COME AND SEE!
Rev. Bernt P. Tweit
Epistle Lesson;
Acts 2:22-41
Old Testament Lesson;
1 Chronicles 16:23-34
Sermon Text;
John 1:43-50
How many of you have ever been to the Grand Canyon before? For those of you who have not been to the Grand Canyon, (like myself), at least we have seen pictures of the Grand Canyon’s greatness. And, we may have even seen clips on TV of what the Grand Canyon is like. But for those of you who have been there, you would say that those pictures, and what you may have seen on TV, can’t even come close to expressing the greatness and the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon.
With that in mind, I want to tell you about a visit I had with one of my shut-ins, within the last few weeks. While I was there, her son was there, too. He had recently gotten back from a trip out west. Part of his trip was to see the Grand Canyon. He asked me, "Pastor Tweit, have you been to the Grand Canyon, before?"
I told him that I hadn’t.
He said, "You gotta see it! You gotta take your wife. You gotta take your two children. You gotta see the Grand Canyon! It is awesome! It is great!"
It is with that same excitement that Phillip sought out a friend of his, Nathanael. He wanted to tell him about someone he had to come and see! You see, in those days the people were waiting for the fulfillment of the promise that God had given, the promise of the Coming Messiah. The Messiah had come. The Messiah had started calling disciples to go out with Him, to learn from Him, and to tell other people about Him.
1. Come and See Jesus Who Fulfills Scripture
It was in the days of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was already starting to point people to Jesus. He was saying things like, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Some of John the Baptist’s disciples were becoming Jesus’ disciples. People like Peter, and Andrew. People like James and John.
Now we come to our text, for today. Jesus calls Phillip to be His disciple. He simply says, "Follow me."
Well, Phillip was so excited about seeing the Messiah that he ran to one of his friends, Nathanael, and said, "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."
One of the things that Moses had written about in the Old Testament was in Deuteronomy 18:15, where he said, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers." There, Moses was saying that someone from among us is going to come, who is the Messiah. He is going to be the One who is going to deliver us from our sin. And, that person is Jesus of Nazareth.
It was common knowledge among the people in Jesus’ day, that Jesus would be from Nazareth, and that He would grow up and live there. And, even though it is not recorded in the Old Testament, it is recorded for us in the New Testament.
After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took Jesus down to Egypt for fear that Herod would kill Him. After Herod died, scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Nazareth. And, that was to fulfill what was said, through the prophets, that Jesus would be a Nazarene.
It was also Pontius Pilate, who knew Jesus of Nazareth. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, Pilot had a sign that was made. It hung above Jesus’ head. It read, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews."
In the early New Testament Church, it was Jesus who had given His disciples the power to heal in His name. Peter healed a crippled man, and he was brought before the Sanhedrin, almost like on trial. One of the things that Peter said was, "We were given the power to do this, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. That is the reason that this man stands before you healed." Then he went on to say, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name, under Heaven given to men, by which we must be saved. The name by which we are saved is Jesus Christ of Nazareth."
Notice Nathaniel’s response, when Phillip 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."
Nathaniel said, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?"
You can see the dislike there, that the Galileans had for the people from Nazareth. Maybe a very similar dislike some Wisconsinites have for the people who surround its border - the people from Illinois, Iowa, or Minnesota.
But notice what Phillip says. He doesn’t get into an argument with Nathaniel. He doesn’t shy away from the statement that he just said. He doesn’t throw in the towel. But rather, he says, "Come and see."
2. Come and See Jesus Who Reads Our Hearts
Nathaniel accepted the invitation. He came and saw Jesus. And, he saw for himself how Jesus could read his own heart! Before Nathaniel could even ask Jesus if He was the one who fulfilled the Old Testament scriptures, Jesus said, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." (Jesus was calling Nathanael a true believer there.)
Nathanael wondered how Jesus knew him, and asked, "How do you know me?"
Jesus told him, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Phillip called you."
Jesus revealed that He could read Nathaniel’s heart. That really makes me scared this morning. As we come here to worship, we come and see that Jesus can read our hearts. That makes me very scared, because as I come here this morning (and as you come here this morning) we come laden with sin. Jesus can read our hearts.
He knows when we lie.
He knows when we cheat.
He knows when we have hatred in our hearts.
He knows when we curse and
He knows when we swear.
He knows that we are sinners.
Scripture says,
"The one who sins is the one who will die."
That makes me scared this morning. I know that I am a sinner and I know that you are a sinner. And, because of our sin, we are going to die.
Jesus can read our hearts. He knows what is in our hearts. It is also very comforting for me today to know that Jesus knows our hearts, and Jesus reads our hearts. He is omniscient. He is all-knowing. He also sees the faith that the Holy Spirit has planted in our hearts.
It is comforting to know
Jesus Christ came into this world
to save us,
who are sinners.
That is the very reason why John, the Gospel writer, wrote what he did in our text for today. That is the very reason why he wrote everything that he recorded in his book. Later on he wrote,
"These are written that
you may believe
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
And that by believing,
you may have life in His name."
You may have life in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who came to forgive us of our sin.
3. Come and See Jesus Who Brings Us Heaven.
In our text for today, it was Jesus who said to Nathaniel, "You believe because I told you that I saw you before I knew you. But you are going to see even greater things than this."
You are going to see greater things than that.
You are going to see greater things than changing water into wine, like Jesus did in His first miracle at the wedding at Cana.
You are going to see greater things than me feeding 5,000 people with some fish and some bread.
You are going to see greater things than me raising my friend Lazarus from the grave, because I am going to raise myself from the grave.
And, Jesus did that on Easter Morning!
Come and see. That was the very simple invitation that Phillip gave to Nathaniel. Come and see Jesus. We also have that same wonderful opportunity to share with other people what God has done for us. Now the people that we may tell are not Nathaniel. The people that we may bring this news to is someone different. Who is the person that we can tell? Maybe it is a spouse, or a child, a brother or a sister, a friend or a relative, a coworker. We have the wonderful opportunity to share with others what God has done for us.
A few weeks ago I went to visit a shut in. And it was while I was there the shut-in’s son was so excited about sharing with me the Grand Canyon that he had just gone to see. With such excitement he said, "You gotta! You gotta bring your wife and kids there! You gotta see this great and awesome thing known as the Grand Canyon!" It is with that very same excitement that we can share with other people, the theme that we have for this year, "Come and see what God has done". It is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who has been revealed to us, the One who has fulfilled scripture. He is the One who can read our hearts. And, how comforting it is that He is the One who has saved us. Now come and see Jesus of Nazareth, who brings us to Heaven.
Amen.
Top of Page
|| Church Sermons || Return to Home Page