GOD KEEPS KNOCKING - by Rev Gilbert Wong

Sermon Text: John 1:43-51

15 January 2006, The Second Sunday after Epiphany

Opening Prayer:

God of glory, please nourish us with your Word and fill us with your Holy Spirit that through us the light of your glory may shine in all the world.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

SERMON IN A SENTENCE: God keeps calling us to better things.

The hymn, "Be Thou My Vision," has its origins almost fifteen hundred years ago in Ireland.  We don't know the author's name, but it is meaning of his or her words is still clear today.  The hymn is a prayer -- a prayer that Christ will be our vision -- our best thought -- our presence -- our light.

What would it mean if Christ were our vision?  How would it change our lives? 

It would mean simply this -- that instead of seeing the world through the eyes of an advertising agent or a Hollywood movie or a television newscaster, we would see the world through Christ's eyes. 

It would change our lives, because seeing the world through Christ's eyes would cause us to love as Christ loved.  It would cause us to focus less on getting the things that we want and more on giving what we can to help others.  It would cause us to care less about other people's opinions and more about the direction that God would have our lives to take. 

In some ways it would complicate our lives, because we could no longer be as focused on the things that the world considers important -- more money, bigger houses, more prestigious cars.  But in other ways it would simplify our lives, because it would allow us to stop striving for ever-larger piles of things and would allow us to focus on spiritual values.  People who have come to see the world through Christ's eyes tend to be centred -- less troubled than most -- strong with a strength that comes from God.

The Gospel reading today (vv. 43-51), deals with the gathering of the disciples. I concentrate on Nathanael because we can learn two important lessons from his encounter with Jesus.

First, in Nathanael we have a major example of a model disciple.

And if we pay careful attention to him, we will gain valuable insights into understanding the reactions to Jesus.  Let us examine these verses a little more.  The section begins with the calling of Philip. The main point to notice is precisely that now Jesus does call someone to follow him, unlike the first disciples' having taken initiative themselves. Andrew found Simon (v. 41), and now Jesus finds Philip (v. 43). Philip also goes to find another person to tell about Jesus (v. 45), which suggests that such sharing is a characteristic of the disciples. Many sermons on missions and evangelism have rightly been based on these passages: for us to find and share the divine presence found in Jesus is to take part in the Jesus’ own mission to the world.

Philip tells Nathanael about Jesus. Nathanael is a model disciple because he stands in striking contrast with the picture of the opponents that will emerge. Nathanael reacts to Jesus initially when he says, Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? (v. 46). That is, for Nathanael, Jesus' origin raises doubts whether he could be the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote (v. 45), just as it will later for the Jewish opponents (7:41-42, 52).

The reason Nathanael has trouble with Jesus' coming from Nazareth is likely because the Messiah was not expected to be associated with Nazareth. Nathanael's question is usually understood as a negative one that something good could ever come from Nazareth (Westcott 1908:1:55). It is probably neither entirely negative nor positive but simply a genuine question, expressing his doubts. He has reason to question whether Jesus is the one promised, but he is open to the possibility that Jesus is, as his subsequent action and confession show.

Both Nathanael and Jesus' opponents begin by questioning Jesus' identity on the basis of his origin, but unlike Jesus’ opponents Nathanael ends by confessing Jesus and being promised greater revelation. The reason for the difference must surely lie in the fact that Nathanael is a true Israelite, in whom is nothing false (1:47). This designation, true Israelite, marks Nathanael as a genuine member of the people of God, unlike "the Jews," who consider themselves such but are not. Nathanael accepts Jesus despite his scepticism and thereby shows that he is a member of the people of God. In contrast with the opponents--whose rejection is traced to their relationship to the devil, in whom there is no truth (8:44)--Nathanael is described as one in whom there is nothing false (1:47). This does not mean that he has no wrong beliefs, as the word false in the NIV might suggest. Rather, the word dolos suggests a more fundamental internal disposition in which there is no deceit. He is honest and clear-sighted, his eye is single (cf. Lk 11:34 RSV), he has a clear conscience (cf. 2 Tim 1:3). He is the sort who seeks God before all else. No one is without falseness within, but there are those who nevertheless desire truth before anything. Most of us must be pruned for years before we approach such single-hearted desire for God. Mercifully God accepts us before we even begin to desire him, and by his grace he undertakes the purging of all our duplicity and deceitfulness.

So that which distinguishes Nathanael from the opponents is a clear heart in which there is no deceit and a humble docility that is open to God, willing to come and see (1:46). The "seeing" involved here is not just physical sight--the opponents also had that. A favourite term of the Gospel writer's, "seeing" means being insightful, grasping the revelation that is present. Indeed, Jesus' own identity is revealed here by his ability to see. Nathanael accepts that Jesus has seen into his heart (vv. 47-48) and has seen him from afar (v. 48b), and this confirms the accuracy of Philip's claim to have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote (v. 45).

Second, in Nathanael’s true confession, he is led to deeper truth (v. 49).

Jesus concludes by pointing his disciples to the deeper significance of these titles when he promises that his disciples will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (v. 51).  In a word, Jesus is telling his followers that they had to grow in their understanding of who he really is.

Let us look a little deeper into these verses.  The reference to Moses and the prophets (v. 45) suggests the titles Nathanael uses for Jesus are messianic. One popularly held expectation of the Messiah was that he would be a king in the line of David (for example, 2 Sam 7:12-16;cf. Rengstorf 1976:335-37; Michel 1978:648-51). The title Son of God could be understood in this way, as when in the Old Testament the king is called God's son (for example, Ps 2:6-7; cf. Michel 1978:636-37). Thus, in calling Jesus the Son of God and the King of Israel (Jn 1:49) Nathanael is the true Israelite acknowledging his King. This view of Jesus is right, as Jesus acknowledges when he affirms that Nathanael believes (1:50), but it is far short of the deep truth expressed by these titles. Jesus is truly King, but his kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36). He is indeed the Son of God, but in a sense far beyond anything expected by Moses and the prophets. Each of Jesus' titles affirmed in this chapter is true, so the disciples have glimpsed something of Jesus' identity. But much purging of error and further illumination will be necessary before they truly grasp what they are saying.

So Nathanael has a correct though limited understanding of who Jesus is, just as we will see that the opponents have a correct though limited view in their acknowledgment that Jesus is a teacher come from God (Jn 3:2). The opponents will continue to question (3:4, 9) whereas Nathanael, instead, wholeheartedly accepts and confesses. Nathanael is promised further enlightenment and is represented as receiving it, for he is one of the disciples who meets Jesus after the resurrection (21:2). But the opponents, on the other hand, go from questioning to antagonism to violent hostility.

At the end of this section Jesus--introduced as one who comes on the scene, moving silently past, and then shown as one who has extraordinary knowledge and authority--makes an amazing claim: I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (v. 51). Jesus is speaking to Nathanael, but the verbs he uses are in the plural, so this is intended for the rest of the disciples also. The allusion is clearly to Jacob's vision (Gen 28:12). The picture could be of Jesus as the ladder upon which the angels are moving, but no ladder is mentioned. It is more likely that he is on earth as a new Jacob. Thus the King of Israel, acknowledged by the true Israelite, turns out to be the fulfilment of Israel (Jacob) himself.

Here, as elsewhere in this first chapter, we have a vague reference to that which will become clear in what follows: in this case, the fact that Jesus fulfils and thus replaces the revelation to Israel (cf. 1:17-18). He is in truth greater than Jacob (Jn 4:12), for he is the real Jacob-Israel, the locus and source of the real people of God (cf. Dodd 1953:244-46; Kim 1985:82-86). It also means that "Jesus as Son of Man has become the locus of divine glory, the point of contact between heaven and earth. The disciples are promised figuratively that they will come to see this; and indeed, at Cana they do see his glory" (Brown 1966:91). Jacob's exclamation that "This in none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven" (Gen 28:17) is fulfilled in Jesus, who is himself the temple (Jn 2:19-21) and the gate (Jn 10:7). But there is no literal vision of angels later in the story such as is mentioned in this verse. Rather, this verse is the clue to the significance of everything that follows in the Gospel (Dodd 1953:294). Specifically, the promise here is that they will recognize who Jesus really is and thereby see God, for John uses the term Son of Man to speak of Jesus' deity manifested in humanity (cf. comments on 3:13-14; 5:27). This promise is fulfilled when Thomas sees the crucified one now living and confesses, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28). "Jesus Christ even in his humanity is united to heaven and enjoys perfect communion with God his Father" (Michaels 1989:43).

Heaven has been opened, but there is no need for us to ascend because the Son of Man has come down to us. The one Isaiah saw (Is 6:1-5; Jn 12:38-41) has come into our midst! Jesus, not heaven, is the focal point of revelation. The desire of the mystics has been fulfilled. Therefore from now on it is those who do not see and yet believe who are blessed (Jn 20:29), for if we are to see God, we must look back to Jesus under the continuing guidance of the Spirit (16:13-15). It is not that heavenly visions are impossible (cf. comment on 1:18) but that an intimacy with God is possible quite apart from such visions (cf. chaps. 13--17).

Closing Prayer

Eternal Lord, our beginning and our end: bring us with the whole creation to your glory, hidden through past ages and made known in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen