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 not invite: skeptical and sarcastic. When Philip invited him, Nathanael mocked: “Can anything good come from 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 a true Israelite; there is no deceit in him!” (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’ll 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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… they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken (Micah 4:3-4).
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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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