43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” - Matthew 2:1-12 The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
What do you think it would have been like to be one of the original Twelve disciples? What do you think it would have been like if Jesus Christ had come up to you personally, looked you straight in the eye and said:
"FOLLOW ME"
It happened to a couple of people in our text for today. And without further introduction, let’s work our way through it and see what lessons it contains for us…
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, "Follow Me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. This event took place at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and happens to be the last of four successive days we are told about by the inspired Gospel writer. During this four day period Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist and had gathered to Himself the first three of what would eventually be twelve disciples: John, Andrew and Peter. On the day of our text He is about to enlist two more.
The first of this new pair was Philip. Since they all shared the same home town, had Peter and Andrew seen Philip beforehand and alerted him to what was going on? We’re not told. All we know is that the Savior found Philip and invited him to follow Him. And he did…
Before we move on, there is something in this first verse that could easily escape our attention but is very significant, and also has deep application for each one of us. It is the fact that Jesus found Philip, and not the other way around. In other words, Jesus (who is true God) is the One who made the move toward Philip in establishing what would soon become a close spiritual relationship. Later in this Gospel, Jesus would tell all of His disciples that they did not choose Him, but rather He chose them. And it is the same for all of us who gladly call ourselves His modern day disciples. We did not choose Him; He chose us…
Someone who understood this quite well was 19th century English Christian Josiah Condor. He is the one who wrote the first hymn we sang today, verbalizing this truth in the following words:
Lord ‘tis not that I did choose you; That, I know, could never be,
For this heart would still refuse you, Had your grace not chosen me.
Practically speaking, think of what this means for our lives. Some of us – most of us – may never have been chosen to be valedictorian of our high school class or captain of the football team or head cheerleader or employee of the month or mother of the year, and consequently may have never received all the accompanying recognition that goes along with those things. In fact, just the reverse may be true for many of us. Some of us may have had the rather crushing experience of being the last one picked when choosing up sides or being the one who wasn’t invited to the party or the one who was passed over for a job promotion. Whereas the world celebrates the mover and the shaker and the great achiever, many of us would have to rank ourselves as being nothing other than average or ordinary.
But here’s the deal: With God there are no ordinary people. With God, we are the chosen ones. Think about this. Regardless of name, rank, serial number or native ability; regardless of whether we have a Ph.D. or a GED after our names; regardless of whether we’re living high or just scraping by – we have been chosen by God to be His own. Because of the redeeming work of His Son, to which He in His grace has called us to faith, we will someday live with Him forever in heaven. I guarantee that if we keep that bit of information in mind when we’re having a bad day or feeling rather ordinary, it will lift our spirits…
Back to the text. Philip has just been found by Christ and called to be His disciple. This sets up a small chain reaction. Listen to what happens next: Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "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." Philip doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. Although he’s got it backwards about who found whom, we’ll excuse him because he’s obviously excited to share the news. So he finds his friend Nathaniel, also known in the gospels as Bartholomew. As a believer who knew the Old Testament with all its Messianic prophecies, Philip had been led by God to the conviction that Jesus, who grew up in Nazareth and was known there as Joseph’s son, is more. He is the One whom Moses and the prophets had written about. He was the Savior. And Philip wanted Nathaniel to know what he knew.
His response: "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathaniel asked. It’s hard to tell whether Nathaniel is speaking negatively about Nazareth as a town or if he’s simply stunned that such a great thing could come out of a so unlikely a location. At any rate, Philip answers back the best possible way: "Come and see," said Philip…
Which is exactly what Nathaniel intended to do. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said to him, "Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false." On occasion in the Gospels Jesus will comment on the depth of a person’s faith or character. This is one of those occasions. Nathaniel was an honest, sincere and genuine Old Testament believer. At this particular moment, he is also a mystified honest, sincere and genuine Old Testament believer: "How do you know me?" Nathaniel asked. He’s probably wondering if Philip had spoken about him to the Lord. But this was not the case. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
Recognizing that only God could know this, and very moved to be in His presence… Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel" (meaning the long expected Messiah). Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." (The many and various types of miracles of Christ come to mind.) He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." What does Jesus mean with this last statement? He alludes to an incident that Nathaniel as a devout Old Testament believer would be quite familiar with…
According to Genesis chapter 28, Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the grandson of Abraham, resting one evening during his flight from his brother Esau, whom he had deceived, had a dream. He saw a ladder standing on earth with its top reaching to heaven. Ascending and descending upon it were angels, and at the top was God Himself. Within this dream God pronounced upon Jacob a series of blessings, which climaxed with the same promise given earlier to Jacob’s father and grandfather: "All people on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." This is a reference to the fact that the Savior of the World would come, according to His human nature, from the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – in other words, the Jewish nation.
With this as background, what Jesus appears to be saying is that He is the link between heaven and earth, the bond of union between God and man. He is the One who, through His sacrifice for the sins of the world, reconciles God to man. He is the One who brings heaven to the people of earth in the fact that He is God and brings the people of earth to heaven in the fact that He is the Savior. In time and through the eyes of faith the disciples will see Him in this light… just as we see Him in that light now.
So far the text. What are the practical lessons for us within it? Since the two principle people in this event (other than Jesus) are Philip and Nathaniel, let’s talk about what they can teach us regarding discipleship and following Jesus. We can center our thoughts on these two key words: CONFESSION and COMMITMENT.
In Philip we see a believer who confessed his faith to others. Chosen by Christ and led to know Jesus as the promised Savior, Philip was anxious to get the word out. The fact that he quickly sought out Nathaniel shows us his missionary spirit. So we can say that the life of following Christ is a life which understands the importance of confessing Christ to others…
How do we do that? Perhaps the most direct way is by doing what Philip did: Telling someone face to face about who and what Jesus Christ is for them. I would guess that some of you have had such opportunities. Perhaps you have also had the privilege and joy of watching the Gospel which came through your witness take root in another person’s heart and bloom forth in faith. But then again, maybe that’s not been the case for you. Maybe you have shared the message with seemingly little or no results. Then its important for us to remember that it is God, not us, who is responsible for results…
I would also guess that for some of us the thought of telling others about our faith is a pretty scary proposition. There is the fear that we really don’t know what to say or how to say it, and the nagging idea that something as important as the Gospel we surely don’t want to mess up. So we may say nothing, even if we are asked.
If that is the case, or if you’ve ever found yourself in that situation, allow me to make a couple of practical suggestions. Use the Apostle’s Creed as an outline. It is a beautiful and complete confession of faith that allows us to speak of the work of the Triune God. Or how about John 3:16? Most of us who have grown up in the church know that passage from memory. If someone asks us about what we believe, we could simply say, "I believe that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." And take it from there. The point: verbalizing our faith may not be nearly as hard as we sometimes think it is.
There are other ways to carry out the disciples’ life of confession. We confess our faith with our lives and our attitudes and the way we go about things. To this end, I believe I’ve shared this quote with you from St. Francis of Assisi, but it bears repeating. He is the one who said to his fellow Christians: "Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." Actions almost always speak louder than words. A life of committed discipleship through Bible study and prayer will result in naturally producing what Paul refers to in Galatians as "the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." And people notice that. Which may then lead them to ask why. And the answer to why is Jesus Christ.
Still another way in which we follow Christ and carry out the disciples’ life of commitment and confession is seeing to it that the Word gets spread to people and places that we can’t personally take it. We’re talking about home and world mission work. Let me give you a couple of illustrations…
Example one: Every Saturday afternoon since the beginning of November a group of people originally from China have been gathering in our school for recreation and fellowship. An hour of that afternoon is devoted to Bible study. An average of 30-40 people who grew up in land officially committed to atheism are hearing about the Bible and Jesus Christ. I ask that you support this ministry with your prayers and offerings.
Example two: Some of you know that I have a brother who is a missionary in Taiwan. I remember his early correspondence to family and friends and how he would describe the spiritual conditions over there in sad and moving terms. And then he’d ask us to pray for him. He’d say don’t pray that we won’t get homesick anymore or that we’ll stumble upon a good place to get an American cheeseburger; pray that the light of the Gospel might shine in a land of deep spiritual darkness. And so I ask you to pray for him and for all our missionaries. And I ask that you continue to support the work of the church at home and abroad even more generously than you already do, for its part of the privilege of discipleship. And at the core of following Jesus is getting the word out to others – just like Philip did…
At the beginning of this sermon I asked you to speculate on what it would be like if Christ looked into your eyes as He did to Philip and Nathaniel and asked us to follow Him. We are removed from that point in history by some 2000 years, yet Christ Jesus has called each of us to be His own in no less personal or dramatic fashion than He did those two. Through the waters of baptism He found us and brought us into His kingdom. Through Word and Sacrament He strengthens and sustains our faith. We are His disciples. To us, as to the two in our text, Jesus says, "Follow Me." And by God’s grace we have…
May we always continue along the path of committed and confessing discipleship, richly and daily giving honor to the One who died so we might live. And may our daily prayer be that God will use us more and more to carry out His purposes. Amen.