One thing that has always confounded me in scripture is the response of Jesus’ disciples upon first meeting him. As Jewish men they knew to expect and hope in the arrival of Messiah. But, as we discussed yesterday, they were expecting a conquering king, not a suffering servant. Isaiah makes it clear that Jesus was not what the Jews had come to expect. Isaiah 53:2b-3, “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem him.” God, through the prophet Isaiah, foresees the hatred and rejection by mankind toward Messiah. Jesus suffered not only physical abuse and death at the hands of men, but also internal grief over those who He knew would not come to Him, those very same who He came to save.

So when Jesus, in John 1:29 -who had no form that was particularly desirable- shows up where John is baptizing, after John has witnessed the theophany of Jesus’ baptism: the spirit descending and alighting on Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice from Heaven saying, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased,” John announces to the disciples gathered there with him, awaiting Messiah, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John announces to those there with him that Jesus is Messiah. The next day, again, as John is there with his disciples, Jesus walks by , and again John says, “Behold the lamb of God” (v36).” The disciples there with John, were John’s disciples only insofar as they were waiting for Jesus. When John announces to them that Jesus is Messiah, “they followed Jesus (v37).”

The exchange that follows is the picture of how, as Jesus’ disciples today, we minister to others in His name, sharing the gospel. Salvation doesn’t require an ornate building, it doesn’t require elaborate explanation and proof of Jesus’ life and ministry, though those details are important and relevant they aren’t what ultimately leads a nonbeliever to faith. The disciples left John to follow Jesus and ask Him, “where are you staying (v38)?” Jesus replies, “come and see (v39).” And they do. The call of Christ is to come to him. The prescription is to come and see not see and come. There is nothing that can be explained, rationalized, justified, or coerced into someone until they are ready to come to Jesus. Then, as we discussed yesterday, their eyes will be opened to the truth, they’ll be given light and life to understand spiritual truth through the indwelling power of the interpreter, the Helper, the Holy Spirit.

One of those disciples that left John to follow Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Peter. After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew goes to where Peter is and tells him about Jesus and Peter comes. Andrew then goes on to find Philip, who goes on to find Nathanael and repeated through this section (John 1:43-50) is the emphasis that each of these disciples heard the call, and came to Jesus.

Nathanael’s interaction with Jesus is where we conclude today. Philip says to him, “come and see.” When Philip finds Nathanael, he announces Jesus by his earthly affiliation and then adds that this is the One that God’s word had been talking about from the beginning. Nathanael’s response is less than enthusiastic, he replies by asking if anything good can come from Nazareth. But, his reply affirms just how lowly Jesus’ beginnings were. The Father chose to give his son an identity that would carry no earthly appeal whatsoever. This keeps is step with God’s plan for salvation to be by faith and not by sight. Philip’s response to Nathanael, is “come and see.”

If we want someone to see Jesus, just as he truly is, we extend the invitation to them to come and see. If they do, they will see for themselves that what we say is true. But until and if they make that spiritual journey, there is nothing we can do or say to convince them. Our offer to come is significantly more important than any rationalization we could leverage at someone. in an attempt to persuade them. Trying to convince someone that Jesus is Messiah before they are inclined to come is a reversal of the salvation call. It’s ‘come to Jesus so you can see Him as Lord,’ not ‘see Him as Lord so that you come.’

Nathanael chose to come. When Jesus sees Nathanael coming with Philip, Jesus declares that his decision to come has set his heart straight, there is no longer deceit in him, a euphemism for the name of Issac’s son, Jacob. Jacob meant deceiver, so he essentially said, ‘here comes an Israelite who has no Jacob in him.’ His decision to come to Jesus has straightened out his heart, which reminds us of John the Baptist’s ministry: to make crooked paths straight.

After Jesus calls Nathanael by name, Nathanael is taken aback that Jesus knows his name and Jesus says, “before I called you,” and it is now that we understand that it was Jesus, through Philip, who called Nathanael, and just as Jesus used Philip to call Nathanael so does He use us to call unbelievers to a saving knowledge of Him.

It takes no eloquent speech or honed technique, though knowing scripture and being able to respond effectively with the sword is something we should know how to do well, it’s not us who calls or brings anyone: it’s Jesus.

Tomorrow, we’ll dig deeper into this interaction with Nathanael and see how God’s plan for atonement began long before this moment, was set in motion the day Jesus was born, and fulfilled on the third day when He rose from the grave.