Transcribed by Beluga AI.
What a special thing that God is doing at the ranch. We met Ron through Jim some time ago. And then one by one, we’re meeting the new brothers. Just praise the Lord for what he’s doing. And it is going to be a special day for Alfonso and for all the men as they move towards graduation and back into society. It’s going to be a blessing for all of us.
Please open your Bible with me to John, chapter one. We studied Apostle John’s final letters, first, second, 3 John. And now we’re going to look at the Gospel of John,which was written just prior to those letters.
And if you don’t know Jesus yet, I encourage you to read the Gospel of John. That’s a great place to start.
John 1:14. I’ll read that one verse and then we’ll pray. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,full of grace and truth.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray. Father, you know that as sinners separated from you, and lost and proud and confused and angry and idolatrous, you know that all humanity needs grace upon grace. Thank you for sending Jesus, who is full of grace and full of truth.
We pray that the truth of your Word would set us free. We pray that you meet us. We open up our hearts wide. Jesus, you are the living Word. We pray that you meet us. Lord, we invite you into this place. Holy Spirit, have your way. Soften our hearts even now. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Why do we read the Bible? Why do we come to church and listen to a sermon? I want to read to you another very, very important verse from the Gospel of John. John 5:39-40.
It says you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about Me. Yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39-40, ESV)
So if you can put it in your own words, why do we read the Bible and listen to a sermon based on John 1:14 and John 5:38-40?
To meet Jesus. Amen.
To meet Jesus,to come to Jesus, and to receive from Jesus life, not just life in this world, but eternal life for the next life.
A lot of times, people confuse, get a confusing message, maybe from churches or maybe their own misunderstanding, that they read the Bible and they think it’s a book of principles and rules and truths, but it simply is not that.
Jesus himself, in John 1, says he is the Word, he is the Word of God. And so everything in Scripture is a reflection, a pointer to Jesus Christ.
And so when we read the Bible, we are not coming with our brain to gather facts as you do in school, like you read a textbook and you’re learning the material and you’re going to get tested and you’re going to regurgitate the material for the test.
Reading the Bible, listening to a sermon is entirely different. We don’t come with primarily our head, academically,intellectually. We’re coming with our heart.
And that’s why I say at the beginning, let’s open up our hearts wide. And Jesus wants to meet us because he is the Word.
And so I want to go through the Gospel of John, however long it takes, and just focus on meeting Jesus and looking at the various people who had encounters with Jesus.
Like, what state were they in? What was their background? What were they doing prior to meeting Jesus? There’s something going on in their lives. And then on a particular day, Jesus came and met them, and their hearts were prepared, and there was salvation that happened for them in that moment.
So who is Jesus? John 1:14. He is the Word that became flesh. He dwelt among us.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)
He was a historical figure. He lived in A.D. 0. The whole calendar was reset by the birth of this man. He is that consequential, that monumental. He is a towering figure in history.
Can it be said of any other person that the calendar is set around your birth? He is that important. And this person came,and he came full of grace and truth. You got to have both if you’re going to know Jesus.
Jesus is, you might think, he’s all grace, and he accepts you as you are. And we’ll see that he does meet people in various places. He meets you where you are, but he doesn’t leave you there.
Gradually, he shines the truth of his word to set you free. And that grace that you received is a power to change so that over time, you look more and more like Jesus.
So the first encounter I want to talk about is John 1:15. John bore witness about him and cried out. This was he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.
For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father’s side. He has made him known.
And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then are you, Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And he answered, no.
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. 19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” (John 1:15-21, ESV)
So they said to him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said.
22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:22-23, ESV)
John the Baptist is a second cousin of Jesus. Jesus’ mother Mary and John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth were cousins. And so they are second cousins.
And from an early age, and actually from the womb, we read about John the Baptist having a special anointing. When Elizabeth, who was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, heard Mary’s voice, the John the Baptist in the womb leapt for joy.
John the Baptist is a special man. He had a calling from birth. He was called, you could say, even from the womb. When he grew up to be an adult, he didn’t have a typical path. He went out into the wilderness.
He wore camel’s hair for clothing. He put a belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and honey.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. (Mark 1:6, ESV)
He’s an unusual man. He’s a prophet of God. And if you read about the prophets in the Old Testament, they all had the same calling, in a sense. They were saying to the people, you have fallen away and prepare yourself and return to the Lord and make straight path for the Lord and return to the Lord and meet the Lord. And the Messiah is coming. And one day he will come.
And John the Baptist is in line with all of these Old Testament prophets, but he is unique because he is the only prophet, in a sense, from the Old Testament model or mold. From before him, there were all the prophets. Then, after Malachi, 400 years of silence, and God calls a prophet again before Jesus arrived.
So, in a sense, he is in that same mold, that same pattern from the Old Testament. He is that kind of a prophet. The Messiah is coming. Make a straight way of the Lord.
But John the Baptist is unique in that he actually saw the Messiah for himself. And that takes a lot of faith.
This is a serious man. This is a serious man to live the way he did, to do the kind of ministry he did. He did a ministry of baptizing people in the Jordan River. And that was a symbol of repentance. He was preparing the people through repentance.
You need to prepare your heart to meet the Lord. He’s a serious man who lived like this, who fasted in the wilderness.
And he was like a voice from the wilderness. He’s an Old Testament prophet. He lived an unusual life. You could say, in a sense, he was preparing himself. Not only the people, he was preparing himself that one day he too would meet Jesus face to face.
And so the one point for today is, let’s become seekers of Jesus that we may meet him over and over again. John the Baptist was a serious seeker of the coming Messiah. And then one day he met him and his life changed. Make straight the way of the Lord.
It’s a reference to Isaiah 40:3. I’ll read that.
A voice cries in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. And uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5, ESV)
Jesus meets people in the valleys. And you might be in a valley today where you’re depressed. And when you’re depressed, what do you do? You look down and Jesus could be standing right in your face and you don’t see him because your head is down. So that valley has to be filled up, that depression has to be repented of.
And there needs to be encouragement for that, for that person in the valley. And the whole purpose of filling up that valley is for that head to be raised up so that when Jesus shows up, you see him. Jesus meets people in the valley.
And so, if that’s you, Jesus wants to meet you. Repent of the depression, repent of the self-centeredness, the self-pity, the victim complex, whatever it is, repent of that so that your head can lift up and Jesus, you can see him coming for you.
Jesus meets people on the top of a mountain, and what do you do? you’ve trained your whole life to make it to the top. You went for the top school, you went for the top job, you went for the top titles and positions in this world, and you made it.
And now you’re looking down on everybody else because you think you’re better. You think you’ve made it. You have life figured out. Again, you’re looking down. Jesus is above the mountain. He is coming from heaven. He is the Son of God. He is above any mountaintop.
So if you’re looking down on others because you reach the mountain, you still will miss Jesus. You still will miss him. So there’s a different repentance, a different preparation for those who are on the mountaintop.
We need to repent of our pride, our arrogance, our judgment, our selfish ambition, our vain conceit. All the sins that were a part of your journey to make it to the top of the mountain.
Those things you have to prepare to meet Jesus by repentance. Repenting of the pride, the selfish ambition, the vain conceit, the judgmental heart. So that instead of looking down on other people, you look up and see Jesus is coming for you.
All the uneven ground, all the roughness, all the distraction, all the tripping, and should I try this, should I try that? And just all the crookedness in our heart that makes it so that Jesus is there, but you’re just constantly swerving left and right and you can’t see him.
All of those distractions, all of those crookedness need to be repented of, our head raised up high, and Jesus is there for you. It’s all preparation. John the Baptist is saying, here is how you prepare to meet Jesus. I’ve been preparing my whole life. I’m preparing the people. And now the Messiah has come.
John 1:24. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, then why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them, I baptize with water, but among you stands one. You do not know even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:24-27, ESV)
I love the humility of John the Baptist. And may all Christian leaders exemplify the humility of somebody who knows it’s not about them.
He says, I’m just the voice. Don’t even look to me. I’m just the voice. All these people are coming, flocking to the Jordan River to get baptized. I have a following. It looks impressive, but it’s not about me. I’m not Elijah. Don’t elevate me like that. I’m just a voice.
And then he says, the one who comes after me, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I’m not even. I can’t even tie a shoelace. I’m not even worthy to touch his feet.
The humility of John the Baptist is remarkable. That’s why Jesus says, of all prophets, John the Baptist is the greatest. How do you become the greatest in the kingdom of God? You become the least and the last. Then you become the greatest in the kingdom of God.
And then here we have John the Baptist’s testimony in verse 29. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me. I myself did not know him. But for this purpose I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel.
And John bore witness. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remained on him. I myself did not know him. But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34, ESV)
We know that to Zechariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s parents, they were visited by angelic beings, angels, Gabriel. And so there was a special call upon this man’s life. And even John the Baptist had his own moment that somebody visited him one day and called him into this kind of a ministry.
And so if you want to do ministry in some kind of official capacity, some kind of a full-time way, it is not our choice. It is really not our choice. You have to have a moment like this when somebody, and now we know who that somebody is, Jesus, has to come and has to commission you for that task.
You cannot do it just because, as a youth, at a youth rally, your heart was moved and you just wanted to serve the Lord, or you heard a message and it stirred you, and that’s why you went into full-time ministry.
There has to be that moment that somebody comes knocking at your door or the door of your heart and calls you, and it’s not your choice. And even then, you probably resisted him and said, I don’t want to do this. This is too much of a calling.
Like Moses didn’t want to do this. He saw the burning bush. He was called to the task of being the deliverer, a foreshadowing of Jesus calling the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Anyone who is called of God has to have these moments.
This moment that Jesus comes knocking on your door and says, you must do this. And whether you want to or not, eventually we relent, we surrender and say, okay, Lord. So be it. It is not our choice. It is not our choice.
So listen, for pastors, when you give them your ear, do they have this type of calling? They have to have it. We have to have this in order to do this. Otherwise, we’re going to give up. Otherwise, we’re going to mess up.
Otherwise we’re going to disgrace the name of God in an official way, because we never should have been in that position. So many people in God’s church, they disgrace the name of God because they were never called. They were disqualified early on and they still kept going.
And later on the scandal comes out and God’s church is in disarray and God’s name is pushed through the mud, dragged through the mud. It’s because people who should not, who are never called, are occupying these offices. It’s a very weighty thing when God calls you.
And John the Baptist, he knew Jesus. It’s his cousin. He knew Jesus from birth. They had family gatherings. But he didn’t know Jesus personally, the way Jesus was wanting to reveal himself as the Son of God, until many, many years later.
Even Jesus’ brothers, they grew up with Jesus. They didn’t have faith in him. Jude didn’t have faith in him. James didn’t have faith in him. But later on, they believed Jesus after he died and he resurrected and they saw him face to face.
Even his own brothers, who doubted while Jesus was alive, after the resurrection, they became followers of Jesus. They believed him.
John the Baptist had his moment when the scales of unbelief fell off, and he saw Jesus for who he is. He said, on this particular day, I saw the Holy Spirit descend. He’s seeing with his eyes the Spirit of God descend upon this man that he is baptizing.
And he knows he’s unworthy. But Jesus says no. To fulfill righteousness, please, you must baptize me. And Jesus was identifying himself in that moment with sinful humanity.
Yes, this baptism of repentance, I too will go. Not because I’m a sinner, but because I’m identifying with sinful humanity. Please baptize me, John.
And Jesus gets baptized. And John the Baptist witnesses this miraculous spirit descending. That’s when he knew Jesus is more than my cousin. He is the Son of God.
We all will have a moment when Jesus becomes the Son of God for you. Maybe you’ve never heard of Jesus, or maybe you heard of Jesus because you grew up in your church your whole life.
But there will come a moment, maybe not like John the Baptist, but a moment when your eyes will open and you will see for yourself. He is the Son of God, and I must follow him. I must give my life for him. It’s the least I can do.
He saves me from my sin. I want to live for him. There will come a moment for every churchgoer, for every seeker that you will meet him. And just because you met him once doesn’t mean we stop seeking him.
If he is the Word of God, then every time we open the Bible, every time we hear a sermon, it’s an opportunity to meet Jesus.
John 1:35. The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this and they followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, what are you seeking? And they said to him, rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?
He said to them, come and you will see. So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter ). (John 1:35-42, ESV)
John the Baptist had his ministry. It was thriving before Jesus came. And then as soon as Jesus came, the disciples of John the Baptist stopped following John and started following Jesus. And if it was all about John the Baptist, he’d be really upset.
Why is my ministry shrinking? Why are they all leaving me? I’ve given my whole life for this ministry, this baptism of repentance to prepare God’s people. Why are they leaving me? Why are they following my cousin? He could have been really upset that his ministry pretty much from this, from that moment, is shutting down.
But John the Baptist is the real deal because he knows it’s all about following Jesus. And so if all of you become followers of Jesus and you follow Jesus outside the door, out the door, and you start your own thing, or you go and you do your own ministry, am I going to be upset?
If it’s about Ray and building up this church numerically in terms of influence, then I will be upset. And membership is important. And how dare you break the covenant of membership?
I could think that way, or I could be like John the Baptist and say, it’s not about Ray or Hill Community or membership. These are just. While you’re here, as long as God allows you to be here.
But if you’re a follower of Jesus and Jesus leads you out the door, and I know it’s for the right reason, I know you’re following Jesus, and I bless you. I will be so happy. I’ll be so happy. Because it’s not about staying loyal to me or sticking with me. That’s not the purpose.
We are all being trained to follow Jesus, and we can all be scattered in the end, and that’s okay. John the Baptist is showing us what Christian leadership should look like.
The two disciples that John the Baptist trained up through repentance were ready to meet Jesus. One of them was Andrew. Was it Andrew? Yes, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. The first thing he did was to go after Simon Peter.
And so maybe the first time you hear about Jesus is you meet a follower of Jesus who says, you gotta meet Jesus. And so if you’re saved, the first place your heart usually should go is your family.
If you met Jesus, the Messiah, and you love your family, why would you not tell them? Of course you would tell them. Of course you would tell your friends, you gotta meet Jesus.
And so if we don’t have this evangelistic fervor, maybe we’re not meeting Jesus. Well, if we’re so excited to meet Jesus, we’d want to tell our family, we’d want to tell our friends.
The fact that we’re silent, the fact that we’re not evangelizing, is maybe a barometer. It shows our spiritual temperature. Maybe our heart has grown cold. We know Jesus is the answer, but we’re not seeking him regularly, and so our heart has grown cold.
We’re a follower of Jesus, but he’s way down the road, and we’re trying to catch up. And a lot of times we don’t. See, he made a turn, and we made the opposite turn, or we just keep going straight. So maybe because we’re not following closely, we don’t evangelize.
We’re not as excited as Andrew, who shared to his brother and said, you got to meet Jesus. And these two disciples said, where are you staying? They just want to be with Jesus.
And did you ever wonder, like, who’s this other guy? We know Andrew. He’s one of the apostles. Who’s the other guy? Is he a less mature, immature follower of Jesus? And so he doesn’t follow as closely, as seriously as Andrew? Maybe he wasn’t trained as well by John the Baptist, as Andrew was. And so he didn’t follow.
Like, who is this man? Could it be Apostle John? Could it be Apostle John? Because he is writing this gospel. This detail is not included in the other three gospels. John the Baptist is also very humble. He doesn’t like to insert his name.
He even calls himself a beloved disciple. He doesn’t like bringing attention to himself. He’s that humble. He loves Jesus. He wants Jesus to get all the credit and all the glory. He just disappears into the background.
Could it be that this other disciple of John the Baptist who now switches his allegiance to Jesus is none other than Apostle John? I think it could be. I think it really could be.
The last person who met Jesus in this chapter is Nathanael, verse 43. 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 Philip and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him, of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Nathanael said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit.
Nathanael said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.
Jesus answered him, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascend and descend on the Son of Man.
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:43-51, ESV)
Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree. We don’t know exactly what he was doing.If I were to guess what you would be doing sitting under a tree, it is you’re wondering about what the purpose of life is. I think it’s a philosophical moment for Nathaniel. He’s thinking about,like, what am I doing here? What’s the purpose of life?
And you might be like Nathaniel. you’re not a seeker of Jesus yet, but you’re getting to an age and a stage of your life. You’re starting to wonder, is the purpose of my life just to get into a school?
And then you get into a school, and then what’s the purpose? Is it to get a job? And then you get a job, and then what’s the purpose? Is it to get married? And then you get married, and then what’s the purpose? To have children? And then you have children, and you have more children, and what’s the purpose of having children? To get old, to have grandchildren.
Eventually, you run out of time, and you die. What’s the purpose? This world will tell you there is no purpose. You’re just an accident. Big bang. Evolution. If you believe that, you’re just an accident. There is no God. You live, you die, and that’s it. The music is turned off, the lights are dimmed, and that’s it. How depressing of a worldview that is.
Nathaniel, if I were just to wonder, what would you do sitting under a fig tree? You’d be thinking, why am I here on Earth? And they didn’t have drones back then. But Jesus saw Nathanael under a fig tree.
He knew Nathaniel was struggling with the meaning of life.And to this seeker of truth, Jesus, who is the truth,sought him out and met him on this day. What I love about Nathaniel is that Jesus says of him in a verse.
Actually, Nathaniel first says—I don’t know if it’s the verse I read. Maybe it’s before. Ah, first he says, when he hears that Jesus is from Nazareth,he says, can anything good come from Nazareth?
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:46, ESV)
Nazareth had a bad reputation. It’s like New Jersey. New Jersey. Can anything good come out of New Jersey?It’s called the armpit of America. Can anything good come out of Kansas City? I don’t think so. [Philadelphia Eagles will play against Kansas City Chiefs in the upcoming Superbowl.]
Why would Jesus choose to come out of a city with a reputation like this? He didn’t come from the most impressive city. He was a king of kings. And yet he didn’t come as a king. He didn’t come from Galilee or from Rome, from a city of renown.
He came from this little rural place that everybody looks down on with a bad reputation. He comes as a carpenter. He doesn’t have anything impressive, nothing that we should esteem him.
He is so humble in all of his ways,and yet he is disguising himself. And for those who have eyes to see, he reveals that I am the Word that was in the beginning. I am God himself. God in the flesh, the Word who has become flesh.
It’s all on purpose. Jesus chose the lowliest city to come from because he’s telling his disciples, you, too, must lower yourself. Humble yourself if you want to follow me.
And I love the description of Nathanael. Jesus says of him because he knows all of our hearts, behold an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47, ESV)
If Jesus were to give a one-line summary as he looks into your heart, what would he say of you? What would he say of you? Because he sees your heart. He is your Creator after all. He sees everything. What would be the one-line summary statement of your life? That’s something for you to wrestle with.
I love this description of Nathaniel. I see why God chose him to be someone in whom there is no guile, no deceit, no pretense, no mask, no hypocrisy. He is who he projects himself to be. That’s a great start to becoming a disciple of Jesus. When you repent, the mountains are made low.
When you’re on the top of the mountain, you feel like you are better than you actually are. You bring yourself low. When you’re in a valley, you think you’re unworthy. That valley needs to be filled in. You are much worthy than you think.
The crookedness, the rough places need to be made level and straightened out. You are worth Jesus’ life and his death. You are precious in his sight.
May it be said of all of us, there is no deceit. And when you come to Jesus, you have to let go of all the deceit, all the pretense, and you come to Jesus cleanly, honestly, and you say, this is who I am. You already know who I am. Now let me just confess it with my mouth. You know who I am. You know my heart.
This is who I am. This is how we start a relationship with Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want to interact with a projection of yourself. He wants to meet the real you. And so repentance is, here I am.
With all the mess, all the sin, all the dirt, here I am. I come clean. You already know me anyway. I don’t have to pretend to be better than I am. I’m a lot worthier than the valley. Jesus just wants to meet you where you are.
So let’s prepare over the course of the next few weeks or months, as we go through various encounters with Jesus through the Gospel of John. Let’s prepare our hearts through repentance so that we can meet him and become a seeker who meets him over and over again.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we thank you for John the Baptist and how he prepared not only the people, but he prepared himself his whole life to meet you. Thank you that through repentance, those of us who are on the mountaintop who are proud and look down on others.
We can repent of all our pride, all of our arrogance, all of our selfish ambitions. We come down from the mountain and lift up our head and see Jesus. We thank you that you meet people who are in the valley, who are depressed, who are broken and who know they’re broken.
Who feel unworthy and guilty and condemned. We thank you that we can repent of these sins as well. The victim complex, the self pity party, the narcissism, the wallowing in our emotions. All of these we can repent of. These valleys can be filled up.
We can lift up our head and meet Jesus. All the crookedness in us, all the rough patches, all the distractions. We can repent of these as well and lift up our head, look straight ahead and meet Jesus.
Jesus, you are full of grace and truth. We thank you that you lead with grace. Sinners like us would would not do well if you came at us with truth. Thank you that you lead with grace. You’re full of grace. You show us grace upon grace. We need it, Lord. We need so much grace.
Thank you that you don’t stop there. You also tell us to leave our lives of sin. You show us the truth. Because you are the truth, Lord. From this day forward we commit that we want to be a follower of Jesus.
We want to be a seeker of Jesus. You are the Word of God. Every time we open up Scripture and listen to a message,we have a chance to encounter the real living word, Jesus Christ.
Jesus, we want to meet you this day. We open up our hearts wide. We pray that you would meet us. We thank you that your body was broken for us, in your blood that was shed. Thank you Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.