'Come and See!'

"Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." John 1:45

Do you remember the billboard and bumper sticker campaign launched back in 1976 by Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU)? The billboards and bumper stickers simply said, "I Found It!" and the intent was that, when people inquired as to what it was which had been found, the response would be Jesus and the salvation He won for all by His holy life and innocent sufferings and death on the cross, giving opportunity to share the Bible's message with those who had never heard.

Some rightly argued that it would be better to say, "He found me," since it is only by the gracious working of God's Holy Spirit that anyone can come to know and trust in Jesus as Savior. But semantic arguments aside, Christians are called to tell others the Bible's message and to introduce lost souls to Jesus that they too might come to know and trust in Him as their crucified and risen Savior.

After Jesus called Philip to follow him, Philip was not content to keep his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior to himself. He found Nathanael and told him that he, along with Peter and Andrew, had found the one of whom Moses wrote in the Torah (the law) and of whom the prophets also did write. Moses spoke of a special prophet to come who, like Moses, would mediate a new covenant (Deuteronomy 18:15ff.), and the prophets spoke repeatedly of the person and work of the coming Messiah and Savior. He would be the Seed of the Woman, the Son of God, Jehovah God in the flesh and He would make atonement for and redeem His people from their sins (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2; Psalm 110; 130:7-8; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 53:5-6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; etc.).

When Philip identified the one they had found as "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph," Nathanael rightly questioned Philip: "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (v. 46). Nathanael, no doubt, knew that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem of Judea, as Micah had prophesied (Micah 5:2). What he didn't yet know was that Jesus' ancestors came from Bethlehem and Jesus was born there. Nor did he yet understand Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Messiah: "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground ..." (Isaiah 53:2).

How did Philip overcome Nathanael's objections? "Philip saith unto him, Come and see" (v. 46). And, oftentimes, that is the best answer. Even if we cannot answer every objection to the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we can still invite people to come and see.

And Jesus proved to Nathanael that He was and is indeed the Son of God and the Messiah and King of God's people by His intimate knowledge of Nathanael before Nathanael even met Jesus face to face. Jesus knew Nathanael as an Israelite in whom was no guile or deceit (v. 47), meaning Nathanael was not self-deceived but acknowledged the truth of his own sinfulness and looked for the coming Savior. Jesus knows everything about you and me, too!

And, when Nathanael questioned Jesus as to how He knew him, Jesus responded, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee" (v. 48). Nathanael then confessed: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel" (v. 49). After meeting and talking with Jesus, Nathanael, who doubted Philip's word at first, now believed.

And, of course, those who come to know and trust in Jesus because He reveals our sinfulness and Himself as God's Son and our Savior, will continue to see more and more proofs concerning Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us lost sinners. As Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (v. 51). We will see our crucified, risen and ascended Savior coming again in glory and with His heavenly hosts to establish His everlasting kingdom.

Indeed, by the grace of God, I have found Him and have come to know and believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and my Savior from sin and eternal punishment. I pray that you will find Him too! Come and see!

Dearest Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing Yourself to me as my Lord and Savior and grant that I might call upon others, too, to come to You and see. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]