A Standing Invitation
A STANDING INVITATION
JOHN 1:43-46 NKJV
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and 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 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus found Phillip and issued an invitation, "follow Me."
Jesus did not force Phillip. He did not push him. Jesus simply said follow Me. And Phillip complied.
Jesus found Phillip, and then Phillip found Nathanael. Phillip was excited because of Jesus. To Phillip, Jesus was the One that the scriptures foretold as coming. Phillip called Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. At this point, Phillip did not recognize Jesus as the Son of God.
Nathanael was skeptical. He completely missed that the scriptures pointed to this Jesus. He got caught up in where Jesus was from. Can anything good come from a backwater town like Nazareth?
Plus, the fact that Jesus was raised in Galilee tripped Nathanael up. The prophetic scriptures spoke to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem. This issue was also a problem with the religious leaders of that day. No prophet was to come out of Galilee. (John 7:52)
But we should appreciate Phillip's answer to Nathanael. He did not argue or defend. He merely replied with, come and see.
APPLICATION:
We can learn from these two encounters with Phillip.
Jesus still offers us an invitation to follow Him. Yes, we follow Him to salvation, but our following does not stop there. We are to make Him our Lord and Shepherd. We look to Him for the plan for our lives and how to live. We are not wandering through life. We are following the One who loved us and died for us.
And we can find others and invite them to follow Jesus. No need to argue about religion or what church and church leaders have or have not done. Just come and see.
The Psalmist said it well, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who trusts in Him. (Psalm 34:8)
PRAYER:
Lord, You are my Lord and my Shepherd. I follow You. And I will look for others in order to invite them to come and see.
All the best,
Alan