May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of my heart be acceptable in your
sight, O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
We're going to focus today on the gospel
passage.
I'm going to consider Nathaniel and his encounter
with Jesus in this, what's called the second
Sunday after the epiphany.
And in honor of Nathaniel's contemplation under the
fig tree, I had figs for breakfast this
morning.
Figs, almonds, an egg, and some coffee.
So I was just kind of gearing up
for this message this morning.
I just thought, wow, I'm feeling it.
I really am.
The figs make the difference.
Epiphany is a word we've been saying that
means appearing.
It can also mean a manifestation.
And actually, the songs that were chosen this
morning already preached the message of epiphany.
Thank you so much, man.
Those words are just so appropriate for this
season.
Great songs, great lyrics.
So it means manifestation.
Let's think about that word today, because throughout
John's gospel, as we've been going through, especially
in the prologue, it's replete throughout the gospel
with little vignettes displaying the outworking of that
prologue, describing who Jesus is and whence he
came.
His true eternal origins within the womb or
bosom of the father in all of the
encounters today with Philip and Andrew and Peter
and Nathanael.
And we'll just look at Nathanael and Philip's
encounter.
There's no sense of his true origins being
spoken of, even as he's described as the
son of God, the king of Israel.
So was Solomon.
So we can't jump to conclusions that Nathanael
was actually seeing and saying that you are
the preexistent son of God.
But John, in 90 A.D., fast forwarding,
this apostle is reflecting on who this word
is, this logos.
And he lets us know in the beginning
so that throughout the rest of the bumblings
of trying to figure out who Jesus is
throughout the gospels, John's already given us a
clue to who he truly is and where
he truly came from.
He came out of that womb, that bosom
of the father that John talks about, that
mystical place of communion, father, son and Holy
Spirit.
Yeah, the word became flesh, the word became
a human being, the word became fully united
to his creation, his creation in order that
his creation.
And this is what salvation is all about.
His creation of inestimable value and worth might
be restored, might be redeemed, might be healed
back to.
And what is this healing?
What is that?
How do you describe what is the results
of this healing of creation?
It's healing the rip, the tear, the split
between grace and nature, between God and his
creation.
It's bringing us back into a full communion
with God.
That's what salvation is.
Communion with God.
That's good news.
Communion with God, the father and the son
and the Holy Spirit.
Now, without such epiphanies that we're looking at
and we're contemplating without these personal revelatory encounters,
we remain blind.
We remain blind to his true identity and
present presence.
Surely the Lord was in this place.
He was present and his presence was present.
But I knew it not.
I knew it not, said Jacob.
One of the greatest theologians and writers in
the New Testament, Saint Paul, shares his own
personal searching need of this continual revelation in
the prayers of Ephesians.
Prayers like open the eyes of my heart.
I pray that the Lord will open the
eyes of your heart.
You ever thought about that?
The eyes of your heart.
How do we see?
We see far beyond what the physical eyes
can actually detect.
And this is what come and see that
phrase that Jesus first used in the previous
section.
Where are you staying?
They asked.
Come and see.
Oh, they didn't realize what they were in
for.
They didn't realize who they were talking to
and they didn't realize where he was from.
This is a very, very strange encounter that
they're having.
Come and see.
Open the eyes of our hearts to this
continuous, endless communion with God.
A life of epiphanies.
You know, we'll see something and then it
closes up.
The eternal opens up to us and then
all of a sudden we're back in the
present, this present darkness, as it were, and
we're screaming on the inside.
Lord, send out your light in your truth
and let it lead me once again in
thy light.
The psalmist says, I see light.
And so this cry, this this quest for
light, enlightenment, as it were, comes through Jesus
Christ, fully God and fully man.
The eternal logos, the light that enlightens every
heart has now become flesh.
And this is the Jesus whom we see.
This is the Jesus risen on the road
to Damascus that lit up the road.
St. Paul fell to his feet and he
recognized him in this light appearing to him.
Paul got that revelation of the communion between
the restoration of God, the risen Jesus being
one united with his body.
And we've read that today in first Corinthians
six.
We have been united with Christ.
Oh, man.
As the disciples begin to gather around Jesus.
Philip finds Nathaniel and he says, this is
so funny.
We have found the Messiah.
We have found him of whom Moses in
the law and the prophets did right.
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, Nathaniel's
unpromising response.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Nathaniel is not alone in having this kind
of unkind, bigoted, prejudiced attitude to other places
and other people, as we've seen recently from
the shameful encounters on Capitol Hill.
But in the midst of that, pointing our
finger at Capitol Hill.
There's plenty of things to point your finger
at.
At the same time, we have to realize
that there's gross limitations to our ability to
receive the least in the loss in our
own lives.
We have our own prejudices and our own
images of what we think is worth and
what we think is worthless.
Right.
In Kansas City alone, I mean, just living
east of Troost invokes this.
Can anything good come out of east of
Troost?
Oh, brothers and sisters, we all know this,
don't we?
We know this attitude.
It's called classism, elitism, racism, sexism.
All of these things are a part of
the fallen, broken mess that we're being redeemed
and healed out of.
So that healing is a progressive thing, because
I feel all of these things wanting to
rise up in me, too.
We have to say no to these things
in order to walk in the love and
the mercy and the acceptance of the Father.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
It's interesting because the guy saying this, Nathaniel,
he's from Cana, Galilee, and it's a small
town, too.
This gets worked into the way we live.
This is what we want to ponder.
It's really amazing.
There's two awesome responses here.
There's two reactions to Nathaniel's jadedness.
I think you think Nathaniel could be suffering
from acedia.
Remember that in the Seven Deadly Sins?
A couple of years ago, we talked about
acedia, this sickness of heart, this like, you
know, because he had longed and read the
scriptures.
And then all of a sudden, you know,
he's got this image of the one that
he's longing and waiting for.
And this person is surely not from Nazareth.
It can't be Nazareth.
You know, yes, it can.
It is.
And here it comes.
OK, OK.
Now I'm going to have to adjust my
attitude.
And so here's Nathaniel talking to Philip.
Philip gives the best possible reply that anyone
sharing the mystery of their own faith can
give.
He doesn't say, wow, man, you've got to
really get rid of that attitude.
He just says this and he says this.
Come and see.
There it is again.
Now, Philip is mimicking what was told to
the other disciples previously.
So he's following Jesus in actually finding someone
else, because the text starts out in verse
forty three.
The next day, Jesus decided to go to
Galilee.
He found Philip.
Philip didn't find Jesus.
Jesus found Philip.
And so Philip changes the story a little
bit here.
Right.
He found Philip and said to him, follow
me.
And now Philip was from the city of
Andrew and Peter.
And then he said, OK, now here's what
it means to follow.
Philip found Nathaniel.
You see that Jesus immediately says, follow me.
And what's the next thing that he does?
He goes after someone else that, in fact,
is following Jesus.
That is following Jesus being found, following Jesus
and finding others.
That's following Jesus.
Just keep that in the being found, following
Jesus and finding others.
That's following Jesus.
And so Philip found Nathaniel and said to
him, we have found not exactly.
We were found by the one that we've
been looking for.
That's basically what happened.
Right.
We've been found by the one that Moses
in the law and also the prophets wrote,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, kind
of a double identity there still doesn't get
it completely right.
He is Jesus of Nazareth and he is
the adopted son of Joseph.
But he's not really from Nazareth originally in
his origins, right?
He's from the bosom of the father.
John has already told us that.
And he's the eternal word.
He's fully divine.
But that has to be figured out long
after the resurrection from the dead.
We all need to resurrect.
So the way we come to know Jesus
in his resurrected state is exactly the way
they came to know Jesus.
You know, their their time in the flesh
could have been a hindrance when Jesus showed
up in his resurrected his body because they
didn't get it on the road to Emmaus.
Right.
Twenty four.
Look, twenty four.
He's walking.
He's talking.
He's sharing the scriptures and their hearts burning
and they don't know who it is until
he disappears in the breaking of the bread.
They find out, oh, wow, he is known
in the breaking of the bread and then
he disappears.
We come to find him.
We come to know him in the same
manner, not in the flesh, but in the
spirit.
Come and see.
What does that mean?
If you come.
If you start moving toward that pulling.
Because no one can come to Jesus unless
they're being drawn, pulled, opened.
Right.
So as we come, we're placing ourselves in
a posture of receiving more of who he
truly is.
We're placing ourselves in a posture in coming
and receiving.
Right.
We begin to receive and then come and
see.
We begin to experience.
Seeing is experiencing his life.
Seeing is like that's metanoia.
That means repentance.
That means change your mind.
That means you've got a new mind when
you see you could never go back and
be happy in the dark.
I mean, it's just the testimony of a
Christian, a testimony of someone who has come
into the presence and they have seen is
that, oh, yeah, fall away.
They can, but they won't be happy sinners
anymore.
Right.
I know a lot of sad, sad sinners
who once followed Jesus and they're still in
their muddling confusion and they're not really happy.
They're still in their confusion, figuring out how
to make it on their own.
But once you know, right, you can never
go back and be happy.
That's coming and seeing and experiencing what the
embodiment, the embodiment of your longings.
The word make flesh.
Jesus is the embodiment of your longings.
Jesus is showing how to see others beyond
their smoke screens.
Does Jesus get offended?
I mean, do you think Jesus knew the
attitude that Nathaniel had when he walked up
at him?
I mean, can't you tell when, you know,
you're around someone and they're not really, really
happy to be in your presence?
Right.
You're east of Proust.
You know what I'm saying?
And Jesus doesn't really address that.
Says Nathaniel said to him, can anything good
come out of Nazareth?
Philip says, come and see.
Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said
to him, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom
there is no deceit, no guile.
Wow.
And so Jesus gets the upper hand by
not speaking to his false identity, this Nazareth
business.
Right.
All of that is his false identity and
a way of seeing and sizing people up.
And he had lived that way all of
his life.
Jesus is showing, by example, how to get
beyond this, how to get beyond the prejudice
of another person, how to look beyond the
racism, the rejection, the sizing up of another
person when they're in your midst and you
begin to call forth the treasure in their
lives.
And this is powerful, you guys.
This is walking in the spirit.
And we're not always good at it.
I'm not always good at this.
But man, this is what's going on.
And this is what Jesus is trying to
encourage us to be and do in the
midst of ridicule coming at us.
And the more faithful we become, the more
ridicule will come right through the culture who
is blind and feels like we're the ones
from Nazareth.
Right.
Orthodox Christians.
We're the ones from Nazareth.
Now, are we going to do the culture
war thing and start slinging back and start
quoting scriptures that will never work?
You guys.
Jesus is not doing that here.
Jesus speaks to the heart of that person
in the midst of the persecution, in the
midst of the war, in the midst of
the battle, you go like, let me tell
you who you are, beloved of God.
You know, let me tell you who you
are.
And Jesus says you're an Israelite.
That's the only word.
That's the only time Israelite is used in
John's gospel.
One time you're an Israelite in whom there
is no doubt.
What's he referring to?
Right.
He's referring to Jacob, who became Israel.
And Jacob means deceitful one.
OK, that's old Israel.
Now you're the new Israel.
You're an Israelite.
You're a corporate Jacob in whom there is
no doubt, no deceit.
Really, can you imagine having a name that
means deceitful coward?
No wonder.
I mean, being named Jacob, that's not that's
not a good deal.
I mean, you know, your life can't go
very well.
And it started in the womb.
Right.
He's grabbing on the heel of Esau.
He's living out his name.
And then his name gets changed.
Hallelujah.
And in a sense, becoming a Christian changes
our name and changes our character and changes
our outlook and perspective because of metanoia, because
of repentance, because of a changed, transformed mind
that is a continual life in Christ.
Right.
So Jesus appeals to the treasure, the logos,
the light inside that enlightens every heart.
John has already told us the light is
there.
The light is in every person.
Why?
Not because they prayed the prayer of salvation,
because they're created in the image and likeness
of God.
They can respond.
They can actually respond when we appeal to
that, when we appeal to the image of
God in them, not the marred, fallen image.
And when we start like fighting back and
pushing back and quoting Scripture at people and
arguing and fighting, we're appealing to the fallen
part.
We'll never win those battles, you guys.
That's why, you know, in my writings and
my preaching, I'm not big on just preaching
against stuff all the time.
And there's plenty of stuff to be against.
But that's not the way we do warfare
in your anger.
Do not sin.
Don't let the sun go down on your
anger.
Come in the opposite spirit of what's coming
at you.
Violence, anger, resentment, bitterness, all of these things
coming at us all the time throughout life.
Hopefully it's not on a weekly basis, but
we all experience these things if we live
long enough.
Jesus is showing us how to speak to
people who would ridicule us, speak to the
true self, the image of God in that
person.
And it may even be very, very difficult
to see.
That's why we need revelation.
That's why we need an epiphany.
An epiphany has taken place.
Something whole and complete has been disclosed in
a single glance to see and be seen
for Nathaniel is enough.
It's an example in the gospel of a
sudden awakening in Nathaniel's heart, a direct pointing
to reality, which some people think is only
associated, say, with Buddhism, right?
Enlightenment.
When we start using words like enlightenment, that's
a Christian word.
Paul used it and said, I pray that
your heart may be enlightened.
But here it is.
And then Jesus alluding subtly to Nathaniel's mention
of Israel promises that this is just the
beginning of a greater epiphany.
You're going to see greater things.
Nathaniel is an Israelite indeed, and Jesus points
to the key epiphany in the life of
Israel when he was still called Jacob, the
epiphany in which he saw the ladder connecting
heaven and earth.
Jesus says, and it's here's the literal translation
on men on men, you will see greater
things because I said to you, I saw
you under the fig tree.
Do you believe that you will see greater
things than these?
He said, man, I'm in truly, truly, I
say to you, but note here the word
you is not singular.
It's second person plural, which is speaking to
the audience is speaking to the readers.
John is wanting us to get this.
We, those who come and see right and
follow Jesus, we'll see greater things.
And what is that?
You plural will see heaven open.
What's already opened at the baptism of Jesus,
right?
This is the second epiphany of the heavens
opening and the angels of God ascending and
descending, not on a ladder, not on a
stairway to heaven, right?
Which Led Zeppelin has made a lot of
money off that image.
It's right out of Genesis 28, right?
We plunder the Egyptians and the Egyptians plunder
us, right?
Is that what that is?
Yeah.
We plunder the Egyptians.
They took all the gold and silver and
all of the jewels out of Egypt when
they went into the promised land, right?
The ladder that Jacob saw, it was a
prophetic image.
You see, he was dreaming it now.
Nathaniel is standing in front of it.
The ladder is an embodiment.
The ladder is the word made flesh.
The ladder is the one in becoming flesh
connected heaven and earth.
It's the flesh of Jesus now risen and
ascended that truly is this ladder that heals
the split between heaven and earth.
This is Christianity.
This is the message.
We've been united with the eternal.
We've been reunited with God.
We've been healed and are being healed.
That's for sure, because it's not over yet.
We're still in the wilderness awaiting the second
return of this uncreated light in embodiment form.
Jesus Christ, he is uncreated light coming after
us in a risen body, and we will
all simultaneously be raised from our graves.
And Jacob's ladder will have a lot of
dancing, ascending and descending upon the son of
man.
He will return with all the holy angels,
and he will come to greet us.
And it's one of those things that's better
than a fairy tale.
We'll live happily ever after.
We'll live eternally throughout the marriage supper of
the lamb.
We're going to live married to God, reunited
where God will be all in all.
That's new creation.
Blows your mind, right?
And so in this intimate exchange of Nathaniel.
Nathaniel has seen with his waking eyes what
his ancestor had only seen veiled in dream
and symbol.
And so as we close today, I would
say, let us lay aside.
What feeds and contributes to our spiritual blindness
so that we may come and we may
see and lay aside that can anything good
come out of that jaded as a sedia
of the soul.
And let us receive our true identity.
Anyone is in Christ.
He, she knew creation and learn once again
that daily our life in Christ is coming
and seeing.
And we have all the prayers in the
Psalms.
Send forth your light and truth.
Let it lead me.
The Lord is my light in my salvation.
God is light.
And in him, there is no darkness.
You are the light of the world.
In the name of the father and the
son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.