WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.080 John 1, 43 through 51. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.080 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.839 He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.599 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:25.920 And Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of who Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:29.920 Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.719 And Philip said to him, Come and see. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:41.200 Now Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.880 Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:51.439 And Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.719 Nathaniel answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.880 You are the King of Israel. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:05.280 And Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.680 You will see greater things than these. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:17.599 And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:19.359 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:20.719 Please be seated. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:23.920 Good afternoon. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.760 My name is James Rathran. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.239 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:34.560 This is one of those strange Sundays in between Christmas and New Year's. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.000 I'm not quite sure where we are or what day is it it is or what time it is, but here we are. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:46.000 It's uh yeah, just a couple more days until New Year's Eve, so happy New Year. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:54.879 This is our last, or excuse me, this is our second to last service in this building, which is pretty incredible. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:05.840 Um I uh yeah, I was I was thinking, um uh I was trying to think like a I wish there was something that I could say or knew how to say to kind of sum up a transition like this. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.319 And then I realized that I don't know. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:09.439 I don't know what to say. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:10.879 This is a huge transition. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.800 There's so much in it, and there's so much about a place. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:25.599 Um so uh just when we were sound checking, I was standing up here just looking out at this and uh thinking like wow, this is one of the last times that I'll see this view. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:27.280 Um, and it's a wonderful view. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.919 So uh, but it's also very exciting. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:37.199 Um if you're just joining us for the first time, we are moving across town uh to a neighborhood called Berkeley. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:44.240 We're moving to a school called uh Centennial Elementary, and uh we'll begin there January 12th. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.199 We'll be back to 9:30 in the morning services. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:03:13.280 So January 12th, I'm really excited because we're going to kick off with um uh a series that we're going to be in uh actually for a couple of years, uh not a couple of years straight, um, but the first half of the next three years, or the first about 12 to 16 weeks of the next three years, we're going to be moving through Genesis, um, which I think will be very cool. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:18.080 And I'm very uh it's been really fun to be prepping for already. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:29.360 And uh yeah, I think that there's a lot that is happening in our culture and in our moment uh that we can only really get at with an understanding of Genesis. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:34.080 So I think it'll be a wonderful thing to preach through and to move through together as a church. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:45.520 Uh but this series uh we're calling start, and that's uh in large part because it's what we called our New Year's series last year, and we already had the graphic, and this isn't really a series. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:55.360 Um, what we're doing is basically uh we've got these two sermons here before we jump into Genesis, and I just decided, you know what, I'm just gonna preach two sermons that I want to preach. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:57.199 So that's what you get today. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:12.159 Uh these are uh, yeah, this sermon is a text that has just it really captured my imagination for for years, since I first studied it in uh a Bible study, my senior year of college. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:22.879 We were moving through the Gospel of John, and this passage in the very first chapter of John just struck me, uh, and I've wanted to share it since then, and so today we get to share it. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:30.800 Um I think it's relevant because, well, let's pray and then we'll talk about the text. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:37.360 Um, the Holy Spirit really helps interpreting scripture, so let's ask for his help. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.759 Holy Father, we thank you for your care and bringing us together. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:53.279 I pray that today, uh, in the midst of a week where you get kind of lost in the all the gatherings that are happening and all the celebration and uh time out of our normal routines. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:04.560 Lord, I pray that this last sermon of 2019 would be just a refreshing and rejuvenating um uh just feast on your word uh for us together this evening. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:18.399 And I pray that you would uh apply this word to our hearts in a way that just gives us eyes that more accurately see your world that you've made and the redemptive project that you've uh accomplished in Christ. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.160 So, Father, we pray for this and we lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:23.040 Amen. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:40.959 So this particular text, it it helps us uncover the sense of place, which is something that we tend to neglect, I think, this idea that we we really have a sense of a particular location. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:53.519 Um, you know, as Protestants, it's not as though we have holy ground or there's no pilgrimage or there's no particular place that we go and visit, but we still have reason to have a real sense of location. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:04.480 We can tend to think of our spirituality as something that's really disembodied, but that's the wrong way to think about it, especially considering just the incarnation itself. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:11.120 Jesus became an embodied person at a particular location in a particular place. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:20.160 And that really should change the way that we view the locations that we live in, the particular places that we inhabit. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.480 We can see this right away in the book of Acts. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.680 Uh, in uh Acts 1.8, Jesus says this to his apostles. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:40.879 He says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:49.199 So you see that their power to be witnesses comes from the Holy Spirit, but it doesn't spread just sort of generically. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:56.399 He doesn't describe it as just sort of like wafting through the air like a uh through like a digital cloud or something. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:58.399 It moves geographically. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.519 These are concentric circles that are expanding outward. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:06.160 It's Jerusalem and then Samaria and then Judea and then the whole world. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:11.600 And it expands geographically like that because that's where people inhabit. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:25.040 That's the way that we have contact with the people in our spheres of influence, and then it grows and grows and grows, like Wayne's World 2, and they tell two people, and they tell two people, and they tell two people. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.120 My reference is always land. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:36.800 And so we see that kind of bringing together in what the what our task is of witnessing it. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:46.319 It's it's a geographical task, it's one that takes place through real expansion on the world in new places. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:57.120 It matters to go to new places, to bring the gospel to a space where the gospel isn't being proclaimed or hasn't been said yet. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.720 That's a really important thing throughout the biblical narrative. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:14.959 So we see that this got this gospel expands, and and in this story that we're going to look at this afternoon, it's some of the first witnessing to Jesus that takes place. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:22.079 Uh so it Jesus just comes on the scene, he this is John chapter one, you know, this is early. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:30.240 And this is the first people who we see meet Jesus and then go and share about Jesus to someone else. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:37.759 So what we're going to look at is how that witnessing takes place and see this as kind of a model for our own witnessing. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:42.480 As a church that's about to go on mission together, go across town to a new location. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:47.600 How is it that we witness to Jesus in this new place? 00:08:47.919 --> 00:09:02.799 I think that we'll find that it's far more ordinary, uh, far more simple than we might have previously thought, but it is also far more incredible, uh, far more wonderful than we might have let ourselves imagine. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.879 So uh that's the that's the story that we're looking at this afternoon. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:08.559 Let's go ahead and jump in. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.480 This is John 1, verse 43 to 45. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.039 It says, the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.399 He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:24.879 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:37.120 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. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:47.360 So, just a couple verses earlier, which I didn't include here, uh John and Andrew are uh with John the Baptist. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.399 So John, the writer of the Gospel, John, and Andrew uh are with John the Baptist. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:58.399 And John the Baptist points at Jesus and he says, Behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.879 And John and Andrew are like, John the Baptist, it's been great time with you. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.519 We're gonna go be disciples of that guy. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.759 Um so John the Baptist is, you know, that was his whole move. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.519 So he's like, Great, mission accomplished. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:16.080 John and Andrew go and meet Jesus and they say, Where are you staying? 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:22.720 And Jesus says, Well, come with me and see, you know, come follow me, become a part of my life, learn me. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:30.960 So, right when that happens, John and Andrew are kind of brought into Jesus' inner circle, and Andrew is Peter's brother. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:38.559 So the first thing that Andrew does is he goes to Peter and says, Hey, we've found the Messiah. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:43.600 And so Peter is brought in through the witness of his brother Andrew. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.759 Then Jesus says to Peter, you know, Peter, I've got great things for you. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:49.120 Stick around. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:53.440 Then, where we pick up here, Jesus moves in to Galilee. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:57.919 And when he goes into Galilee, he uh he calls Philip. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.639 And he calls Philip in the normal way that we expect Jesus to call someone. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:04.639 He says, follow me. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:08.399 And when Jesus uh says things, they they happen. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:14.799 It's one of the benefits of being God, and among other things, but that's one of them. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:26.639 And uh so when uh so Jesus calls Philip in sort of this normal way, and then Philip immediately goes and shares with his friend Nathaniel. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.919 And it makes this, John calls out this point. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.799 He says, now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:51.440 See, so it's as if Jesus is hanging out with John and, or excuse me, yeah, with John, Andrew, and Peter, and they're in Galilee, and Andrew and Peter are like, oh Philip, yeah, we should go call Philip too, because we're from the same hometown. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:53.840 We played on the same basketball team. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.000 We're we grew up together, we know each other. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:02.799 See, Jesus is uniquely, Jesus could have called his disciples in any way. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:10.080 You know, he could have just like he could have literally just like walked across lakes and been like, you follow me, follow me, follow me. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:13.039 You know, when Jesus says follow me, people follow him. 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:24.720 But what we see is Jesus moves through the already existing, ordinary relationships that these people had already had. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:32.720 Jesus moves through those relationships that already existed as a way of calling his disciples. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:43.519 See it's it's an incredible ordinary, incredibly ordinary type of networking that takes place for the spread of the name of Jesus. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:57.039 So uh Philip goes and tells his friend Nathaniel, and he says, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.399 So there are really two parts to this sentence. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:04.799 You know, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:06.320 This is this is incredible. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.759 You know, you can you imagine this news coming to you in your life? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:15.279 Look, the the promised Messiah, when Moses said, God is sending another one just like me. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.279 That this is we we found him. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:27.120 You know, the the baby that was promised to be born in Isaiah, uh, this this servant who came to serve his, uh who came to suffer on behalf of his people, we found him. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:28.480 We found that person. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:30.240 That's the first part of the sentence. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:38.480 Then he says, It's uh uh it's Jesus of uh Nazareth, Joseph's son, you know, the carpenter. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:46.080 And so the red flags for uh uh Nathanael just go up immediately. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:52.559 Like, okay, you had me for the first part, but Jesus from Nazareth, you know, we recognize that name. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.720 This name did not mean anything at this point. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.200 Uh Jesus from Nazareth, just Joseph's son, the carpenter's son. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:03.919 Oh, we this that is not the Messiah. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.200 That can't possibly be this promised person uh that you've sent to us. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.519 This is not King Herod's new son. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:17.919 This is not the leader, some zealot leader who's gathering a following out in the wilderness. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.399 This is just the carpenter's son from a couple of towns over. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:28.559 So the red flags go up for Philip and, or excuse me, for Nathaniel. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:36.879 And uh Nathanael says this in John 1, 46, Nathaniel said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.679 I just feel like I'd like Nathanael. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.519 Can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.000 And Philip said to him, Come and see. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:15:02.240 I think we have this sense that to have been a disciple walking with Jesus, it would have been so much easier to bear witness to who Jesus is. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:09.200 Because we would get to uh uh we would he would just be right there. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:16.879 And it is a benefit because you know Philip is able to say, well, come meet him, and we don't have that evangelistically. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.879 Uh maybe some of you do. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.279 Uh no, you don't. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.840 That was like a lame pastor joke, excuse me. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:37.120 Um but the uh uh we get this sense, like it would have been so much simpler because Jesus is here, and if you would have just seen him, then uh we would just be able to say, go, just go look, it's Jesus. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:38.799 It's Jesus of freaking Nazareth. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:40.639 Like, of course, this is the guy. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:54.159 But uh the obstacle that Philip had in sharing who Jesus was is the same obstacle that we face, and it's the obstacle of the ordinary. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:05.440 You know, what was in the way of seeing Jesus as the one that Moses prophesied about, the one that all the prophets wrote about, what was in the way of seeing that? 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.080 It's that he was just a guy from Nazareth. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.679 He was Joseph's son. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:13.440 You know, nothing good comes from Nazareth. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:18.480 And that's the same obstacle that we face in sharing Jesus. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.519 Because you think, okay, like who do I want to? 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.279 We see that it moves through these ordinary relational networks. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.759 So I think, okay, tomorrow, what am I? 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.960 I'm gonna show up at work, be like, hey, I've got news. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.679 I I have a personal relationship with the savior of the world. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:42.159 They'll be like, okay, that's great, but you're also you also just work in accounting. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.919 So like, no, you don't. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:47.279 Like, I know you don't. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:57.840 Because if I were to meet someone who had like a deep relationship with the savior of the world, they they wouldn't work in the office that I work in. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.080 This is just too ordinary. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:01.519 We had lunch last week. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:13.440 There's no there's no way that you that you could possibly make this claim, that you could introduce me to God, that you could tell me a story that if I put my faith in it, I might have eternal life. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:18.480 Those two things just don't fit with the world that you and I live in. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:20.480 See, it's the same obstacle. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:25.440 Same obstacle that Philip had in sharing who Jesus is, was is the same obstacle that we have. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:28.319 It's this obstacle of the ordinary. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:30.480 So, how do we overcome that? 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:35.680 When uh maybe uh Bo, you might do you remember After Dark? 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:36.240 Yeah. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:38.559 What what year was that for you? 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.640 Okay, so Bo's freshman year, you'll all meet Bo. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:49.279 We uh uh I was I was a sophomore then, and uh we we went to college together. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.079 College is awesome, you can ask us about it later. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:18:03.119 Um we uh it the we were part of a ministry that sort all the all the campus ministries came together and they hosted this event called After Dark. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.720 You can tell by the name, like what's After Dark? 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:13.359 Probably not anything to do with Jesus, but it was to do with Jesus. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:19.759 So we promoted this is the best promoted event in the history of events. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:29.519 And it was literally, we got like like a hundred people who were involved with campus ministries to wear the same t-shirt for a week. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.680 Yeah, cool, huh? 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.599 And it like this bright orange t-shirt. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.680 I don't I like neutrals, you know. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.359 Uh and we uh uh so it was it was extremely well promoted. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:53.279 And the whole idea is we're going to get our non-Christian friends to come to this event, and it's gonna be such an amazing outreach. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:19:03.519 It's gonna be such an incredible uh, like i there's this guy who's gonna tell this amazing story, and then we're gonna have this uh singer who's like, is he a Christian singer? 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:07.039 We don't know, because he'll play other music too. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:15.359 And uh then we're gonna, and then we're gonna do a like a come to Jesus ask at the end with this big show and spectacle. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:34.319 So uh we uh I I invited some of my non-Christian friends, many of my other friends, you know, invited some of their non-Christian friends, and we're all sitting there, and this like giant event spectacle is taking place, and it's like the most second-hand embarrassment that I've ever experienced. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:42.400 The it was like a one-man show, and he did this like performance where he built a cross on stage. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:44.559 It was it did not work. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:56.480 And uh, all of this like uh rapport that I thought I had as just a friend with my non-Christian friends, it was just like out the window. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.519 It was gone. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:05.440 It was like, okay, you used you cashed in all your chips with me on getting me to this event, and I'm never coming to anything like this again. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:19.359 And what I think was happening there is we thought, you know, in these ordinary conversations, in these ordinary relationships, nobody's gonna believe that this is the savior of the world. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:24.400 Nobody's gonna believe that, nobody's gonna hear it coming from us in our workplace. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:38.319 So what we're gonna need to do is we're gonna need to create this amazing spectacle with like a cross that you build on stage and with great effects and lights and music and all these things, and we'll kind of float in the gospel through this incredible spectacle. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.799 And instead, uh just the opposite happened. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:52.000 Uh, we didn't change the way people grasp the ordinary, we just reinforced this idea that uh Christians don't want to live in the world as it is. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:58.079 They want to just go to events once a week and pretend that life isn't as challenging as it is. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:02.640 So Philip does just the opposite of that. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.440 He doesn't make war on the ordinary. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:11.599 Instead, he goes and tells his friend, and he tells his friend who Jesus is. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:17.440 He's the carpenter's son from Nazareth, and yeah, that's the promised one that we see in all of the scripture. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:24.400 And then when Nathaniel says, Come on, Nazareth, nothing good can come out of Nazareth, what does Philip say? 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.319 He says, Come and see. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:28.319 Just come with me. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:30.559 Come with me and see Jesus. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:42.400 And when you when you see Jesus, even in all his ordinariness, I think in the pictures we forget that like if Jesus were to come and sit down in the room, we probably wouldn't recognize him as Jesus. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.200 He would just look like another person. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:54.400 And in all his ordinariness, Philip doesn't try and overcome the obstacle of the ordinary by creating some spectacle. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.759 He stays with the critique and says, well, then just come and see Jesus for yourself. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.119 I understand the skepticism. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.680 So come and see Jesus for yourself. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:10.880 So here's the application that I want us to get out of this. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:19.839 So the gospel spreads, the gospel typically spreads through the ordinary relationships that we already have. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:31.519 And that is an obstacle because it's difficult for us to bring this incredible story into those ordinary relationships. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.079 But what we don't do is we don't try and overcome the ordinary by creating a spectacle. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:42.960 We try and just introduce Jesus as he is. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:50.319 Jesus came to be among us in the ordinary places that we live. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:23:01.680 And so for us to bring Jesus into those places in conversation, in the way that he's interacting, in the real ordinariness of our lives, that's where the gospel will spread. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.480 From the very beginning, that's the way it's worked. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:08.640 So that's what Nathanael does. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:10.319 That's what Philip does, excuse me. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.519 Philip says to Nathaniel, look, nothing good can come out of Nazareth. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:14.400 Okay, come and see. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.319 Just come and meet Jesus for yourself. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:19.039 That is something that's more challenging for us. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.200 Here's what happens: John 1, 47 through 48. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:34.400 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:38.000 Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:45.519 Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:52.880 So when Nathaniel's walking over to Jesus, Jesus makes this claim about Nathaniel. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:59.279 Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, basically looks at Nathaniel and he says, Here's a really genuine person. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.880 You know, this person really seeks after the Lord, and they mean it. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:07.200 This is an authentic person here in Nathaniel. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:14.000 And Nathaniel, because of his authenticity, he says to Jesus, look, how do you know me? 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:15.599 How do you know me? 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:22.799 How could you possibly make a claim about my character or about any understanding of me we haven't met? 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:28.960 So I want to hang out here just for a second because when Jesus says something about someone, it's true. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:37.519 So that means that Nathaniel is someone to be admired, someone whose example is worth following. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:46.480 And so far in the story, Nathaniel has just been a skeptic, which means that skepticism is not a bad thing. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:52.319 In fact, skepticism is a necessary thing in order to have true faith. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:25:01.599 Skepticism is this ingredient in our faith that prevents us from just being foolishly taken in by whatever somebody might say. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:14.079 If we don't enter our faith with some amount of skepticism, some amount of questioning of what we're hearing, then our faith never gets the opportunity to be truly integrated into our real lives. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:19.119 It doesn't get the opportunity to actually critique the things that we really think. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:30.160 So in Nathanael's skepticism, he's drawn closer to Jesus because it is an honest searching. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:43.839 Nathaniel's skepticism was not a way of avoiding, which skepticism can be, but Nathanael's skepticism was a way of engaging with Jesus, a way of engaging with his questions. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.720 And in doing so, he is brought closer to Jesus in the process. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:56.559 It's worth it to think, you know, is my skepticism a way of avoiding a question that I really know the answer to? 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:01.359 Or is this a deeper seeking out of who God actually is? 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.599 Those are important boundaries for us to have in mind. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:15.359 So in this we see that Jesus validates Nathaniel's skepticism because it allows for a real integration of Nathanael's understanding. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:27.839 And it's out of Nathanael's authenticity that he doesn't receive Jesus' introduction of Nathaniel, an Israelite in whom there's no deceit. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.079 He doesn't receive that as just flattery that bounces off of him. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:35.119 Instead, he says, look, you're supposed to be the Messiah. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.000 I just heard from my friend, you make this claim about me. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:39.599 How could you know that? 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:41.839 How could you possibly know me? 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:51.920 Now, if he gets an answer to that question that's legitimate for how he's really known, now Nathaniel has to deal with Jesus in a real way. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:04.960 Real skepticism forces us into critical moments where if we get a legitimate answer to the question, it must change the way we deal with Jesus. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:09.920 That's uh the type of skepticism that Nathaniel had. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.759 Jesus' answer is incredible. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:17.279 Jesus answers him with something impossible. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:26.079 He says, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:31.200 Now, this is one of my favorite moments in scripture. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:36.480 Perhaps one of my favorite conversion stories in scripture is this. 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:20.160 You've been a true Israelite, and God has shown his faithfulness to you, and that you have your own fig tree to be under. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.640 Interpretation is we don't know. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:34.799 We don't know what Philip was doing under the fig tree. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:38.480 We don't know what Jesus saw when Philip was under the fig tree. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:49.039 We don't know why it was such a big deal to excuse me to Nathaniel that Jesus saw him when he was under the fig tree. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:56.319 But Nathaniel knew, and Jesus knew, and that seemed to be enough for Nathaniel. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:05.759 Because Jesus sharing this intimate knowledge of Nathaniel leads Nathaniel to make this confession in John 1.49. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:13.200 After Jesus said that, Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the son of God. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:15.759 You are the king of Israel. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:20.640 You know, there was something about that fact of his life. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:26.240 Jesus comes to him and he says, I saw you when you were under the fig tree. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.319 You're the son of God. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:31.440 You're the king of Israel. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.960 Philip, who I thought was insane, is right. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:50.480 Because you met me in this skepticism, in this question, you answered me in a legitimate way, I have to call you like I see you now, which is the Son of God, the King of Israel. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:56.079 Over and over again, we see this pattern throughout scripture. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:09.119 Uh this will happen in just three more chapters when Jesus is with the Samaritan woman, and uh she goes and witnesses to her whole town, and she says, Behold, come and meet a man who told me all that I ever did. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:16.640 She confesses Jesus as Lord and Christ because Jesus knew her. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:28.319 And here, in the same way, Nathaniel says, You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel, just because Jesus so completely knew Nathaniel. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:31.279 Now, I think there's an important lesson here. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:38.079 You know, we, unlike Philip, when we're witnessing to our friends, we don't get to say, hey, you don't believe me about the whole Jesus thing? 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:40.079 Come to the break room, he's here. 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:49.039 Instead, instead, this shows us, okay, what does it mean for someone to come in contact with Jesus? 00:30:49.359 --> 00:31:01.680 It means when they come in contact with the scriptures, with the Jesus of the Bible, it's going to expose the reality of who they are in a way that someone may have never known before. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:09.759 And when that's really exposed, for the first time, someone will think, I think someone really knows me. 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:15.599 You know, this God makes sense because that God really knows me. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:22.559 And so we can't point people to Jesus in the same way that Philip could, because he's not physically here. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:25.759 One day he will be, but he's not now. 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:39.599 But what we can do is we can bear witness to Jesus as the Son of God, as the Savior that he is in our lives, the way that he communicates himself in Scripture. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:54.480 And so, what does that mean is we need to communicate ourselves in our ordinary lives as people who need to be saved, and people who have experienced the salvation of God. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:17.039 So when we present Jesus as the one who has really saved us, rescued us, not a great idea that we had that we were that you know we were able now to communicate, but but as the one who came and rescued us because we saw we couldn't rescue ourselves. 00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:42.240 When someone comes in contact with that Jesus, it's like this deep exhale of the soul where they say, I think that God is true, because there's a reality in myself that when I'm really honest with myself, this thing that I thought no one else knew, when I'm really honest with myself, I know I can't get it together. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:45.279 I can't save myself. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:56.079 If I'm given one more tip, one more piece of advice, one more helpful whatever that will bring me closer to God, I know it won't be enough. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:32:58.079 I know I won't do it. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:05.279 So the God who says, You can't come to me, I can come to you. 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:11.200 That's a God where the soul exhales and says, I think that God knows me. 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:15.119 I think that's the God that really knows me. 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:25.359 And over and over throughout scripture, when we realize we are known by God, well then we come to Him. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:27.359 People come to Him. 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:37.359 So what happens next is Nathaniel's view of the whole world gets transformed. 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:48.240 In John 1, 50 through 51, Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:53.680 Sorry, Jesus is so classic. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:57.920 Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:06.480 Like if we got somebody to confess that Jesus was Lord, we'd be like, great, case closed, can we baptize you right now? 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:09.440 But Jesus is like, you believe because of that? 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:17.760 Because uh I saw you under the fig tree, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:20.559 You will see greater things than these. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:32.880 And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:38.000 Now, that's a weird phrase. 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:46.880 You'll see the heavens open, and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:49.280 What is what is he talking about there? 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:51.599 That's just an that's an odd phrase. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:59.920 Uh so this uh this is something that an Israelite in whom there is no deceit would recognize. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:05.280 This is a phrase that Nathanael would have recognized, and it comes from a story in Genesis. 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:07.039 This is in Genesis 28. 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:09.199 It's the story of Jacob. 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:15.440 Uh Jacob had just stolen his older brother's birthright. 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:28.079 Uh his older brother's name was Esau, and by lying to his father, he stole his older brother's birthright, and Esau had set himself to seek revenge on Jacob and kill him. 00:35:28.400 --> 00:35:34.320 So Rachel, Jacob's mother, comes to him and says, Hey, you should get out of here because your brother's trying to kill you. 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:36.719 And Jacob says, You're right. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:38.159 I should get out of here. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:48.559 So Jacob is, uh, when this story takes place, he's on the run as a fugitive after having wrongfully acquired his brother's birthright. 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:54.880 And uh while he's running, he gets tired and he finds a place to sleep. 00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:59.280 And this is where uh our connection happens for today's scripture. 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:08.239 Genesis 28, 11 through 12, says, and he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:14.800 Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:29.360 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:33.199 Uh, you know the phrase Jacob's Ladder. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:35.679 It's a Mark Wills song. 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:37.920 My references. 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:42.079 I only reference Wayne's World and 90s country music. 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:47.519 Um but Jacob's Ladder, this is the ladder that goes from heaven to earth. 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.960 And he uh uh this is where we get that phrase. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:53.519 And this is where that phrase, that phrase happens. 00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:55.119 What's happening on Jacob's ladder? 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:58.960 The angels of God are ascending and descending on it. 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:02.239 This is the vision that Jacob has in his dream. 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:07.519 But look at the way that Jesus uses that same phrase. 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:14.960 Jesus doesn't say, you will see the Son of Man ascending and descending with the angels on Jacob's ladder. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:16.960 It's not what Jesus says. 00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:23.920 He says, you will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:30.400 Jesus is saying, Jacob's ladder, that's me. 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:32.960 I'm the ladder. 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.960 I'm the stairway to heaven. 00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:39.280 No stairway denied. 00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:41.039 I told you. 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:47.920 Man, that was a blessing. 00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:59.440 Jesus is saying that thing in Jacob's dream that connected heaven and earth, that's me. 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:05.599 I'm the connection between heaven and earth. 00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:06.800 That's me. 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:09.199 See how Jesus repurposes this phrase? 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:11.360 He says, You'll see greater things than these. 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:15.199 You'll see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:20.320 Jesus is saying to Nathanael, I'm the thing that connects heaven and earth. 00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:24.079 I'm the one who bridges this gap between heaven and earth. 00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:28.480 Jacob's ladder, that vision that Jacob had, that was a vision of me. 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:30.480 And that's what you'll see. 00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.239 It's so much greater than me knowing some fact about you. 00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:38.159 You're going to see the very connection between heaven and earth. 00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:39.920 We'll return to Genesis. 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:43.599 This is that same vision that he has in the dream. 00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:45.840 In Genesis 28, 13 through 15. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.199 It says, and behold, the Lord stood above it. 00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:52.400 That can also be translated as beside it. 00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:56.559 So the Lord either stood above the ladder or beside the ladder. 00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:04.079 And said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:08.719 The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring. 00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:22.559 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:35.840 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:39.760 And then Jacob wakes up from his dream. 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:50.960 In this vision that Jacob is given, uh he he's he's given these just unthinkably great promises. 00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:53.599 Remember where Jacob is right now. 00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:55.760 He's a fugitive on the run. 00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:10.480 And he's homeless, looking for a place to sleep as this fugitive, and that's where God meets him, connecting heaven and earth, and gives him this promise. 00:40:11.280 --> 00:40:13.760 Says, I'm never going to leave you. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:19.599 The promises that I've made to your fathers, I'm going to continue in you. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:23.920 Jacob is the opposite of Nathanael. 00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:28.320 Nathanael is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. 00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:33.679 Jacob's me Jacob's name means the deceiver. 00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:36.239 That's what his name means. 00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:39.599 It means grabber of the heel, but that means to deceive. 00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:44.239 That phrase for some reason fell out of vogue. 00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:57.840 And so we see that God is meeting this person who's the opposite of Jacob in his filth, in this grotesque moment of his life. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:03.920 If ever there was a moment in his life that looked like rock bottom, you know, literally he's using a rock as a pillow. 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:16.559 And uh and God comes down and gives him this vision in this moment, in that ordinary, grotesque moment in his life, God meets Jacob right there. 00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:23.440 And this is uh we've got to zero in on Jacob's response. 00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:26.960