Epiphany 2
We are in the season of Epiphany. But what is Epiphany all about? Like we heard last week, in a sense, Epiphany is a continuation of Christmas. It gives us the opportunity to continue to ponder and reflect on just who it was who was born that first Christmas. Epiphany drives home to us the fact that that Baby Who was born is no ordinary Baby but that He is the very God Himself. We heard that in last week’s Gospel--the account of Jesus’ baptism. There we had a manifestation of the Holy Trinity [Mk. 1.10-11]: as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Here is the Holy Spirit! Then we have the voice of the Father: And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.” So the Father speaks about Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity: You are My Son. All three Persons of the Holy Trinity! --And here we see that Jesus, the One baptized, is indeed the very Son of God. That’s an Epiphany! That’s a revelation of who exactly Jesus is. So that One who was born in Bethlehem that first Christmas is no ordinary man but also the Son of God.
We see something similar in the account that we usually associate with Epiphany --the coming of the Wise Men. They studied the stars and they knew, probably from the OT prophet St. Daniel, about the star that would mark the birth of the true King of the Jews, the Savior of the world; and they knew who and exactly what He would do. That’s why they brought the gifts of gold--fit for a king; frankincense--incense like a priest would use carrying out his priestly duties; myrrh--a spice that was used in burial. Here was an epiphany/ revelation of what this child would be and do--He was the one who is both king and priest who would die carrying out His duties. These are no ordinary gifts for a child--but quite fitting for Jesus! These accounts are revelations as to who Jesus is, as to who was born that first Christmas and so we can continue our wonder and amazement of Christmas.
And then in what comes before today’s Gospel, we have Jesus gathering His first disciples --Sts. Andrew, Peter, probably John; and in today’s Gospel we have Jesus calling Sts. Philip and Nathanael. These, too, are amazing Epiphany texts because there we see Jesus revealing Himself to them and calling them to follow Him. And this reminds us that Jesus revealed Himself to us when He called us and brought us to faith. This is why the season of Epiphany also has a theme of missions--Jesus reveals Himself to people as their Savior and God, and He does this through His word and sacrament.
The Epiphany--when Jesus reveals Himself to us in His word and Sacrament as to He really is--calls for a response from us. Our text: The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Notice: as Jesus calls for a response from Philip, “Follow Me”, so too does He call for a response from us as He reveals Himself to us. And there are only two responses--like Philip we can follow Jesus or we can reject Jesus; there is no third option.
But notice something vital here--it is the call of Jesus that begins it all! We are Christians today because Jesus revealed Himself to us in His word and sacrament and called us to follow Him. It is not that Philip first decided to follow Jesus; it is not that Philip took the initiative. But like it was for Philip, so it is also for us. All of us, as Luther points out, cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to Him. The very fact that we are Christians is not because of us or anything in us or who we are; by our sin that we are conceived and born in we do not know God rightly; we do not love Him; we cannot come to Him. That’s why Jesus, by His Holy Spirit at work in the work and Sacrament, comes to us and calls to us “Follow Me”. This is His pure grace and mercy toward us. He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” In this grace and mercy, His call to us in His word and sacrament grabs our heart and will and draws us to Him so that we believe, obey and serve Him.
Following Jesus--that’s being a disciple and that’s what we as Christians are called to do. When Jesus says to us “Follow Me” that means that we are called into a different direction. It means that a change happens in us. When we follow Jesus, we, then, turn our back on everything that we had been doing, everything that we had thought the most important; we turn from all service to ourselves. We were going in one direction; and Jesus calls us to change that direction completely to following Him. Now our focus and attention is on Him--because why? --He is our gracious God and Savior who called us to follow Him!
But this means that being a disciple of Jesus, of following Jesus, will be difficult. The thing is, the world around us and our old sinful nature in us want us to go one way but following Jesus often means going the opposite direction. We, so often, get drawn and pulled into following the way of the world and our own desires. We feel that in ourselves as we feel the temptation to sin--but as we have the Christian in us/ our new self and the Holy Spirit, we struggle and fight against sin. In the struggle that we face day in and day out against sin, let us hear Jesus saying to us once again, personally, Follow Me! Let us remember His grace, love and mercy toward us and where He is leading us--to our heavenly home with Him.
Let’s remember that Jesus says Follow Me! And where did Jesus’ path take Him? It took Him down the path of rejection and suffering. We cannot expect anything different. Following Jesus will not get us the praise and adulation of the world around us and of those not following Jesus. But that doesn’t matter. We are following Jesus, the true God. That’s the glorious thing about this season of Epiphany--lest we forget, that Baby born that first Christmas is also our God, holy, almighty and eternal. When we keep that in mind, the trials and difficulties we face as we follow Him, all pale in comparison to that great joy and blessing we have in following Jesus, even going the path of suffering that He did.
The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” As we follow Jesus, that means what? Not only are we His disciples but we are in a blessed communion with Him. Notice that image of following--it is orderly and a picture of union. We are not all off doing our own thing, but as we follow Jesus we are united with Him and with each other. That’s a picture of the Church, of the communion of saints. We are all following Jesus through this life, going where He has gone. And as we go the path that Jesus has gone, as we follow Him, as we are His disciples, that means that He is not far from us but that we, again, have a glorious fellowship with Him; we are even united with Him. That happened for us in the waters of holy Baptism. Through faith we are most wonderfully united with Jesus. And in a most wonderful and miraculous way, Jesus comes to us in Holy Communion uniting with us as He gives us His very body and blood. He comes to us and in us in a wonderful, miraculous way. As we are in a blessed communion with Him, how can we ever doubt His presence with us? How can we ever doubt that God is dealing with us in love and grace--after all, what He says of His dear Son, He says of us who follow Him and are united with Him by faith and sacramentally [Mk 1.8]: I am well pleased with you.
What great joy we have when we recognize who Jesus is--our God and Savior--and follow Him! That’s the joy Philip had! He couldn’t contain His joy. Our text: Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” In the joy of his new discovery of faith, he cannot contain himself; he cannot keep quiet. Notice, not only does he find Nathanael to tell him that he found the long-awaited Messiah, but he says: We have found the one… Who’s the “we”? Our text gives us a clue: Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Certainly with them Philip had conversed about Jesus and the joy they had in their faith in Jesus. What a tremendous example for us today--let’s talk about Jesus/ the faith as we are with our fellow Christians, not just within the 4 walls of our church but whenever we get together, let us encourage each other as we, in joy, talk about the Lord and His blessings to us. As Jesus and the faith become a natural part of our conversations with our fellow Christians, then it will be easier to tell unbelievers the good news about Jesus!
Nathanael was not easily persuaded that Jesus the long-promised Savior: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to [Philip], “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see!” Philip told him. And here is also something vital for us to remember--Philip didn’t simply have a “feeling” that Jesus was the Savior. His certainty was based on the OT Scripture: We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote. And now Nathanael, too, wanted to be guided by Scripture: He knew his prophecies. He knew the Savior was to come from David’s town of Bethlehem, not from Nazareth.
Nathanael said to [Philip], “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see!” Philip told him. This, too, is what the Christian does. Our lives as Christians are one of constantly coming and seeing Jesus. Here Philip told Nathanael to go and see and hear the things that Jesus was saying and doing. That would convince him that Jesus is who He said He is. By coming and seeing Nathanael would put himself in the position of a disciple--where he can see and hear Jesus at all times. That’s what we, too, dear Christian are invited to do--and precisely this is part and parcel of the life of a Christian/ a disciple. We place ourselves where Jesus has promised to be and meet us--His word and Sacrament; here in church. Each time we gather around our Lord’s word, there He is teaching us and leading us more deeply into the faith to firmly ground us in the faith. We hear Jesus in/with His word strengthening and encouraging us in the faith as He continues to reveal to us who He is and what He has done for us and is doing for us. We hear Jesus speak to us the words of absolution: I forgive you all of your sins. And in the Holy Supper as we eat His body and drink His blood we can literally say with the psalmist [Ps 34.8]: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Our coming and seeing is a constant in our life as a disciple. Where Jesus is, there we will be too. Our faith is not grounded on our thoughts and feelings but on the sure and certain word of God--that very word of God which reveals Jesus to us and gives us the fruit and blessing of His work. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see!” Philip told Nathanael to get rid of his preconceived notions and to go to Jesus and hear His word and see His works! There he will see Jesus is the one the OT prophets have prophesied.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Jesus here shows that He is the all-knowing and all present God who knew his thoughts. Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Nathanael found in Jesus all he desired. Jesus truly satisfied the longing of his soul. The same happens to us as Jesus reveals Himself to us in His word and sacrament. There all our longings are stilled and emptiness filled. Truly a blessed Epiphany. INJ