Christmas for Skeptics

Christmas for Skeptics 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

John 1:43-51

The New Testament in a Year sermon series

Rev. Brian North, Westminster Presbyterian, Chehalis, WA

December 11th, 2011

I’d like to confess this morning that I’m president of an organization called Skeptics R Us. Anyone else here who’d like to belong to such an organization? I’m so skeptical, I question whether the organization even exists. You tell me that something happened or that something is true? Show me. Prove it to me. Give me the facts. Back it up. A regular phrase to roll off my lips is, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” And yet here I stand as a pastor, professing faith in Jesus Christ, who many people find it easy to be skeptical of – especially the birth narratives that we recall this time of year. Angels, shepherds, dreams, virgin birth, unusually bright star, visitors from the far east…A lot of it is completely otherworldly stuff. But that’s the exact point of Christmas: that God, who is otherworldly, came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But some people are skeptical of that, and of the rest of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, too. Others of us have come to faith…but we’ve still got some skepticism lingering in us.

Well, this morning, we’re going to meet just such a skeptic. His name is Nathanael. And we’re going to see how he went from being a skeptic, to being a believer in Jesus Christ. Follow along as we read John 1:43-51:

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote: Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

When Philip tells Nathanael they’ve found the one who was prophesied about in the Scriptures, and that it’s Jesus of Nazareth, we immediately see Nathanael’s skeptical response: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael’s question tells us that he is skeptical of this Jesus of Nazareth. There are a couple ways to understand where this skepticism comes from. The first comes from the culture of the day. Around the Sea of Galilee in that day were basically nine little towns, depending on how you define “near the Sea of Galilee.” All but one were essentially at the water’s edge. Nazareth was one of those towns. And between the towns there existed a fair amount of jealousy and rivalry (Barclay, John, vol. 1) which may be what Nathanael is expressing.

We still have that today some. There’s some friendly rivalry between communities such as Chehalis and Centralia, for example. Many of these friendly rivalries come about because of loyalty to schools and their sporting teams, such as between W.F. West and Centralia High Schools. We see this on a larger scale in rivalries between universities, such as the Huskies and the Cougars, UCLA and USC; Stanford and Cal Berkley, Michigan and Ohio State, Florida and Florida State, and so forth. And so we could easily paraphrase Nathanael: “Pullman! Can anything good come from there?” “Montlake! Can anything good come from there?” “Berkeley, Palo Alto, Eugene…Can anything good come from there?” And of course we know that it’s just fun and games, and so forth. Well, this isn’t a new phenomena; rivalries weren’t invented with American institutions of higher learning and their athletic teams: rivalries existed in Jesus’ day between these communities around the Sea of Galilee, and that may be a little bit of what’s behind Nathanael’s skeptical question.

Second, however, Nathanael’s question reveals a deeper, Biblically informed skepticism. He knew his Old Testament – or what they would have simply called the Scriptures. We see this in the fact that Philip came to him and said they’ve found the one about whom the Scriptures prophesied, and Nathanael clearly knew exactly what Philip was referring to. He knows the prophesies. We also see his familiarity with the Old Testament books in Jesus’ statement to Nathanael, when he says, “Here is a true Israelite.” A “true Israelite” knew the Scriptures forward and backward, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Malachi and everything in between. He was probably studying them under that tree when Jesus goes on to say that he saw Nathanael earlier. And in those Scriptures, Nazareth is not mentioned even one time. That’s why he’s skeptical.

The very first mention of Nazareth in the entire Bible is in Matthew chapter 2 – and that hadn’t been written yet. In fact, Nazareth isn’t mentioned anywhere in any historical document, other than the New Testament, prior to the second century A.D.¹ And by the way, in case we’re confused or forgetting, although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he grew up in Nazareth. That’s where Mary and Joseph lived. They were only in Bethlehem because of the national census which required people to return to their family’s “hometown” which for Joseph was Bethlehem. So, nothing great was expected of Nazareth, and certainly not the Messiah. Nathanael knows this, and as a result, he is skeptical about this Jesus of Nazareth.

So, for a skeptic like me, this is a person I can identify with. Here’s a person who doesn’t buy something based on the sales pitch alone. He wants proof. He wants facts. He needs to see some validation. He knows what the Scriptures say, and they don’t say anything about Nazareth, and it’s a rival town, so how could the expected Messiah possibly come from there?

Maybe you have your own skepticisms about Jesus. Maybe you’ve had skeptical thoughts about God, His character, His Word, and His work in this world and in your life. Or perhaps you know someone who is skeptical of Jesus and the Christian faith, and has an attitude much like Nathanael: “Christianity? Can anything good come from there?” “The Bible? Can anything good come from there?” “Jesus? Can anything good come from him?” “Faith? Can anything good come from that?” These are common skepticisms similar to Nathanael’s. But he made the leap of faith, proclaiming on the spot that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel. What happened to bring him around?

Two things happened. One is a human response that you and I can emulate. The second is a response from Jesus. And the two are tied together. First, even though Nathanael is skeptical, his friend Philip isn’t deterred. Nathanael asks the question, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” and Philip responds: “Come and see.” That, my friends, is a response nothing short of genius. Rather than trying to reason with him, to out-think him, to dive into rhetoric and logic, and theological debate, Philip simply says, “Come and see.”

William Barclay, in his commentary on John, writes, “Not very many people have ever been argued into Christianity. Very often our arguments do more harm than good. The only way to convince a [person] of the supremacy of Christ is to confront him with Christ” (William Barclay, John, Vol. 1). That is a challenging statement for me. I love a good theological/philosophical conversation. I think it’s fun to debate the intricacies of Biblical theology, like whether or not infralapsarianism, supralapsarianism or sublapsarianism is the more Biblical view in John Calvin’s doctrine of election. But that stuff is completely useless when sharing the good news of Jesus Christ!! Who really cares!?! That’s not going to help one iota in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Let’s face it, none of us has all the answers…if we waited for perfect knowledge and understanding before coming to faith, we’d never get there. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t study the Bible and live out our faith…but there are some conversations we just aren’t equipped to have. So, my advice is this: Avoid those conversations! Don’t get into a deep theological conversation that puts you on shaky ground. Stick to the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, and simply invite people to come and see.

So, perhaps you’ll have a conversation similar to these:

“I’m really sorry you’re going through this difficult time in your life, I’ll be sure to pray for you.” “Thanks, but why pray? My life’s going down the tube.” “You want to know why I pray? Come and see.”

Or…

“What did you do last night?” “I went to an event at my church and had a blast.” “You had a blast at church? You mean it didn’t put you to sleep?” “No way! Come and see!”

Or…

“Our community sure has gotten depressed because of the recession. Too bad people have such little hope in their lives.” “I’m part of a church that’s buying Christmas gifts for some of those families in the community you’re speaking of, and giving hope in their lives.” “Really? I didn’t know churches were that helpful to people.” “A lot are, including WPC. You should come and see.”

Do we see? It’s genius! Anyone can respond, “Come and see.” It’s so simple we almost look it over. So that’s the first part of what brought Nathanael around from skepticism to faith: Philip simply invited him to “come and see.” And we can do the same, for someone else, or for ourselves. So that’s the first part.

The second stage of Nathanael’s transformation is the work of Jesus in his life once he came and saw. First, Jesus says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Then, Nathanael’s response almost sounds a little pompous: “How did you know me?” Really, if someone just said to me that I am a true Christian, in whom there is nothing false, I would have to quickly correct them. Maybe you’ve got me confused with someone else? I am no perfect human being, and I confess my faults and my sins regularly. But Nathanael just rolls with it, “Oh, how did you know me?”

Jesus then replies, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” And Nathanael responds to that by exclaiming that indeed this Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the King of Israel! In Jesus’ two statements – “Here’s a true Israelite,” and “I saw you under the tree” – somehow in these two statements Nathanael realizes that in fact Jesus is who Philip says he is, and that Jesus really does know him. And that makes all the difference. The skepticism is gone, and it’s now replaced by faith, even if it’s an infant faith, and a faith that has yet to truly see the power of God in his life. It’s a new and burgeoning faith. And this transformation comes about simply because Nathanael realizes that Jesus knows him.

And likewise, Jesus says to each of us, “I see you, and I know you:

• “I see you when you’re weary and burdened. And if you come to me I’ll give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
• “I see you when you’re lonely, but I am with you, even to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
• “I know when you feel poor, but your real treasure is in heaven, safe and secure.” (Matthew 6:19-21).
• “I see you when you grieve, and in those times, I weep with you” (John 11:33-36).
• “I see you when you’re wandering around, lost in the world, but I am always looking for you, ready to receive you back into my arms” (Luke 15:20).
• “I know when you sin and how it troubles you, but I still forgive you” (Mark 2:5).
• “I know that death seems final to you, but even in that day, you’ll be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Jesus knows you. He knows me. He knows our friends and family. He’s been down the same roads we’re going down. He’s faced the same struggles. And he walks right beside us as we journey through life’s ups and downs. And that makes all the difference in changing our skepticism to faith.

This morning and this Christmas, let’s bring our skepticisms to Jesus; let’s come and see this Jesus of Nazareth ourselves, once again, or for the first time. Or let’s be like Philip and invite others to come and see…and allow Jesus to speak into their lives. And then by his grace and mercy, let’s follow Him, knowing that He loves us right where we are; and he welcomes us into his presence – as sinners and as skeptics who he can transform into holy, faith-filled people. His arms are open, from one point of the cross to the other, and he welcomes you and me as he says, “I see you. I know you. Come and see.” Let’s pray…Amen.