Are You Following? (John 1:43-51)
Where I came from I was well known as a fishing guide and all sorts of people from kids to minister’s wives have asked me to take them fishing. Tourists would pay $360 a day to go fishing with me but these novices were cashing in on friendship to get it all for free. Some I did take out and some I left on the things to do list. I well remember a local farmer who had worked on a local community project with me and was already a fisherman being at his wits end with stress and I could hear in his voice “I really need this!” I also remember the vicar’s wife saying, “It’s something I’ve always wanted to try,” sounding like part of hundreds of other whispery dreams. A friend is a marvellous asset in life who can help and especially one who can help you with the things you want out of life.
A friend is grows from an acquaintance and turns into a mate who fills that void in your life. With friends it’s not always blissful but the good ones remain forever. There was Gary in my youth, David in my teens and best man, then Brett who worked next door but was sacked and Leon who came each week and we played guitar, then there was Ian and Pete was my fishing buddies, and there are more in places we moved. Through it all my best friend is my wife and my enduring very-best friend is Jesus who we see in this reading we have Him walking alone to be baptised by John in the Jordon. The Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and then we see two of John’s disciples being told how important this man is and break away from John’s leadership to follow Jesus.
The very next day Jesus is heading upriver to Galilee with brothers Andrew and Simon and invites Philip to follow him. In the morning Philip finds Nathanael possibly resting under a tree and tells him they have found the one all Israel has been waiting for; the one the Law and the prophets had said would come. These rough men would form a nucleus of Jesus’ followers for the next three years. Jesus took twelve close pupils or apprentices as friends and maybe in excess of eighty followers in all. You could say He was “a people person,” someone who invested himself in others.
In this reading we see Jesus beginning to invest Holy Spirit life in the calling of Nathanael, an Israelite in whom he found no guile. Guile is slyness shown in a clever or charming way; it can be hypocrisy, deceit or trickery. An example is when you distract your friend from the fact that you are half hour late to a meeting by immediately turning on the charm and launching into a fascinating story. So how did Jesus know Nathanael is guilless? Nathanael had never met Jesus and asks how he knew him. Jesus replies with knowledge gained only in the Holy Spirit.
I believe it possible with his spiritual eyes, Jesus that morning had been shown this man sitting under a fig tree when Philip met him. It’s happened to me… are you following? It could also be seen as Jesus’ sense of humour in the knowledge of what Nathanael had said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Yes guile is a Jewish tradition, to answer a question with a question can be deceptive. The answer is yes. Jesus is the good news, the Messiah, had come from Nazareth. Nathanael hadn’t lied.
We know this then is true by Nathanael’s reply when in human terms he exclaims something extraordinary; “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (Jn 1:49) To exclaim is to cry out suddenly or vehemently, as from surprise or emotion. The Spirit of God most high was effecting this friend of Philip in the proximity of this holy man and spiritual sage. Jesus then fully alive in Spirit cannot be a hypocrite, the one who is truly without guile tells Nathanael he will see an open heaven and angels ascending and descending on Jesus. Wow! Who would not want to follow such a one; who would not want to be as “fully alive” as this long-sort-after King of Israel!
Are you a fully alive follower of Jesus or perhaps a distant worshiper of Christ? This is the question that challenges many Christians in this millennium. Are we coming into the liveliness of this mighty teacher, healer and liberator; following him in the road less travelled? Or are you a simply pledging your belief to the institution which professes allegiance to Him. There is a difference because we can be religious in our association with the book without knowing with the author.
Jesus is calling Nathanael into a personal relationship; agape love operates without strings attached. It’s not like Jesus has ordered Nathanael saying, “prove you are a righteous Israelite by falling in behind me!” No, indeed Jesus reveals the glory that surrounds himself and Nathanael wants every part of this abundant life. The call of Jesus is not some compulsory enlistment but rather a compassionate enrichment. How do I know this?
I know this because not only has it happened this way for thousands of others but it also happened this way for me. The Jesus I know doesn’t whip into conformity but reveals truth like a loaf of bread in front of the hungry soul; He leads us on into a grander heavenly abundant life. This is life in the Spirit of God. Nathanael was confronted with a sage, a prophet. Jesus knew things about him no one else could know and it released in his being a likeness that prophesies similarly exclaiming, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
I assure you that this is what our Father in beginning meant when he said, “Let us make man in Our likeness.” The likeness of God is to be born of God’s Spirit for God is Spirit. God takes clay and dust and moulds it into His Image and that image exudes agape, this beautiful no strings attached love. Hey and why did Jesus say, “I saw you under the fig tree?” What were Adam and Eve wearing after they “oopsed” in the garden? Weren’t they under the fig tree; at least covered with some of its leaves? We all “oops” like Nathanael saying things like “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” We all have tried to cover up.
If we have made Christianity all about a Christ so holy we could never come close to Him because of our “oopses” we haven’t got the right end of the stick. Jesus doesn’t want to see us a hundred miles away bowing to an immovable object; He want to get us on the road to happiness and peace. And I want to see you in that happiness and peace; I want to see you in the guileless state of being fully alive in the kingdom of heaven. The way is through the infilling of the Holy Spirit in your life which sets at liberty those who are oppressed. Jesus forgives and desires close loving relationship with every one of us.
This is agape; love that is without strings.
A friend is grows from an acquaintance and turns into a mate who fills that void in your life. With friends it’s not always blissful but the good ones remain forever. There was Gary in my youth, David in my teens and best man, then Brett who worked next door but was sacked and Leon who came each week and we played guitar, then there was Ian and Pete was my fishing buddies, and there are more in places we moved. Through it all my best friend is my wife and my enduring very-best friend is Jesus who we see in this reading we have Him walking alone to be baptised by John in the Jordon. The Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and then we see two of John’s disciples being told how important this man is and break away from John’s leadership to follow Jesus.
The very next day Jesus is heading upriver to Galilee with brothers Andrew and Simon and invites Philip to follow him. In the morning Philip finds Nathanael possibly resting under a tree and tells him they have found the one all Israel has been waiting for; the one the Law and the prophets had said would come. These rough men would form a nucleus of Jesus’ followers for the next three years. Jesus took twelve close pupils or apprentices as friends and maybe in excess of eighty followers in all. You could say He was “a people person,” someone who invested himself in others.
In this reading we see Jesus beginning to invest Holy Spirit life in the calling of Nathanael, an Israelite in whom he found no guile. Guile is slyness shown in a clever or charming way; it can be hypocrisy, deceit or trickery. An example is when you distract your friend from the fact that you are half hour late to a meeting by immediately turning on the charm and launching into a fascinating story. So how did Jesus know Nathanael is guilless? Nathanael had never met Jesus and asks how he knew him. Jesus replies with knowledge gained only in the Holy Spirit.
I believe it possible with his spiritual eyes, Jesus that morning had been shown this man sitting under a fig tree when Philip met him. It’s happened to me… are you following? It could also be seen as Jesus’ sense of humour in the knowledge of what Nathanael had said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Yes guile is a Jewish tradition, to answer a question with a question can be deceptive. The answer is yes. Jesus is the good news, the Messiah, had come from Nazareth. Nathanael hadn’t lied.
We know this then is true by Nathanael’s reply when in human terms he exclaims something extraordinary; “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (Jn 1:49) To exclaim is to cry out suddenly or vehemently, as from surprise or emotion. The Spirit of God most high was effecting this friend of Philip in the proximity of this holy man and spiritual sage. Jesus then fully alive in Spirit cannot be a hypocrite, the one who is truly without guile tells Nathanael he will see an open heaven and angels ascending and descending on Jesus. Wow! Who would not want to follow such a one; who would not want to be as “fully alive” as this long-sort-after King of Israel!
Are you a fully alive follower of Jesus or perhaps a distant worshiper of Christ? This is the question that challenges many Christians in this millennium. Are we coming into the liveliness of this mighty teacher, healer and liberator; following him in the road less travelled? Or are you a simply pledging your belief to the institution which professes allegiance to Him. There is a difference because we can be religious in our association with the book without knowing with the author.
Jesus is calling Nathanael into a personal relationship; agape love operates without strings attached. It’s not like Jesus has ordered Nathanael saying, “prove you are a righteous Israelite by falling in behind me!” No, indeed Jesus reveals the glory that surrounds himself and Nathanael wants every part of this abundant life. The call of Jesus is not some compulsory enlistment but rather a compassionate enrichment. How do I know this?
I know this because not only has it happened this way for thousands of others but it also happened this way for me. The Jesus I know doesn’t whip into conformity but reveals truth like a loaf of bread in front of the hungry soul; He leads us on into a grander heavenly abundant life. This is life in the Spirit of God. Nathanael was confronted with a sage, a prophet. Jesus knew things about him no one else could know and it released in his being a likeness that prophesies similarly exclaiming, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
I assure you that this is what our Father in beginning meant when he said, “Let us make man in Our likeness.” The likeness of God is to be born of God’s Spirit for God is Spirit. God takes clay and dust and moulds it into His Image and that image exudes agape, this beautiful no strings attached love. Hey and why did Jesus say, “I saw you under the fig tree?” What were Adam and Eve wearing after they “oopsed” in the garden? Weren’t they under the fig tree; at least covered with some of its leaves? We all “oops” like Nathanael saying things like “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” We all have tried to cover up.
If we have made Christianity all about a Christ so holy we could never come close to Him because of our “oopses” we haven’t got the right end of the stick. Jesus doesn’t want to see us a hundred miles away bowing to an immovable object; He want to get us on the road to happiness and peace. And I want to see you in that happiness and peace; I want to see you in the guileless state of being fully alive in the kingdom of heaven. The way is through the infilling of the Holy Spirit in your life which sets at liberty those who are oppressed. Jesus forgives and desires close loving relationship with every one of us.
This is agape; love that is without strings.
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