Second Sunday after the Epiphany: January 14, 2024
The Rev. Nat Johnson
1 Samuel 3:1-20)
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
“Seeing is believing.” It’s a phrase that many of us have heard, and said, many times over in the course of our lives. These words are often spoken from a place of skepticism and disbelief, something more akin to “sure, I’ll believe that when I see it.” And I suspect, for some of us, this colors the way we hear and understand the invitation to “come and see.” It’s as if the path to believing is the evidence of what our own eyes discern and confirm. Far less often, it seems, do we hear this phrase and recognize in it an invitation to “Come and see.”
This was the invitation given to Nathaniel in this morning’s gospel reading. Our story is part of a larger narrative in which John tells us about Jesus gathering his first disciples. We’re first told about two of John the Baptist’s disciples who hear John’s testimony and decide to follow after Jesus. When Jesus sees them, he asks what they’re looking for to which they respond by asking where Jesus is staying. “Come and see,” he replies. Later, Jesus bids Philip to become one of his followers, and then Philip in turn goes and finds Nathaniel, whose skepticism about Jesus’ identity leads him to utter the infamous words: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip responds, “Come and see…”
Nathaniel accepts the invitation and when Jesus engages him, he quickly sheds whatever skepticism he still carried, changes his tune, and proclaims Jesus the Son of God and King of Israel. What did Nathaniel “see” that caused such an about-face? There is a great deal of scholarly and lay speculation about what Nathaniel “saw” that led to such a clear profession of faith. But many of the theories rest on the skepticism of “seeing is believing,” where Nathaniel’s shift in belief comes about because Jesus proved something to him.
I wonder, though, if there isn’t something more to this “seeing” and “believing” business than first meets the eye. Perhaps, what ultimately led to Nathaniel’s confession of faith was not so much what he saw, but what Jesus saw! How might this shift change our understanding of the invitation to “Come and see…”?
Well, at the most obvious level, this would mean that our capacity to “believe” is not tied to evidence seen with our own eyes, but, rather, begins with being held in Jesus’ gaze. In the first letter of John, we are told that we love because Christ first loved us. Nathaniel’s story also suggests that we believe because Jesus first believed in us. Just like he saw Nathaniel, Jesus sees our hearts and our desires, our spiritual depth and those things which hinder our growth. Jesus’ gaze cuts through our self-doubt and our self- aggrandizement. His eyes see a truth that is often hidden from us when we look around at the world – that we are seen and known and loved by God.
Nathaniel’s confession of faith was not uttered on the basis of what he knew, but upon what Jesus knew. Faith isn’t about some elaborate system of proofs that count as “evidence” for believing. Faith itself is a gift from God, one that is not contingent on our own knowledge. For those of us in this time and place, this can be a difficult thing for us to grasp. As Christians over the centuries, particularly in the West, we have forged a deep connection between our knowledge and our faith. In this connection, certainty has become somewhat of a goal for our way of life and our religious commitments. Without certainty, how can we act? How ought we to behave? How do we know we’re on the right path?
To be sure, we ought to question things like how we act and behave, how we engage with others, how we spend our money, etc. It is not that our faith is divorced from knowledge, but rather that knowledge isn’t the basis of our faith. Again, to modern ears, this sounds a bit like blasphemy. After all, we live in a society that tells us knowledge is power. So, to say that faith is untethered from knowledge seems, at the very least, a bit of a misnomer.
After Nathaniel’s confession, Jesus questions, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you? You’re in for even more of a surprise, then! Because I see you,” Jesus tells Nathaniel, “you will see even greater things!” Nathaniel’s (and, presumably the other disciples’) capacity to see even greater things is, once again, not contingent upon his preconceived ideas and notions, but upon the steady and knowing gaze of Jesus. Only when we acknowledge the divine eyes that hold us in their gaze are we able to see the glory of God’s presence in and around us!
In 1972, Elvis Presley released a gospel album with a song on it titled, “Seeing is Believing.” He sings,
Every time I see the sun rise,
Or a mountain that’s so high
Just by seeing is believing
I don’t need to question why
When I see a mighty ocean
That rushes to the shore…
If I ever had cause to doubt Him
I don't doubt Him anymore
Oh seeing, seeing, seeing is believing
And I see him everywhere
In the mountains, in the valley
Yes I know my God is there
Oh, in time I look above me
See the stars that fill the sky
How could there be any question
Only God can reach that high
In a place like the Pacific Northwest, many of us likely resonate with “seeing God” in the beauty of our landscape, the majesty of our mountains, the lush forest canopies. While Jesus’ promise certainly doesn’t preclude “seeing God” in nature, I suspect there was more to what he was saying. As John sets up the narrative trajectory of Jesus’ ministry, the “greater things” to be seen are not in picturesque scenes along a mountain-highway drive. No, the “greater things,” at least in John’s telling of the gospel, points to Jesus’ ministry to bring joy and healing, comfort and sustenance, as he opens the way to abundant life.
Today, I wonder what we, the people of St Peter’s, might hear in the invitation to “Come and see?” How will the gaze of the loving and life-giving Christ change our own vision? What clarity might it offer us as we navigate our present moment in our shared ministry? What prospects bend our hearts toward Jesus’ giddiness of possibility, toward a renewed sense of imagination and excitement? And, what confession might this lead us to make anew in our own time and place?
Perhaps, if we really take Nathaniel’s story to heart, we might also learn how to offer the same invitation to those around us –
Come, come and see what the Lord has done!
Come, come and see how Jesus has healed me!
Come, come and see how God’s love is freely offered!
Come, come and see what real life, what true, what abundant life is!
Come, come and see…