Sunday 15 January 2012

Background

At the beginning of his public ministry, following his Baptismby John the Baptist in the river Jordan, Jesus begins the task ofgathering together a group of disciples. According to John'sGospel, two of the Baptist's own disciples are the first to followJesus and when one of them, Andrew, shares his conviction thatJesus is the Messiah with his brother Simon Peter, he joins themtoo. Before leaving for Galilee Philip also joined Jesus, but whenhe too shared the news that Jesus was the Messiah with Nathaniel hegets a more sceptical response.

Once Nathaniel hears from Phillip that Jesus is from Nazareth, heimmediately makes assumptions about Jesus' limitations. AsNazareth, unlike Jerusalem, appears nowhere in the propheticanticipations of the coming of the Messiah, Nathaniel feels quitesafe to discount Jesus as being the one "about whom Moses in thelaw and also the prophets wrote" (v. 45). By Nathaniel'spreoccupations, Jesus just doesn't fit the bill. Yet Jesustranscends any limitations placed upon him. As the missiologistBrian Stanley puts it, Jesus, is God, the Eternal One's 'ultimateact of translation', the Word rendered in flesh, a language thatall humanity can understand, into a particular time and place, butfor all times and for all places.

Phillip's response encourages Nathaniel to rely on something moreconcrete than his preconceptions, and not to depend upon his ownprejudices. Don't be limited by your own horizons, but ratherexperience for yourself, with an open mind: "Come and see".Philip's invitation to Nathaniel is one to which followers of Jesusare still invited, both to offer to others and to be constantlychallenged to receive for themselves.

To Ponder

What preconceptions do you have aboutpeople/places, and what are they based on?

What preconceptions do people hold today aboutJesus? And how can the invitation to "come and see" be made inrelevant ways?