Other Epiphanies: John 1:35-51 - Epiphany of Our Lord (observed)

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

“Stupid is as stupid does.”

“Run, Forrest, Run!”

These are just a few of many famous lines from the 1994 film Forrest Gump, which follows the life of a man with a low IQ who nonetheless makes a huge impact on the world through his innocence, courage, and heart. Among his many accomplishments are winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam, founding the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and leading a run across America.

One of my favorite quotes occurs in the middle of the movie when Forrest visits Lieutenant Dan, his Commanding Officer, who lost both legs in the war and struggled with severe depression and substance abuse disorder. He complains to Forrest about people who visited him in the hospital and told him about Jesus. Sarcastically, he asks Forrest, “have you found Jesus?” Forrest matter-of-factly replies, “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him.”

That makes a lot of sense, because you don’t find Jesus like you find a job, a spouse, or a missing set of car keys. You don’t find him like you find Waldo in his picture books. In the Gospels, Jesus shows up. People hear his teachings and see the signs. They believe in him, or they don’t.

Fig Tree in Assos by Kadir COŞKUN on flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Today’s Gospel begins with John the Baptist standing with two of his disciples. Jesus approaches, and John exclaims, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” They follow him immediately.

Jesus asks them, “what are you looking for?” They don’t answer his question, probably because they weren’t sure. Instead, the disciple, Andrew, answers with a rather dumb question: “where are you staying?” Jesus says, “come and see.”

Andrew finds his brother, Simon, and says, “we have found the Messiah.” He brings Simon back to Jesus, and Jesus gives him a new name.

The next day, Jesus goes to Galilee and finds Philip. He says to him, “follow me,” and he does. Philip goes and tells Nathaniel about Jesus. But Nathaniel is skeptical. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Phillip replies, “come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he says, “here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathaniel is puzzled. How did Jesus know anything about him? But Jesus said, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathaniel replies, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

So now, you have four ordinary individuals who left behind everything to follow a Rabbi they’d just met, believing that he was the Messiah. Yet they followed him without seeing a single miracle or hearing a single teaching.

They followed Jesus based on the testimony of people they knew and trusted. John the Baptist told his disciples. His disciple Andrew told Simon. Jesus called Philip, and Philip told Nathaniel. They still didn’t know much about him. But Jesus knew them. He knew their faults. He didn’t care that Andrew asked him a dumb question. He wasn’t angry at Nathaniel for asking, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He loved them. He gave them something to tell others about, and they did. Yes, they “found the Messiah.” But more importantly, Jesus found them. And their lives changed forever.

One of the most important ways Jesus finds you is through the testimony of others. “Jesus loves you, this you know, for the Bible tells you so.” But who taught you the song? Who gave you your bible? Who made his love real to you? People. Parents, grandparents, children, friends, neighbors, teachers, volunteers, missionaries, strangers you meet along the way.

Who needs to hear your Jesus story? Who needs your good works? Who can you bless in Jesus’s name?

Another thing I love about this story is how Jesus took their questions, their skepticism, and their searching, and turned them into an invitation: “come and see.”

Jesus doesn’t reject you for questioning and doubting. Faith without doubts and questions isn’t faith. Jesus doesn’t peddle easy answers. Just an invitation. Come and you will see. Listen to me and you will learn. Trust me and you will neither hunger nor thirst.

Epiphanies happen when God acts to bring you to people and to places where you encounter Jesus and he changes you. If it were up to you to find Jesus, life would be nothing but a cruel game of Where’s Waldo, with all the burden on you to seek and find, with all eternity at stake. Jesus seeks you and finds you so that he may love you and be in relationship with you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how you feel.

If you are seeking Jesus, if you are questioning Jesus, or even if you are skeptical about Jesus, he will show up. Even if you’re just living your life, doing what you always do, Jesus will show up. The only question is what you will do. Will you stop and listen? Will you go and see? Will you show and tell? Will you trust and obey? Will you leave your old life behind and be born anew?

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). ⁴² He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

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.” (NRSVue)