[Robinson assigns ‘c 40 – 65+’ as a range of possible dates for the Gospel of John.] Jesus began to gather his first disciples with two sent to him by John the Baptist (John 1:35-37). Jesus’ first conversation with them ends with a simple call: “Come and see” (1:39). One of these two, Andrew, went and got his brother Simon, who got the nickname Peter (1:41-42).

Next came Philip; and then Philip decided to bring his friend Nathanael (1:43-45). Nathanael was the kind of person that most of us would decide not to invite to church: he was the skeptical and sarcastic guy who might be fun at a party, but you know he’d make fun of you if the topic turned to religion. And sure enough, when Philip invited him, Nathanael mocked: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth!” But Philip had already learned how to answer that question: he simply replied “Come and see” (1:46). Clearly this is a sentence we all should memorize: come and see.

When Jesus saw Nathanael, he offered words of commendation: “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” (1:47) – perhaps we might say, “This guy is for real: there’s nothing phony about him.” Nathanael was the kind of person who might be sarcastic, but he would not pretend to agree with you for politeness’ sake: he’d let you know exactly how he feels. And it seems that Jesus likes that about him.

And after just a bit of conversation with Jesus, Nathanael offered an astounding statement of faith: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” (1:49). Whoa, where did that come from? It tells us that even the most cynical person might be far more ready to respond to Jesus than we would ever have guessed.

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Your Spirit is at work in people’s hearts in ways we do not know, O Lord: moving them to a readiness to respond that we would hardly dare to believe. Give us the courage to invite them – to speak up and say “Come and see” – so that they and we can indeed see what you will say and do.

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