Chi Rho Live Journal

Back in the 70’s there was a movie called “Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind”. Basically the thinking was that there were 3 types of encounters with aliens. The first kind was a sighting. You can see something from far off but not quite grasp it like a UFO. The second kind was physical evidence. Perhaps there was something that you could examine close up left from the presence of the extraterrestrial like goo or something. Then the Third kind is contact – coming face to face with the alien.

Most of us have encountered Jesus in one of the three ways. But what are our expectations when we come into contact with Jesus. Are we in awe? Are we blown away? Or has our understanding of Jesus make our encounter of him casual, as if we don’t expect a lot to happen.

John 1:43-51 contains a story of such an encounter:

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.”

Nathaniel thought he knew everything about what God was doing. In Nathaniel’s opinion nothing good could come out of Nazareth. But Nazareth was small and in the boonies, with about sixteen hundred to two thousand inhabitants. It was just a Podunk town that had no significance in the grand scheme of things. And so, Nathaniel did not expect a messiah to come out of Nazareth. And so he asks, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” And that question still lingers. Sometimes we ask it – is this Jesus worth considering?

When you come to church do you have any expectations? Is there any excitement? Or do you think you have it all figured out? Do you think you know what is going on, that you know who Jesus is, and that he has already finished his work with you? It’s just church. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

But Phillip says, “Come and see.” And so the story continues.

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get 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.”

Do you see the irony in this story? Nathaniel thought he knew Jesus, having never met him. But in reality, it was Jesus who knew everything about Nathaniel. It just took one revelation from Jesus for Nathaniel to change his tune. He went from, “Nothing good can come from Nazareth” to “Rabbi (teacher), you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” All it took was seeing Jesus in a new light to completely reverse his perception about Jesus. He went from thinking he had Jesus all figured out to proclaiming him as the Savior.

But Jesus doesn’t let him off the hook there. He says, you think you know me now? You haven’t seen anything. That vision of you under a tree was just a parlor trick. I will show you more than you can imagine. And he references an Old Testament story often called Jacob’s ladder. Jacob had a vision of angels coming down and going up into heaven on a ladder. And the point is clear – Jesus is bringing a new way to encounter God. Jesus is a new ladder to heaven.

We look at this story and think, “That is kind of nice.” Jesus shows Nathaniel something new and Nathaniel begins following Jesus. But this story touches on a much deeper question – a question you may not have actually thought about and considered, but one that you may have already answered in your minds. The question is simple – Do you believe that Jesus can really do anything else in your life, or is it over? Has he already done it all? After all, most of you are baptized and feel saved like you are going to heaven. Is that it? Do you know everything you need to know about this Jesus and how he works?

As I said, most of us have never verbalized that question, but we live like we know it all. Nothing phases us. We aren’t excited to encounter Jesus in worship anymore. And I believe it is because we have not had a close encounter of the 3rd kind. We have had sightings and have caught a glimpse of Jesus perhaps through singing praises to Him. We see evidence of Jesus by hearing what he has done and reading about him in the Bible. But how about encounters of the 3rd kind – have we really come into contact with Jesus? Have we sought him out?

Seeing Jesus is what Christianity is all about because it leads us to imitate Him. That is why those who encounter Jesus are never the same.

The invitation from Jesus is simple – “Come and See”.

Come and see the rock that has withstood the winds of time.
Come and see the flame that tyrants and dictators have not extinguished.
Come and see the passion that oppression has not squelched
Come and see what Christ has done.
Come and see the changed lives.
Come and see the pierced hand of God touch the most common heart, wipe the tear from the wrinkled face, and forgive the ugliest sin.
Come and see. He avoids no seekers but makes contact.

The invitation is to come and encounter Jesus. Perhaps a closer encounter than you have ever experienced. May we become like Nathaniel and proclaim anew that Jesus is the Son of God and our King.