January 14th, 2024 

Sermon Text John 1: 43-51

Most of us would hope that we are not gullible people. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements trying to twist the truth of their products to entice us to buy things. We receive messages from all over the world promising wealth, health, and happiness if we just buy their product, send them some money, or do what they tell us. We have learned to be sceptical of such things. We wish to protect ourselves from being taken advantage of. We are careful before we believe the hype around the news of the day. We have discovered that the best defense from becoming another gullible story is knowledge. When someone around us makes a claim that seems too good to be true, we do our research. We check it out. First, we see it for ourselves and consider the evidence, and only after do we believe them. Nathaniel is just like you and me; he will not believe something unless he has good reason to. He is not a gullible person. Philip receives the call of Jesus to follow him in faith, and Philip invites Nathaniel to follow in faith as well. Nathaniel, however, is not so quick to agree. He is understandably sceptical. Something in Philip's story does not make sense. He can see that Phillip has faith in Jesus, but Nathaniel wisely checks the evidence. Phillip Clains that this JEsus of Nazareth is the one Moses and the Prophets had written about. In other words, Philip presents Jesus of Nazareth as the Promised One, the Messiah, and the Saviour of God's people. Yet, Nathaniel doubts this instantly. 

Nathaniel knows the Scriptures well. He is, after all, sitting under a fig tree which may have been because in those days there was a tradition of rabbis and other theologians sitting under fig trees to study the Holy Scriptures since these trees provided a favourable environment for study. Whether he was studying the Scriptures in that moment or not, he had ample knowledge of the Scriptures and quickly fact-checked Philip's claim. There was no reference to the Messiah coming from Nazareth in Moses or the Prophets. Nathaniel had nothing against Nazareth, but if Philip is claiming to have found the Messiah who had come from there... well, then Nathaniel couldn't believe this. Bethlehem yes, but not Nazareth. And so, Nathaniel remains in doubt. 

Philip wisely doesn't try to argue with him, he only invites him to come and see. Nathaniel must go and check the facts for himself by speaking to Jesus. And so, Nathaniel goes and is forever changed. Jesus sees Nathaniel before he even arrives and addresses him as a truthful Israelite. A nice compliment, yet Nathaniel will not let this sway him. Little did he know that in just a few he would also confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Nathaniel is not a gullible person, and so asks for evidence as to how Jesus knows him. Jesus, as true God, then demonstrates His being all-knowing by describing Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree before they met. This seems to do it for Nathaniel. The sceptic is convinced. While we may or may not think this is enough evidence, there is no accounting for the impact of being in Jesus' presence and having Him speak to you. We know from the Scriptures that it is never the amount of evidence that convinces someone to trust Jesus but rather the work of the Holy Spirit. For Nathaniel, this is what happens, and he then confesses Jesus to be his Teacher, the very Son of God and the King of Israel! He didn't need any more proof because he was hearing the very words of Jesus. 

Nathaniel was not a gullible person. Jesus promises Nathaniel that he will see even more proof in the time ahead. Jesus was true to His word. We can't know all that Nathaniel saw in his lifetime, but we know he saw the miracles of healing, preaching, demonic exorcism, the words of absolution to sinners, the cross, and the empty tomb. Jesus never stopped giving Nathaniel evidence of who He was and why Nathaniel could follow him. The proof was always before Nathaniel, and in response, Nathaniel continued to confess to the world that Jesus was the Son of God. Now, what does all this mean for us? Well, we learn that not only is Jesus the Son of God and the King of Israel, but that we are not gullible people for believing it. Nathaniel is like us- a bit of a sceptic, and so guards against being gullible through careful use of Holy Scripture. God invites us sceptics to come and see as Nathaniel was invited to by Philip. We are invited to see Jesus, not through the eyes of our personal feelings, but through the eyes of Holy Scripture. 

God has always invited His people to trust Him based on the evidence. He invited the Israelites to receive His Holy Law because He was the God who had brought them out of Egypt. He commanded the people of Israel to follow Him because he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus tells John the Baptist to look at His works of healing and preaching to strengthen John's faith. Jesus shows His hands and side to Thomas. Finally, Jesus' own apostles continue this invitation by inviting all those who hear them to believe because of their eyewitness testimony. Yes, it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we and Nathaniel believe, but it comes about through the witness of the Scriptures. No, we are not gullible people, but believe in what we have heard and seen in God's Word of truth.  We also learn the remedy for our doubt in this account. Nathaniel did well to study the Scriptures and to know it so well. So should we. How else will we avoid gullibly falling for the false messiahs that come along? Yet, the remedy for our doubt is not to study on our own, pray harder, go on some pilgrimage, or anything else that we canconcoct to find God. The solution to our doubt is to have Jesus Speak to us. Nathaniel, you see, does not follow Jesus because of his own careful examination of Jesu. Instead, Jesus comes to him, engages Nathaniel with His own words and removes Nathaniel's doubt. The same is true for us. Our doubt is remedied through receiving Jesus who comes to us in His Holy Word that is read, preached and meditated upon. We are invited to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Word. Not as some spiritual exercise to advance ourselves towards God, but as the place where God will bless us through that Word so faith in Jesus might be strengthened. In addition, we receive Jesus as we partake of His body and blood in the Holy Sacrament. We can come and see Him when we eat and drink that sacred meal for life and salvation. Even now, we are invited to come and see through Word and Sacrament so that we can join Nathaniel in worshipping Jesus as the Son of God. 

One other thing to note is that Jesus is not a gullible person either. Jesus saw Nathaniel before Nahaniel ever saw Jesus. Furthermore, when Jesus sees Nathaniel He sees him in his entirety. Jesus rightly describes Nathaniel as an Israelite who was full of truth in a foreshadowing of the confession that Nathaniel would make about Jesus. To be sure, He also saw Nathaniel would make about Jesus. To be sure, He also saw Nathaniel as a sinner. Nathaniel, as wise as he was, as devoted as he was, was still one who had fallen short of the glory of God. There would have been no point in Nathaniel trying to pass himself off as someone deserving of the honor of following Jesus. Nathaniel didn't deserve it and Jesus could see that too. He can see that  about you as well. Jesus is not gullible to be misled by our self-righteousness and sees us where we sit too, including our sins. Yet, as He called Nathaniel to faith, He calls us too. He does this only because He is not only all-knowing, but also all-merciful. His mercy extends to not only to the wise, but even and especially to the gullible. His forgiveness is for Nathaniel, and it is for us too.

No one wants to be a gullible person. And what we see in Nathaniel this day, we see that Jesus can cure us of our doubt, even the doubt of a sceptic. When we see Jesus, we see the all-seeing Son of God who mercifully calls all of us to follow Him in the way that leads to eternal Life. 

Amen. 

Sermon Read by Lance Ostrom.