What Does He See in Me? ~ Bible Study blog for January 15

Image courtesy of Stoon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tonight, we took a slight detour in our study, moving to the New Testament.

John 1:43-51   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 about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."  ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."  ⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"  ⁴⁸ Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."  ⁴⁹ Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"  ⁵⁰ Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these."  ⁵¹ And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (NRSV)

What does Jesus see when he looks at you?

As Jesus calls his first disciples, it's amazing that Jesus and Philip and Nathaniel recognize so much in each other in their first encounter.  Philip follows Jesus after Jesus says two words: "follow me."  Philip then finds Nathaniel and announces that he has found "the one whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote."  Nathaniel is not as quickly convinced.  "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" he argues.  In spite of his skepticism, Jesus declares Nathaniel to be "an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"

How did they see so much in each other?

For Philip and Nathaniel, they clearly demonstrated that they had been taught God's Word and knew it well.  Remember- there wouldn't have been any angel choirs announcing Jesus' presence as he came to town.  The power of God's Word enabled them and enables us to recognize when he shows up.  It creates faith that enables us to see Jesus and his gifts of mercy and grace.  In Nathaniel's case, his encounter with Jesus is enough to overwhelm his skepticisms and bring him to faith.

Through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given faith.  Believing is seeing.

For Jesus, on the other hand, we must remember his divinity.  Frequently, in all four Gospels, Jesus knows much about the people he encounters, in spite of never having met them before.  We are not told that Philip or Nathaniel had any special qualifications to be disciples.  What we know of Nathaniel-- his prejudice in thinking he knows the whole story about Jesus based upon where he's from-- we'd think that would disqualify him from discipleship.  But that's not the case.  Jesus sees the best in Nathaniel.

In the same way, Jesus sees the best in us; all of the good God created in us. 

For a moment, we pondered the question, "what does Jesus see when looks at you," with some discomfort.  The truth is, we know our sins and shortcomings.  We feel guilt and shame for what we've done and left undone. 

The truth is, Jesus sees none of that-- because we're forgiven.  Jesus sees the best in us.  Like Philip and Nathaniel, we're called and gathered to his community of disciples, so that the Holy Spirit may exercise the best in us, in order to reveal the love and mercy of Christ to the world.

At the same time, we're invited into a life of discipleship so that we may see the best of Christ.  Following Jesus by faith, we shall see his great power at work-- sometimes in big, dramatic ways; other times in smaller, more subtle ways.  Amazing grace can come in great and small ways.  Following in the way of Jesus, our faith will be strengthened as we live in a daily communion with our Lord.  His presence will increase our faith and obedience.

One of the most beautiful gifts of our Christian faith is that we can awaken each morning, 1) thankful for the good we've given and received in the prior day, 2) confident that God will be good in the day to come; and, 3) ready for the Holy Spirit to live, breathe, and act within us to do good unto others through Christ.

Our next Bible study will be Thursday, January 29.  We will be assembling a new and more structured plan of study, whereby it will be easier to follow the Bible study in the event that you are absent.  Our next study will be "Treasure in Heaven," from Matthew 6:7-21 (The Story pp. 341-343).