You Will See

Reference

John 1:43-51

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. Read John 1:43-51. What questions do you have?
2. If God can "let light shine out of darkness" and heal our blindness (2 Cor 4:4-6), why do some people's conversions look like Philip's and others like Nathanael (or Jacob)?
3. Nathanael’s skepticism about Nazareth shows that he had preconceived notions that nearly kept him from believing. What are some common obstacles today that keep people from faith in Christ?
4. Philip doesn’t argue with Nathanael but simply says, Come and see. How can we apply this approach when talking to others about Jesus?
5. Why does God hide? Isa 45:15

Towards the end of his life, the famous British intellectual and agnostic, Bertrand Russell, gave an interview to an American journalist, Leo Rosten. When asked if, after his death, he was brought before the Lord and shown that he was wrong on his rejection of God, what would he say?

‘Sir, why did you not give me better evidence?’

Russell, who died in 1970, may be the most emblematic figure of 20th century skepticism: a disinterested rejection of tradition, sensationalism, and the miraculous. His agnosticism became a hallmark of what eventually became known as “analytic philosophy,” a broad tradition of logical, rigorous, and academic philosophy that Russell helped begin.

Larry Sanger, the founder of Wikipedia, was formally trained in this school of philosophy. He grew up in the Lutheran church, but lost his faith as a teenager, and spent the rest of his adult life in a state of disciplined skepticism. Like his forbearer, Russell, Sanger believed that there was simply not enough evidence to warrant belief in a god, certainly not the God of the Bible. That is, until this week, when he posted a lengthy essay detailing his conversion to Christianity. In it, he details with admirable specificity his journey from hardened unbelief, to softened skepticism, to curious questioner, to unlikely believer. It is a journey that spans decades and involves a mixture of sophisticated arguments and inexplicable shifts in prejudices and growing respect for Christianity in contrast with the fruits of secularism. What was most decisive for Sanger, however, was when he seriously began to study the Bible:

“When I really sought to understand it, I found the Bible far more interesting and—to my shock and consternation—coherent than I was expecting. I looked up answers to all my critical questions, thinking that perhaps others had not thought of issues I saw. I was wrong. Not only had they thought of all the issues, and more that I had not thought of, they had well-worked-out positions about them. I did not believe their answers, which sometimes struck me as contrived or unlikely. But often, they were shockingly plausible. The Bible could sustain interrogation; who knew? It slowly dawned on me that I was acquainting myself with the two-thousand-year-old tradition of theology. I found myself positively ashamed to realize that, despite having a Ph.D. in philosophy, I had never really understood what theology even is.”

Sanger’s story is fascinating for so many reasons. It seems to fall in line with a recent trend of prominent, highly educated skeptics who have become Christians. It demonstrates the intellectual resources and durability available in the Christian tradition, the power of God’s Word, and the failure of secular progressivism to build a satisfying worldview. But it also shows us the many different paths people can take to arrive at belief in God.

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43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 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.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 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.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 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.” 51 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.” - John 1:43-51

Immediate belief, Questioning belief, Wrestling belief

Immediate Belief

Jesus travels to Galilee (presumable from Bethany, see vs. 28), and there he finds Philip. Without any further explanation or context, John records Jesus summon Philip with two words: Follow me. In vs. 44 we are told that Philip was from the same city as Andrew and Peter (Bethsaida), so perhaps Philip saw these two with Jesus, maybe there were further conversations that John just didn’t record—we can’t be sure. When Philip finds Nathanael, he reveals that he has had some additional information given to him. He knows that Jesus is the one “whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote” of, He is “of Nazareth,” and He is, “the son of Joseph.” So, there obviously were more conversations that take place off the screen.

But that’s exactly it—any further information Philip gains happens off screen. We are only told about these additional data points about Jesus because it sets the scene for the far more incredulous Nathanael. So, the question we want to ask is: Why? Why is Philip’s interaction with Jesus so condensed?

The way the story reads for us, it would appear that Jesus can galvanize faith with the merest of words, with the most enigmatic of statements: Follow me. No explanation. No evidence. No identity revealing paragraphs to follow. No warnings about what following entails. Philip is simply confronted with the person of Jesus, hear’s His words—only two of them!—and believes. We could say that there are some people who have a capacity to see Jesus for who He is, immediately, those who posses just remarkable faith.

Or, we could say, that there are those to whom Jesus chooses to disclose special, potent forms of revelation.

It may seem like a strange comparison, but think of how demons react to Jesus throughout the synoptic gospels. Immediately upon seeing Him, they know that He is the son of God (cf. Mark 5:6-7). But, of course, for the demons seeing Jesus for who He is is torture; they hate Him. The way a criminal on the run may be able to quickly suspect that the man next in the grocery line is actually a police officer, the demons have powers of perception that few have because they dread meeting their Judge.

Philip doesn’t dread meeting Jesus. He willingly follows Him, trusts in Him, submits to Him. And while his faith is likely mixed with much imperfection at this point, he will eventually be willing to give everything up to follow Him. How did he get such faith? Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthian church

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. - 2 Cor 4:4, 6

The problem: Satan has blinded our minds. The remedy: God can overcome blindness.

Questioning Belief

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” - John 1:46a

Nathanael doesn’t have the same immediate reception that Philip has. What does Nathanael know? We can’t be certain precisely of what his prejudice against Nazareth is. It could just be that Nazareth is a small, po-dunk town, and (like us today) people tend to assume that important people come from important places. If you found out that the next supreme court justice came from Finley, you would likely be surprised. But, later we learn that Nathanael is from Cana, another small village only a few miles away from Nazareth (John 21:2), so he may be surprised but probably not offended by the idea.

It could be that Nathanael simply knows that promised Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah foretold (Mic 5:2). But, Nathanael doesn’t say that, his comment is more about how negative Nazareth is: Can anything good come from Nazareth?

So, we are left to conjecture at this point. Perhaps there was a rivalry between the two towns? Perhaps Nazareth had a particularly negative reputation for housing scoundrels? Maybe there was some tribal hostilities that generated prejudice, maybe Nathanael had personally experienced some form of maltreatment at the hands of Nazarenes that created his low esteem of the village? We do not know.

But here is what we do know: Jesus could have chosen anywhere to make his home. But He chose Nazareth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah foretold. But when He was a young child, He returned with Joseph and Mary to Nazareth and spent most of His life there. Nowhere in the gospels does Jesus go out of His way to defend His status as the Messiah by clearing up the confusion about His origin of birth. And we will see other instances in the gospel of John that this misunderstanding causes many people to remain skeptical of Jesus being the Messiah (John 7:41-52).

Why is Jesus not eager to clear up misunderstandings? Pay attention to this as you read the gospels, and especially as you read John: Jesus will at times intentionally speak in obscure ways, do unexpected things, almost as if He were trying to throw people off the trail. If Jesus’ disciples would have been able to put together a press conference with the largest, most important platforms of the day, Jesus would have likely not shown up because He was busy talking with normal people.

In reflecting on the question of why God seems to hide, Blaise Pascal reflects on Isaiah 45:15, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself,” and writes: “God wishes to move the will rather than the mind. Perfect clarity would help the mind and harm the will. Humble their pride.,” (Pensees, 234).

Soren Kierkagaard once wondered how people would have responded to Jesus if he were six yards tall, rather than six feet. In other words, what would it have been like if Jesus’ divine identity was visually unavoidable, if there were no obscurity whatsoever. Would that have benefitted people? Pascal says, “No.” Perfect clarity would help the mind, but harm the will. There must be something beneficial for our souls to step for there to be some level of obscurity that raises questions in us, yet still leaning toward in faith. Pascal believes it is only this way that pride—the mother of all sin—is humbled.

When Larry Sanger was a teenager and began questioning his faith, he called up a local pastor to ask him questions. The pastor was dismissive and condescending, refusing to answer many of the young man’s questions and made it appear as if questioning had no place in the Christian faith. After becoming a Christian, Sanger looked back at this moment as a major catalyst in harming his childlike faith and pushing him into unbelief: if this religion cannot bear up under the questions of a teenager, then perhaps it is only a religion for the naive. Yet, at the end of his intellectual wrestlings with God, Sanger concedes that faith involved more than raw intellectualism:

“Throughout that spring, I was very uncomfortable because I knew that accepting the proposition that God exists was tantamount to rejecting methodological skepticism. I knew (and still admit) that what rational reasons I had to believe did not rise to the level of rigorous proof. I frankly wondered if what I was doing was irrational. What was I doing?” (Sanger)

While Christianity cannot be reduced to rationalism, it is by no means irrational. When Nathanael’s suspicions are raised, he is met with this reply from Philip: “Come and see.” (John 1:46b). And, as we observed last week, these words (significantly) are the very words of Christ, utter just the day before by Christ to two other enquirers (John 1:39).

Philip is following His new rabbi, becoming like Christ. And to anyone who wants to ask questions, raise doubts, voice suspicions, the Christian’s reply is not: don’t ask questions. The reply is, come and see. Bring your questions, your doubts, your uncertainties, Jesus can handle them. Parents, this is a good lesson for us. We need to walk a balance with our children of emphasizing the role of faith and the freedom to bring questions up when we have them. That is hard to do—it will require you to cultivate an environment in your home that is marked by honest submission to Scripture. Honest, in that you acknowledge what your own questions and wrestlings are, and submission in that God’s Word remains your final authority.

Wrestling Belief

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 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.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” - John 1:47-49

This interaction seems strange. Why does Jesus make the proclamation he does in vs. 47? Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!

Nathanael is equally puzzled. How do you know me?

Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

And this produces a remarkable transformation in Nathanael. Immediately, his prejudices about Nazareth drop. Rabbi, you are the son of God! You are the king of Israel!

Why did Nathanael believe so suddenly? Jesus seems to be revealing that He has supernatural knowledge: He knows what kind of person Nathanael is, He can even tell Nathanael what he was doing prior to Philip summoning Him.

But one still wonders why Nathanael responds so extremely. If I were to see you and say: Here’s an honest guy! And then tell you what you had been doing earlier this day, you’d probably be impressed, but likely not believe me to be the Son of God. What’s going on? Well, part of it surely must have to do with Philip’s conversation with Nathanael that we don’t have recorded. Some of it may also be the culture of the time—if I told you what you were doing earlier today, you’d likely assume I used some technology just to spy on you, that wasn’t an option then. Or it may have something to do with what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Maybe he was praying. Maybe he was having some kind of existential crisis. Maybe he was facing some serious temptation.

Or…maybe there is something unique about Jesus that simply summons belief from us?

50 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.” 51 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.” - John 1:50-51

Jesus draws attention to the sudden conversion of Nathanael: was it so simple for you, Nathanael? You will see greater things. And Jesus utters His first “truly, truly” statement in John: Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

What does that mean? Well this seemingly strange passage tells us something about Jesus and something about us:

Jesus

The title “Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite title to use for Himself. It literally means “human being” but is connected by Jesus to a figure in the book of Daniel, who, after defeating the hell-ish beasts that symbolize the demonic-infused powers of the world, is seated at the right hand of God, and receives worship from all peoples, nations, and languages (Dan 7:13-14). So, in Daniel, the son of man is clearly a human, yet He is treated like the Ancient of Days—heaven and earth, together. At Jesus’ trial, He tells the accusers: “from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven,” (Matt 26:64)

Jesus is the son of man*.* He is a man, raised in Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary; yet He is so much more. He is the son of God, the eternally begotten—not made—of the Father, who sits at His right hand. He is where heaven and earth join together. Veiled in flesh, the godhead see; Hail incarnate deity. This is why Jesus has such a peculiar effect on people. He can summon belief in a few words. Demons, who had been buried deep in people, cry out. He knows what you are like because He has seen you. And it is also why some people immediately dislike Jesus.

But perhaps the most interesting disclosure we find in this section is what it tells us about ourselves. If you are an astute Bible reader, you may have picked up on the allusion that Jesus makes here to one of the patriarchs of Israel—the man, in fact, who bears the name Israel. But, not at first. At first, his name is Jacob. He is given that name because when he and his twin, Esau, are born, Jacob comes out grasping his brother’s heel, so his name is means, “he takes by the heel,” or “he cheats, or deceives.” And cheating and deception do mark Jacob. Twice he deceives his twin brother, so that he cheats him out of his birthright and his father’s blessings and inheritance (Gen 25:29-34; 27:1-41), so that Esau cries out: “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times,” (Gen 27:36). Jacob is a bad person, a deceitful person, and mysteriously, greatly loved by God.

As soon as Esau finds out what Jacob has done, Jacob flees for his life because Esau is intent on killing him. And as Jacob flees, he falls asleep:

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” - Gen 28:12-17

Jesus identifies Himself as the bridge between heaven and earth, but the character of Jacob is so fascinating for us to consider. There are people who immediately believe without reservations; there are people who have many more questions and doubts; and then, there are just bad people, like Jacob. Jacob’s resistance to faith wasn’t intellectual, it was moral. He was resistant because he just wanted to do what he wanted to do.

Yet, later, Jacob’s name is changed. Years go by, and Jacob has begun to reap the consequences of his sin. He now is going to have to face his brother Esau, and he is certain that Esau will kill him, and he knows that he would have right to. Jacob is humbled, he is scared, and he realizes that he has been wrong. He sends his family away and is left alone the night before faces his brother:

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” - Gen 32:24-28

God changes Jacobs into Israel.

God changes Simons into Peters.

Did you catch what Jesus said when he addresses Nathanael? *Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit—*an Israel in whom there is no Jacob. That's what you are and that's what God can say to each one of us in Christ if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ. You can be an Israel in whom there is no Jacob. You can be a new person. Though you are a deceiver God can change you; He can transform you and you may have reservations and doubts and questions…you may be a bad person. But God can take your sin; he took Jacob's, he can take yours, he can take mine and he can pronounce a new name over us and he can change us.

All through the Gospel of John, John uses the metaphor of sight to refer to belief. You may have even noticed it already: there's a way you see Jesus, and there's a way you see him. The invitation is to come and see. I think this is another connection to the Jacob story. Jacob's grandfather Abraham sinned and he broke the Covenant by going to Hagar rather than Sarah and Hagar fled because Sarah wants to kill her after she conceives and she's lost, alone in the desert and God sees her. Here's what Hagar says: “She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her “You are a God of seeing” for she said “Truly I have seen him who looks after me,” (Gen 16:13). I've seen God. What does Jacob say after he wrestles with God? “Jacob called the name of that place Peniel [which means the face of God], saying, “I have seen God face to face yet my life has been delivered,” (Gen 32:20).

Nathaniel was invited to come and see, and what does Jesus say to him? “Do you believe because I said I saw you under the tree? You will see greater things…”

Jesus invites us in to see Him and just like Hagar said I've seen You but You've seen me…You are a god of seeing, so too is Nathanael invited to come and see Jesus, and Jesus tells Nathanael: *I saw you under the fig tree—*I think that's why that nail sinks in so deeply for Nathanael.