Come and See!
John 1:44-46
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
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Come and See!
We are often guilty of “judging a book by its cover.” We do this with unimportant things such as food or movies, maybe even actual books. We also do this with more important things such as people. We see someone new and based on preconceived notions of where they live or come from or even look like, we judge. This is not a new development. Nathanael was told about Jesus and based on where He was from, judged Him to not be worthy of being the Messiah. After all, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
But Philip does not give up. He challenges Nathanael to “Come and see.” Like with Nathanael, he challenges us also to put aside our preconceived notions and see the Messiah for who He is. You are invited by the Holy Spirit to come and see the newborn Christ. You are invited in faith to come and see Him preach and teach. You are brought by God’s Word to the foot of the cross to come and see your sins atoned for. By grace you can come and see in God’s holy Word the empty tomb and know that, yes indeed, something good has come from Nazareth. For with eyes of faith, you see now the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who does all these things for you.
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
+
Come and See!
We are often guilty of “judging a book by its cover.” We do this with unimportant things such as food or movies, maybe even actual books. We also do this with more important things such as people. We see someone new and based on preconceived notions of where they live or come from or even look like, we judge. This is not a new development. Nathanael was told about Jesus and based on where He was from, judged Him to not be worthy of being the Messiah. After all, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
But Philip does not give up. He challenges Nathanael to “Come and see.” Like with Nathanael, he challenges us also to put aside our preconceived notions and see the Messiah for who He is. You are invited by the Holy Spirit to come and see the newborn Christ. You are invited in faith to come and see Him preach and teach. You are brought by God’s Word to the foot of the cross to come and see your sins atoned for. By grace you can come and see in God’s holy Word the empty tomb and know that, yes indeed, something good has come from Nazareth. For with eyes of faith, you see now the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies in the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who does all these things for you.
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