church to seek to be experts of the bible. But
wouldn’t it be a great thing if not only our pastors would study the bible
thoroughly, but also all the people in the church? What a church that would be!
The Lutheran Church always used to be known as a church of the word. What about
today?
Now, none of us are the people of the word that we
should be. Jesus died for all our failures to learn his word too. And yet,
that wonderful word teaches us and shows us our Saviour, Jesus of
Nazareth, our Messiah, our Lord. The Scripture tells us of his wonderful work
for us, his resurrection, our salvation.
And so we take notice of the wonderful example of Philip and
Nathanael, as they study and learn the Scriptures, and seek to discern from the
Scriptures whether Jesus is the Messiah. We have found him of whom Moses in
the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Now, we come to a part in our reading about the conversation
between Jesus and Nathanael. We read: Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards 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!”
Now, this is a very strange conversation. First of all,
Jesus compliments him on his respect and regard from the Scripture. Jesus calls
him an Israelite indeed, not an Israelite in name and nationality only,
but an Israelite who respected and regarded the word of God. But also remember,
that Jesus wasn’t there when Philip and Nathanael were talking about this. And
so Nathanael is puzzled by this compliment from Jesus. He says to him: How
do you know me? Jesus says to him: Before Philip called you, when you
were under the fig tree, I saw you. Now, this is amazing. Jesus first of
all knew, before Philip or Nathanael had said anything to him, that
Philip had encouraged Nathanael to come and meet him. Also, Jesus knew
who Nathanael was before he knew him, when he was standing under a
certain fig tree. Nathanael knew that Jesus wasn’t there when he had the
conversation with Philip, he knew that Jesus wasn’t there when he was
under the fig tree, and yet Jesus says: I saw you.
This is an amazing thing. Here we see Jesus having a
conversation with Nathanael, just like they have been old friends for many
years. Jesus is so friendly and gentle with Nathanael. And yet, Jesus tells
Nathanael about the miraculous way in which he saw him, even when he wasn’t
there. And so, Nathanael is completely overwhelmed, and from this little
detail he makes a wonderful confession of faith: Rabbi, you are the Son of
God! You are the King of Israel!
Now, how is it that Jesus was able to see Nathanael even
when he wasn’t there? You see, Jesus wasn’t simply a man like any other man. He
was both true man and true God at the same time. Earlier in the chapter we
read: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And this man, Jesus, had
a true human body and a true human soul, just like us in every way,
except without sin. And at the same time, this man was also true God, so
that his body and his soul were united inseparably with his divine nature.
Sometimes in wonderful ways, we see Jesus’ human body transformed and glorified
in such a way that it takes on particular powers above and beyond the normal
laws of nature because he is also true God. And so, at the
Transfiguration, Jesus’ face and clothes shone with the wonderful divine light
that belonged to him. After his resurrection, he walked through closed doors to
visit his disciples. We read that he walked on water, calmed the storm with his
word, raised the dead, healed the sick, and so on. Even in the church today,
Jesus’ lets his body and blood take on a supernatural ability to be present for
us in the church in the Lord’s Supper so that we can eat and drink it. This all
happens because Jesus is also true God, or as we say in the creed: God
of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Here in our reading we see
how Jesus’ eyes and soul and heart could look straight into the heart and mind of
someone far away and knew everything that was going on with him, and could hear
all of his personal conversations. Normally, this is not possible for us human
beings. But it is possible with this man Jesus, because he is also true God.
Sometimes there are people who claim to be psychic who try
to “read people”, and give them hidden messages about their personality, or
their future. They often do this by using astrology, or star-signs. This is not
the same thing, because these people have to make use of demonic power
in order to do things like this. Remember that the devil said to Eve when he
tempted her: you will be like God. Sometimes the devil tries to trick
people into giving themselves over to him, and giving them some strange
powers and insights. Some psychics are frauds too. But some psychics who
strangely know things that other people don’t. But they only know certain
things—they don’t know everything. We need to avoid this kind of thing
like the plague, and not make use of people like this. There are a lot of
people in our society today who are interested in these things, and who try to
look for these things. (Only in the last week, I saw prominent advertisements
on TV for a large psychic expo in Bundaberg.)
Jesus is not like this at all, and he is not a
psychic. He is true God, and he has access to everything and knows
everything. He is not a psychic man, but he is true man and true
God in one person. And so what Jesus does here is not simply a
special superhuman power which he received from somewhere, but all power
belongs to him as God. John writes about Jesus: All things were made through
him. At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says: All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.
And so Nathanael recognises Jesus’ insight and his power,
and he says: 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.” And he said to him,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Jesus tells him that he is not just the King of Israel, but
also the King of the world. And not only the King of the whole world and the
whole earth, but the king of heaven as well. Jesus is the king of angels too.
And we see so many times in Jesus life where the angels show up: at his
conception, at his birth, when he was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness,
when he was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the empty tomb, and when
Jesus ascended into heaven. And also, in the book of Revelation, we see the
angels praising God continually before Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, in
heaven. We praise Jesus even in our church today with the angels, the
archangels and all the company of heaven. Jesus sends his angels to guard
and defend you constantly day by day, because you have been saved by him and
his blood, and the angels are ascending and descending on this Jesus, this
Saviour, who has pledged and promised himself to you.
And so in our reading today, we have this wonderful simply
call of two of Jesus’ disciples: Philip and Nathanael. We see his friendly
conversations, one person to another. But we also have this amazing teaching
about Jesus’ divinity, the divine insight into people’s hearts that he
has, which Jesus uses not to condemn Nathanael, but to call him. Jesus
knows our hearts too… he know the sin there, and the dirt, and the shame. But
he is our Saviour who has died for us, and as true God he has the power
to bring us with him to heaven, knowing that he has paid the price with his
blood for us. He is the Son of God, the King of Israel, and the Lord of hosts,
the King of the angels! Amen.
Dear Jesus, we thank you for calling us to be your people.
Send your angels to watch over us and defend us, and keep us strong in your
word and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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