Rev. Ann Pittman
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.’
Just a heads up… for
this lenten lesson, you'll need to make sure you read the John text first (it’s
above).
Philip is great. I see some of myself
in Philip. From this text we ascertain that he's read his history books and
knows his faith story. I like it when people have read their testaments.
Both of them.
All of them.
Not just the parts that suit an
obscure political agenda… (#homosexualityisonlyin6bibleverses).
Philip's belief in his faith story is
so integrated into his personal narrative that when Jesus calls him, not only
does Philip follow him, but he recruits his friends. Philip knows a good thing
when he sees it, and invites others to check it out. He is the best kind of
friend.
"I found this great new
restaurant on East 7th - you gotta try it." Or, "I found the Messiah
we've been waiting for, you have to meet him!"
I like Nathanael too, whom I see a
little of myself in as well. He's kind of like your sassy gay friend who's
perfect at calling things like they are: a spade's a spade, and an unfortunate
haircut is an unfortunate haircut.
Most sentences tend to start with
"please" as a subtle reminder that the hearer needs to check in with
reality. "Please, you think anything decent ever came from Nazareth?"
or "Please, you don't know me!"
That's Nathanael.
Kind of a skeptic, but when an
encounter with Christ shuts him up, he's quick to open his mouth back up again
to sing the truth. "You guys, he's not just the King of Israel,
he's the Son of God!" Superlatives are never beyond a sassy gay friend.
And I kinda feel like Jesus responds
back to Nathanael with a little bit of that aforementioned attitude except
smothered in excitement: "Please, you think you know who I am just cause I
can see the past? Listen to this. I can see the future too. And there are
angels there."
What?
And then there's the real me. The
silent observer. The person reading this story almost two millennia later and
with a post-enlightenment worldview thinking, "What the...?" Angels
are gonna go up and down from earth into heaven? I thought angels weren't real?
These men are gonna follow Jesus when messiahs were a dime a dozen in those
days? And why were these men always waiting for someone to save them?
Take some initiative, boys.
"Save yourself!" I want to
holler at the text. Honestly, someone go give them the "American dream,
pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you can change the world" pep talk.
The Israelites were always waiting for God to send someone. Waiting for someone
to rescue them from political mayhem. Waiting for someone to annihilate their
enemies with some form of war or genocide.
The Bible is difficult.
But so is Jesus.
Because Jesus didn't come to get rid
of Rome. Instead, he said "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's."
Jesus didn't come for war. Instead,
when he was being arrested and Peter whipped out his sword for battle taking a
swing at the guard (missing his neck, but catching the ear!), Jesus healed the
guard (just stuck that ear right back on there).
Jesus didn't come to make a nation of
the Jewish population. Instead, he took his message to all the
"unclean" Jews that the "clean" Jews had kicked out (the
lepers, prostitutes, mentally ill, etc.) and also preached to the
"non-Jews" (the Gentile people). Jesus talked about Jewish trees and
grafting in new trees, and all of a sudden, the remnant of Israel, the root of
Jesse is growing all kinds of fruit it never had on it before.
Because Jesus turns everything
around, and then he turns to fix his gaze on the cross. But instead of
slaughtering the oppressive Romans with some heinous plague or pushing down
columns to crumble the Colosseum…
Jesus slaughters himself.
His body crumbles under the weight of
suffocation. And it is Jesus who
is carried to the grave.
So, where will you go for your faith?
Thoughts? Objections?
Rev. Ann Catherine Pittman is a freelance writer, actor and itinerant preacher. She currently lives in Colorado with her fiancee where they host retreats for American playwrights. She is also the interim Artistic Director for First Austin’s Trinity Street Players. Learn more at her website annpittman.com or follow her author page on Facebook.
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