JOHN083 - It's Still The Same Words, But I Mean Them Harder Now

John 1:43-50

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Music by Jeff Foote

Transcript

0:17

Hello, my name is Matt Whitman, and I am married. I've just been married the one time. This is the one lady, it's Camilla. We met in college on our first day of class in honors philosophy. And it was pretty great. I liked her right away. And it took a while to get her on board with the plan, but eventually she's like, You seem okay too. And then later after that, I was like, I love you, and I think we should get married. And I'd be really happy if you went along with that plan. And she was like, I would like to do that. And then we did a whole ceremony thing. Her dad was there, my dad was there, you know, our whole family, our dads are both pastors, so they did the wedding together. It was kind of lovely. I wore a kilt, we got married at the camp that we worked at together our first summer that we were dating. It was all just very, very lovely. And you know, we used to say I love you a whole lot back then. And then we've also said I love you a whole lot since then, because of how in love we are. And we had kids along the way, we have three kids. That was pretty cool. And we continue to say I love you through the era of being parents to our kids. And you know, we had all the ups and downs of work and life and money and being a young couple and all of that stuff. We we just said I love you a lot through all of that as well. And so it's kind of interesting when you look back on the whole thing, and you're like, Well, we kind of confessed the same thing to each other pretty much all the way through it. You know, we got to know each other for a while, but then was like, I love you, and I love you too. And we just keep saying it to each other over and over and over again. But what's interesting is there are some real benchmarks in the I love you confession. One of the big ones is doing that wedding. I mean, that's not just like I love you. That's in front of God and everybody, everybody who got us here. I love you, I'm committed to you. Cool. I love you, I'm committed to you too. And then there were bagpipes and stuff. It all made sense if you were there. And then, you know, the I love you is along the way. And then boom, like here's a kid, and it's you know, it's kind of slimy and everything, but also she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And well, here we both are together. I don't really know how this works, but I love you and I'm so proud of you, and I'm so glad we're married, and I'm so glad to meet you, little girl. I don't know, it's still just the same words. I love you, but that confession means something more or something different, something richer, maybe, in that moment. Same thing with each of the kids along the way, same thing with a bunch of the ups and downs along the way, and it feels like it means something more robust and more complete, you know, even today than it did uh a year ago or two years ago. You get what I'm driving at, right? It's the same words, but the comprehension of what those words mean is enhanced by the time we've spent together. It's enhanced by the stuff that we've seen together and the war stories and everything else. Well, likewise, there's this confession of Jesus that happens in John 1, really in the very early going of the story of Jesus. And it comes from Nathaniel, not just Nathaniel, there are other confessions here as well, but we're talking about Nathaniel's confession in John 1:49 right now, and it's a pretty comprehensive confession. All the words are there. Rabbi, Nathaniel declared, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel. I mean, that's pretty good. In terms of what we learn the rest of the way in the Gospel of John, there's really only one thing he's coming up short of, and that is Rabbi, you and the Father are one. To see you is to see the Father. You are truly God in the flesh, you are the word who was pre-existent and through whom all things were made. But, you know, that as we've discussed around here, that's a pretty big leap. So Nathaniel, Mr. Snarky Guy, that's how he comes off earlier in the passage, he just blurts out this incredible confession with all of these words. But as you, you know, if you haven't been around church for very long or this stuff is new to you, this might not ring a bell, but for those of you who have been around it for a while, what's the most famous confession of Christ? What's the big one that we always talk about? It's in Matthew 16. It's Peter who confesses Christ in that situation. And the whole scene that we see in Matthew 16, which is well into Jesus' ministry and his time with his disciples, by the way. This represents a pretty significant fast-forward, you know, a couple years, a little more, when you jump from John 1 to Matthew 16. But we picture this particular scene and this particular confession of Christ. But I want you to listen to it here. I'm going to read it to you. And think about how it's different than what Nathaniel just said. And yes, we're still in the middle of a likewise, so keep a pen in that. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? I mean, even there is something of a confession that Jesus is giving them by using that very loaded Old Testament name for himself. I'll go on. They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Isn't it interesting here that in Matthew 16, they're still a little bulky, right? You know, who do people say? Well, you know, you're hearing a lot of this stuff. Oh, there's also another thing that people say about Jesus that they didn't mention on that list. Maybe they're taking cues from him about being a little bit cautious, like we were talking about yesterday about just blurting out, that's the king. Oh no. Maybe Jesus needed to give him a little bit of permission here to just spell it out. The conversation goes on. But what about you? Jesus asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you're Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Isn't that interesting? Because back here in John chapter 1, in what now I know must have been a private conversation with just Jesus, Andrew, Simon Peter, and an unnamed disciple who is John as well as Philip. In this private conversation, Nathaniel blurts it out, Rabbi, you're the son of God, you're the king of Israel. And as we're going to talk about tomorrow and moving forward, Jesus affirms that confession of him in the same way, well, not quite as robustly, but in the same style that he affirms this confession that he gets from Peter in Matthew 16, back to my likewising from earlier, in the same way that you can understand that the same exact words I love you, from me back to my precious wife, from her back to me, in the same way that you can understand that that means different stuff. It carries different weight at different points in our relationship. Yeah, we meant that on the front end, but we mean it harder now. It it it means more, it's fleshed out, there's a fullness to it now, even though the confession between us is identical. In the same way that you just intuitively get that, so I think that there is an added depth to what Peter confesses in Matthew 16 relative to what Nathaniel was intuiting on the front end of stuff here. In light of the way the rest of the book of John plays out, Nathaniel's declaration, Rabbi, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel, feels like the beginning of something that he would come to understand much more deeply as time passes. I've told you before how it ends for Nathaniel. Tradition holds that he was flayed alive and refused to renounce Christ as that was being done to him. I can't imagine. Would he have done that? Would he have been this dialed in, willing to defend this confession to the point of enduring flagging here in John 1? I'm not sure he would have. But the Matthew 16 version of these disciples, yeah, every one of them, other than Judas, at this point, given what they've seen, given what they've heard, given who they know Jesus to be, every one of the disciples, by the time we get to Matthew 16, is willing to, and indeed does go on to suffer profoundly in defense of and in defiant adherence to that confession that is the same words. You're the Christ, the son of the living God. Well, basically the same words, the same concept. Nathaniel highlights the king of Israel aspect of it. Simon Peter's confession also highlights the son of the living God, but there's another level to what Simon Peter says, and that is you are the Christ. Now, this also comes up in John chapter one. Andrew and presumably John, when they find Simon, who eventually goes by Peter in verse 41, they say, We have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. There's not a lot of subtlety in this language. So Peter's confession really does use effectively the same words as the confession mostly of Nathaniel, but the combined confession of the disciples in John 1, you are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. You're the Christ, the Messiah, the King of Israel, the Son of God. The words are the same, but the depth is different. In John 1, Jesus is going to go on to say, hmm, yeah, more or less right on. And you, Nathaniel, are willing to confess that because I said something about a fig tree. You're going to see a whole lot more than that, Nathaniel. It's it's a promise, it's a front-end thing. It's like an engagement in a very metaphorical way. Whereas in Matthew 16, this is more like one of the final lessons that Jesus gives his disciples before they go. This is like a final check-in. Okay, the stakes are about to get high. I mean, there's a whole bunch of stuff in this chapter about Jesus saying, and now I'm going to go get killed by the most powerful people in our region, in our country, in our culture. The stakes are getting really high here in Matthew 16. This isn't a fun little music festival vibe out in the country with people getting dunked anymore. This is intense. And Jesus takes their temperature. The spokesperson for the group, who is Peter, that's who's emerged in this way, he speaks for the group and he confirms with confidence, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus affirms with confidence. And there's a payoff here on his name, that little, you know, kind of teaser that we get in John 1, the Simon thing, as well as the Peter, the rock thing. I mean, all that stuff Jesus says here, it pays off as well. Now, look, these are not the only confessions of Jesus as Christ, as Messiah that we get throughout the Gospels. The most famous is Matthew 16 because it's trajectory setting. It happens right before Jesus and the disciples start walking into the teeth of the people who are going to kill Jesus and flog and eventually kill the disciples, or at least some of the disciples as well. But, you know, John the Baptist has made this confession. In John 1.34, he says, I've seen, I testify, this is the Son of God. Of course, I've referenced Andrew telling Simon, Peter, we have found the Messiah. But additionally, in John 6, Peter is, you know, he's putting his toe further into this water of confessing with these words who Jesus is. We've come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God. In John 11, Martha says, I believe you're the Christ, the Son of God, who's come into the world. And then later on, when Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, you've got the kids in the crowd saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is the king of Israel. Look at that. I mean, it took him 20 chapters or whatever, but they catch up with what Nathaniel observed right away. The centurion says, Surely this man was the son of God. The high priest, when he's interrogating Jesus in Matthew 26 and Mark 14, he's heard the whispers, he knows the rumors. He asks, Are you the Christ, the son of the blessed one? He's asking if he's the son of God. So look, it's it's all over the gospels, it's all over the New Testament. I didn't even cover every confession or partial confession of this. But understandably, if you've been around church for a while, the big one is Matthew 16. And I think that is justified, but it doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's not like people hung out with Jesus long enough and then they started to be like, you know, we retroactively want to assign this big important title to you because it makes us feel important. From the get-go, Jesus fulfilled prophecy and exuded deity. He exuded Messiah-ness in such a way that people had eyes to see it right from the get-go. And even if some of these were private, even if some of these were a little bit hush-hush, let's say that out loud more later. Well, the confessions of Jesus as the Christ, as the Son of God, start cropping up right from the very beginning. I would submit to you, though, that they mean more with each turn of the page. They mean more with each thing in the same way that I meant I love you as hard as I could mean I love you the first time I said it to my beautiful wife. But I do think I mean it harder now. I do think it means more now. I do think I understand the word and the nature of the confession I am making to her more now when I say it. And likewise, I think Peter, I think Nathaniel, I think the whole crew much more understood what they were saying when they confessed Jesus as the Christ right before they made that fateful trip to Jerusalem. All right. Moving forward next time around, I'm Matt. This is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast. Let's do this again soon.