Come and See
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Intro
We’re going to wrap up chapter 1 of John’s gospel today.
Two weeks ago we saw that it is in God’s nature to make himself known.
Last week, we saw how John the witness joined in God’s mission by proclaiming him to others! Behold the LAMB OF GOD who takes away the sin of the world!
This week we will see theme progress one step further...
John's gospel emphasizes these themes of light and seeing. And in verses 35-51 this will become very clear in the repeated invitation to COME AND SEE.
But what does John mean by come and see? There are at least 3 things here that we can draw out of this invitation to come and see.
Let’s discover these 3 things by look at the text together. So, go ahead and grab your bibles and turn with me to John 1:35-51. If you don’t have a bible, you can use on of our pew bibles. You’ll find the passage on page _______. And if you don’t own a bible, feel free to bring a pew bible home with you as our gift to you!
Once you’re there, I invite you to stand with me if you are able out of respect for God’s Word and follow along with me as I read.
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). 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. 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.” 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.”
PRAY
Okay so 3 things that COME & SEE means...
Come & Think
Come & Think
The first time we encounter COME & SEE is after 2 of John’s disciples decide to follow Jesus and Jesus asks them, “What are you seeking?”
Now John the Baptist just told these two that Jesus is the Lamb of God and so naturally they are curious. They probably want to see if this is true. So, they respond with a question of their own, “Where are you staying?”
Meaning,…
We’d like to spend some time with you.
We’d like to observe you and see what your like.
Now notice that Jesus doesn’t immediately lay out the Apostle’s Creed and demand belief and obedience…NO! He says...
Come watch me.
Come get to know me.
Come see what I do, how I live, how I speak.
The next time we see the invitation to COME & SEE, Philip is telling Nathaniel about Jesus and Philip responds skeptically in verse 46. And it’s a valid question.
And Philip doesn’t say, “How dare you question the Messiah!?” — Get in line or go home!
NO! He says, let’s go find out — Let’s study it, Let’s learn the answer to that question.
Now Nathanial’s question is not the question of a modern day skeptic...
Today someone might ask, if there is an all powerful and loving God, then why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?
And these types of questions just cripple so many Christians. Or just the thought of being asked a question you don’t know the answer to keeps you from talking with others about Jesus.
But all you have to do is be a modern day Philip and say hey that is a great question let’s look into that — come and see — come and THINK!
Many skeptics accuse Christianity of being a blind faith kind of thing where you need to check your brain at the door. Well, that is NOT Jesus’ Christianity. He invites you to come and think.
But how do we do this? How you come and see today?
You examine the evidence by reading the gospel accounts.
But wait a minute someone might say! You can’t trust the bible! Those stories about Jesus have been so embellished over time that it’s impossible to know what’s really true or not!
Some will even claim that the gospels represent nothing more than ancient legends or myths.
But do you know how we can tell the gospels are not legends or myths? The evidence is right here in the details! There are many examples of this but there is one right here in our text. Look at verse 39...
So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. (which is 4 o’clock).
Any scholar of literature with tell you that ancient fiction NEVER included details like this. And the only fiction that does is modern fiction!
So, if the gospels are fiction then you would have to believe that someone in the 2nd century suddenly began writing using modern realistic narrative fiction centuries before anyone else would!
Or else you’d have to believe that some 1st century Jews who had been trained their entire lives to believe that God could never be a man, made this whole thing up with such elaborate detail and circulated these deliberate lies.
Then they go out and live such powerfully attractive lives that the entire Roman world is turned upside down!
And when faced with execution for their lies, they knowingly died for them!
IF they were lying, they had EVERYTHING to lose and NOTHING to gain by this — but they willingly died rather than recant their testimony!
The only other intellectually credible option is that the gospel writers were telling the truth about what they actually saw!
That’s the only explanation that makes sense of the rich details of their accounts!
There’s no middle ground. You can’t say with any intellectual integrity that Jesus was just a good man or a good moral teacher!
Either these are fraudulent lies or they are actual eyewitness accounts.
So, this is how you come and think — you immerse yourself in the eye witness accounts of the gospels!
This the invitation we put out to you recently with our Christianity Explored class on Sunday mornings at 9:30. It’s a course that will take you through Mark’s gospel and examines the message of Christianity.
It’s an invitation to come and think! To ask any questions you may have about Christianity! We’re in the middle of the course now but show up any way. And there will be offering a new cycle again soon.
Come Together
Come Together
The next thing that come and see means is to come Together!
This is so cool. Check this out!
In our text today. John the Baptist leads Andrew and another disciple to Jesus.
Then Andrew leads his brother Peter to Jesus.
Later Philip leads Nathanael to Jesus.
Remember what Philip says to Nathanael? He invites him to “COME AND SEE”.
This is an invitation to figure this out together!
Now there are always exceptions but the normal way so many people find Jesus is through a friend.
People find Jesus because they were found by a friend who already found Jesus!
So one of the best ways to invite some one to come and see Jesus, is to invite them to come and see Jesus with you!
But where is Jesus today so that we can know where to bring them? He is most clearly revealed in the eye witness testimonies of the New Testament.
It’s actually quite genius how John the writer uses this phrase COME AND SEE not just in a narrative way but also in a way that invites the reader of his gospel also to come and see!
And as we work through John’s gospel you will see how Jesus lives and what he says and does and you will see for yourself that he is the Lamb of God who takes away your sin!
One thing I want to encourage everyone of you to do is to pray about one friend you could invite to join you for our next cycle of Christianity Explored.
Because your friend is way more likely to come if they know you will be coming with them. Offer to pick them up or to meet them in the parking lot and walk in with them.
I know this may sound silly but it’s a big deal for someone who may have never set foot inside a church before. It can be intimidating to walk through the front doors by yourself for the first time!
Another way we can bring people to see Jesus is by inviting them to our weekly Sunday church gatherings! Jesus does call us His body! Let your friends meet Jesus through HIS body, the church, and see how we love and care for one another!
Let them see the gospel lived about among Christ’s people.
Let them hear Christ’s people sing rich gospel truths.
And you have my commitment as your pastor that on any given Sunday you may happen to have a friend with you, they will hear the Gospel preached here!
Or maybe your friend isn’t ready to commit to coming on a Sunday. Here’s an idea — Try bringing the church to them! Invite some of your church friends over for a BBQ or to go swimming in your pool. Then invite a friend or neighbor who needs Jesus too! Let them experience what it’s like to be around people who have already found Jesus!
And if you want to be a good friend who points others to Jesus, there are 3 things in our text that can help you help others find Jesus.
FIRST, Be patient
Notice how John the Baptist first proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world a day earlier in verse 29. But we’re not told of anyone immediately leaving to follow after Jesus...
Not until the next day when John repeats himself, again saying, behold, the Lamb of God! Then we’re told that only 2 of his disciples choose to follow Jesus. Only 2 of the many that were coming out to the wilderness to see John.
The point is this: who knows how many times you’re going to have to say to people “LOOK”, “Look at a Jesus” before any will decide to follow Him. So, we must have patience.
SECOND, Have Courage
I think that what happens to Philip is probably the worst nightmare for many of you! And this keeps you from telling others about Jesus.
Philip gets asked a question a tough question! And it’s a good question too! The Messiah was not prophesied to come from Nazareth but from Bethlehem. But neither Philip nor Nathanael were aware of the fact that while Jesus grew up in Nazareth, he was actually born in Bethlehem!
People today also have really good questions that are worth asking.
How do you get good at answering questions? You practice! You practice by having some actual real life conversations! And you will probably flounder a bit or more than a bit — but that’s how you get better — by practicing. And if you don’t put yourself out there you won’t get that valuable practice.
When the weather gets nice again, I hope to take some of you with me to a park or a college campus and just have some conversations. Not because I think it’s the best witnessing strategy but because I know of no other way to get valuable practice talking with people than by actually talking with people!
If you want to grow in this area, you’ve got to be willing and you’ve got to have courage!
THIRD, Show Confident Humility
Now look what Philip does when he gets a question he doesn’t know how to answer...
He doesn’t try to make something up that sounds right.
He doesn’t scold Nathanael for asking questions and demands blind faith.
He first exercises humility by dignifying Nathanael’s question by not shooting it down or dismissing it.
He then has confidence to invite Nathanael to come and see! Let’s go look into this together.
Come on an Adventure
Come on an Adventure
Now, there’s one more thing that COME AND SEE means...
Have you ever had an experience that you couldn’t describe to someone else using words? Maybe it was a mind blowing trick play in a football game and you yell to the other room, “quick, get in here and check out this replay!”
Or maybe it was a movie you saw or restaurant you ate at or a place you visited. And you say to someone, I don’t know how to describe this to you, you just have to see it or taste it, or experience it for yourself?
This is the third thing that come and see means. Come and see what an incredible adventure this is!
When Jesus calls people to come and see, He is calling you into an adventure that is too wonderful! It’s beyond your imagination!
To see this, look with me at verse 47. Jesus says of Nathanael, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!
When Jesus says this he is saying something about Nathanael’s character. The word translated as NO DECEIT is a word that means he’s a straight shooter, someone who tells it like it is.
Then Nathanael asks Jesus how he knows him. And Jesus’ response is basically, You have no idea how well I know you — I saw you under the fig tree. And this blows Nathanael away and immediately calls Jesus the Son of God, the King of Israel!
Now this is an interesting thing because no one really knows what this means and it’s easy to get hung up on trying to figure out what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. But this misses the point.
And by the way this is just more evidence that this is an actual eyewitness account because we should expect to come upon things that we don’t understand because we weren’t there.
Now back to the point of this. The point is that whatever Nathanael was doing it was something so private that no human being could possibly know it! And Nathanael is confronted with someone who doesn’t just know his personality but who knows him completely inside and out!
Then Jesus basically says to Nathanael, if this blows your mind, buckle up my friend for the adventure of a lifetime! You are going to see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
Now to understand what this is all about you need to know about this really interesting story from the life of Jacob in Genesis 28… Jacob is on run from his angry brother Esau after stealing his birthright.
And he comes to a place to rest for the night and he has this wild dream about a ladder that touched earth at the bottom and on the other end it touched heaven. And on this ladder were angels ascending and descending on this ladder!
Jacob sees a picture of how heaven touches earth and how a way can be opened to break out of our earthly reality and reach heaven.
Now here’s Jesus telling Nathanael that that wasn’t just a crazy dream — a result of eating too many tacos the night before…NO! That was a promise. And I am the ladder!...
If you come with me Nathanael, I will take you on an adventure that breaks through this earthly reality and will bring you to the very throne in heaven!
And this is the adventure that Jesus calls everyone to! But how do you sign up for this adventure?
You might think you can get in on this adventure by...
Changing the way you live your life and obeying what the Bible says.
Or by committing to study the bible seriously.
Or promising to tell others about Jesus.
But thinking like this misses the point of what Jesus is saying. Jesus isn’t saying, “I’m up here guys, I’ll let down this ladder and all you have to do is climb up — if you try really hard you can make it!
In Psalm 24:3-4 it says...
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
The problem with thinking we can climb this ladder and ascend to the LORD is that NO ONE HERE has clean hands and a pure heart. ONLY Jesus fits this description!
Now look closely at what Jesus says in verse 51. He doesn’t say that the angels are ascending TO the Son of Man but ON the Son of Man!
Jesus isn’t saying TRY YOUR BEST, he’s saying, I’M THE LADDER…GET ON AND I’LL TAKE YOU THERE! I came down from heaven so that I could bring you there myself.
And as Nathanael and the other disciples follow Jesus on this adventure that will unfold as we move through the rest of John’s Gospel, they are going to get a front row seat and give eyewitness testimony of how...
Jesus lived a perfect life a life that we have all failed to live.
And how Jesus would die a death on the cross that should have been ours.
And how 3 days later he rose from the grave in victory over death itself.
All this to pay for and forgive our sins.
And if you believe this and trust all that Jesus has done for you then he will bring you to God on the adventure of your life!
Conclusion
The invitation is clear — come and see and be astounded by his grace. Come and think — and come with others on an adventure beyond your wildest dreams!
PRAY
BENEDICTION
If you’re here today and you want in on the adventure of a lifetime you’ve got to let go of any adventure of your own making without Jesus and trust his life, death, and resurrection to forgive your sin and to bring you to God himself.
Fishkill Baptist Church, the fields of our community are white for the harvest — who will you invite to come and see Jesus?
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25