1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 Jesus responds to that. So let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for grace. I just ask that you would be with us as we open your word. May you strengthen us, encourage us, correct us, teach us, help us. May your spirit be working to show us your goodness and your grace. May we be a people who are encouraged and strengthened, who are filled with love and transformed by your mercy. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,000 So in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 3 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:53,000 So there are times, at least in our household, where Rachel walks into the kitchen and she will find me standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open, sort of staring inside with like a thousand yard stare. 4 00:00:53,000 --> 00:01:00,000 And often I'm pondering, in that moment, the choices that are available to me. 5 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:09,000 And I'm pondering them with the door open, because as a child I was told that the refrigerator had to ponder your choices, then open the refrigerator, take out what you want. 6 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,000 But now that I'm an adult, I can ponder my choices with the refrigerator open. 7 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:19,000 And sometimes, right, it's the lack of choices that are present in front of me, right? 8 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,000 It may be because we're close to grocery day, and we don't have what I want. 9 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Or maybe it's just the lack of something that I really like or that I really want. 10 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,000 And the question that I get almost every time is simply this: What are you looking for? 11 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Now, sometimes I know what I'm looking for, but there are some times that I know and I just don't want to admit it, right? 12 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:54,000 Because dinner's already started, and I don't really like something else, generally from DoorDash. 13 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,000 And so there are these moments where we stand and we look. 14 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:07,000 And sometimes I just have no idea, right? We've all had those moments where we look and it just seems like nothing sounds good whatsoever. 15 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:12,000 And I don't want that, and I don't want that, and I don't want anything, and I'm just having a bad day. 16 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:26,000 We've all had those moments of indecision. Maybe it's with our refrigerator, maybe it's with a menu, maybe it's with those big decisions of life. 17 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,000 And we're simply sitting there and the question comes, "What are we looking for?" 18 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:39,000 And this is the question that Jesus asks His first two disciples, the very first two disciples, in John chapter 1. 19 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:48,000 So they've been following a guy by the name of John. He is in the wilderness, and they have been following him, and they've been listening to his teaching. 20 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:56,000 And in recent days, John has, in two different occasions, made a declaration about who Jesus is. 21 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:03,000 And his first declaration is simply this: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." 22 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:16,000 And the second time Jesus comes by, John looks, and he goes, "Behold the Lamb of God." And these two disciples began to follow Jesus. 23 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:31,000 I don't think that they're necessarily very good at being sneaky, because as they come to Jesus, he notices them, and he says this to them in John 1:37, 24 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:41,000 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus, and Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What are you seeking?" 25 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:52,000 And they said to him, "Rabbi," which means teacher, "Where are you staying?" And so Jesus sees these two guys following him, and like we might do, he says, 26 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:59,000 "What do you want? What are you looking for? What are you seeking?" And they give him an answer. They say, "Where are you staying?" 27 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:10,000 Now they are not, in their answer, being 100% honest. They know exactly what John has just announced about Jesus. 28 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:18,000 They know that he has said, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." And then again, a couple days later, this is the Lamb of God. 29 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:27,000 They know what they're looking for. They are looking for the promised Messiah, the one that in Genesis 3 30 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:32,000 will crush the head of the serpent and right the wrongs. 31 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:40,000 They're looking for the descendant of Abraham, through whom the whole world would be blessed in Genesis 12 and Genesis 22. 32 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,000 They're looking for the one who would sit on the throne of David. 33 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:50,000 And if you just stop for a minute and think about it, for them this is a wonderful thing. 34 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,000 If you look at our world, right, every four years we go through this election cycle, 35 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:03,000 and it's always angrier than the next, and more divisive than the next, 36 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,000 and here they're looking at their political situation, 37 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:12,000 and if we can have the promised one who sits on the throne of David forever, right, 38 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 it's going to fix all of the brokenness in the world that surrounds us. 39 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:23,000 That's who they're looking for. They're looking for the one who in Isaiah, 40 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,000 the one who, this child who will be born, a son will be given, 41 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,000 the government will be on his shoulders, his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, 42 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. 43 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 And Isaiah will continue, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 44 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,000 They're looking for the Messiah. 45 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000 All of those Old Testament prophecies, 46 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000 it's not just a bunch of scattered predictions throughout the Old Testament, 47 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,000 but there is a unified promise and plan of God. 48 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,000 And they're all related and connected. 49 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 And this is what they are looking for. 50 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000 They're waiting for the Messiah, which simply means anointed one. 51 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:15,000 The problem is they only have a shallow or superficial view of who Jesus is. 52 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,000 They have a small idea, and it's mainly political, 53 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,000 and they're missing the greater reality of who Jesus is. 54 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,000 They're waiting for the one who will come, 55 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:31,000 who will overthrow everything and make life better for them. 56 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 And these two disciples, they're not brave enough, 57 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:41,000 or maybe certain enough, to vocalize their hopes to Jesus. 58 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,000 And so when he says, "What are you looking for?" 59 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,000 instead of answering him with the truth, 60 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,000 "We're looking for the one who's going to put things right." 61 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,000 They say, "Well, where are you staying?" 62 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,000 And Jesus wonderfully answers their question. 63 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,000 He both answers the question they ask and the question they don't ask 64 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,000 because Jesus sees to the depth of their heart. 65 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,000 And he simply says this in verse 39. 66 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 He says, "Come and you will see." 67 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,000 And this is so remarkable because they want to know where Jesus is staying. 68 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,000 So he says, "Come and see." 69 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,000 But they also would like to know, 70 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,000 "Is Jesus really the one?" 71 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,000 And he simply says, "Come and see." 72 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,000 And here is what is so remarkable of this. 73 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,000 Jesus doesn't just know them. 74 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,000 He knows what they need. 75 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,000 And it's not through arguments or persuasive manipulation. 76 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 He simply says, "Come and see for yourself." 77 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:52,000 And he gives them not what they want, but what ultimately they need. 78 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,000 And here is a remarkable truth that Jesus knows us. 79 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:56,000 He loves us. 80 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,000 And he gives us exactly what we need. 81 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,000 They're seeking a political ruler who will give them political freedom. 82 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,000 And Jesus comes with something much more wonderful. 83 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:14,000 And here is what is sometimes hard for us to understand. 84 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Jesus gives us what we need, and it's far more wonderful than all we have ever wanted. 85 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 And I, at least, immediately have an objection to that. 86 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:29,000 Because I have trouble separating my wants and my needs, and I always have. 87 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 I know what I want, and I know when I want it, and I know what I need. 88 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,000 And those two, for me at least, in my mind, are the same thing. 89 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:47,000 But what I've learned as I've grown up is that wants and needs are vastly different. 90 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:53,000 And Jesus comes not to meet their wants, but to meet their needs. 91 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:59,000 And maybe you're like me, and you say, "Well, how does Jesus really know what I need?" 92 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:05,000 And so these two disciples who hear Jesus and follow Him, it's a remarkable thing. 93 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,000 Do you know who these two disciples are in verse 27? 94 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:22,000 These two disciples, one is named Andrew, and the other is named John, and he is the author of this book that we are looking at. 95 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:31,000 And John writes this gospel about Jesus, and he doesn't just do it to give us some intellectual information or as a good story. 96 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:37,000 He does so with a very specific purpose. John writes this for this purpose. 97 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:47,000 He says, "I am writing so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name." 98 00:09:47,000 --> 00:10:00,000 And so here comes this man who doesn't really want to tell Jesus what he needs, but then ends up writing and saying, "He knew exactly what I needed." 99 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And it's easy to say, but John simply doesn't just talk about Jesus. He has been transformed with Jesus. 100 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:18,000 John and his brother. Jesus gives them a nickname. He calls them the Sons of Thunder. And it's not just sort of a cutesy nickname. 101 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:29,000 He names them that because they have an incredibly short fuse. John and his brother are incredibly angry men. In fact, one time 102 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:39,000 a village rejects Jesus. And John and his brother come to Jesus and they go, "You want us to call down fire upon this village?" 103 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:51,000 And it's a horrific thing that they're asking. And Jesus goes, "Absolutely not." These Sons of Thunder. They're rough. They're rowdy. 104 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:58,000 And they're ready to fight anybody who disagrees with them. And Jesus takes these angry men. 105 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:13,000 And John, and he transforms them. John, the only disciple of Jesus to die of natural causes, both proclaims the good news about Jesus until he is almost a hundred years old, but he suffers. 106 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:26,000 And he doesn't just simply suffer in terms of being socially ostracized or people make fun of him. He suffers by being tortured and exiled. 107 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:39,000 And in his latter years, when he is able to come home, this man who started angry and full of fire carried into church because he can't walk. 108 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,000 And the Christians, we know from church history, gather around to hear what he has to say. 109 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:51,000 And John, so overwhelmed by the love of God, says, "Love each other." 110 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Little children is what he says in his epistles. Little children love one another. 111 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:02,000 When John writes, and he says, "So that you may believe, and that by believing you may have life in his name," 112 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:09,000 he's not just talking in a hypothetical sense. He's saying that in my life, God has transformed me. 113 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:20,000 He's changed me. He's taken me from being this son of thunder to this apostle who loves God's church, 114 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:29,000 and is willing to suffer for it. And it's here that John introduces us to this guy by the name of Nathaniel. 115 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,000 And so I want to introduce you just briefly this morning to Nathaniel. 116 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:38,000 So there's a guy by the name of Philip. These are Jesus' first disciples. They follow Jesus. 117 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:45,000 And we read this, "Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, and Philip found Nathaniel, and he said to him, 118 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:54,000 'We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also in the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' 119 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:00,000 And Nathaniel said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' 120 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:06,000 And Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" 121 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:13,000 So Philip here, as he says this, he is making a big assertion about Jesus. 122 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:22,000 He is saying all of those promises throughout the Old Testament, all of the hope, all those things that Moses wrote about, all the things that the prophets wrote about. 123 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:29,000 We found the guy who sums all of those things up. That is a big assertion. 124 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:36,000 And Nathaniel is skeptical. And I think he is skeptical for good reason. 125 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:41,000 First of all, because culturally, this is a big deal. 126 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:56,000 Josephus, a first-century historian who is current to this time in history, writes about those who claimed to be Messiahs in this area of Israel. 127 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:08,000 And from about 47 years before the birth of Jesus until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, there are a lot of people who show up and say, 128 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,000 "I'm the one from whom Moses and the prophets wrote about." 129 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:25,000 And in fact, it's not very long from this period of time where one of these Messiahs takes a group of people to the top of a mountain in Samaria 130 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:34,000 to start a rebellion, and Pilate, the same one who sentenced Jesus to death, takes his troops and just kills them all. 131 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:46,000 And so, for Nathaniel to hear, "There's the Messiah," he's skeptical. And I think with good reason, because it's not the first time he's heard this. 132 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:53,000 And it's not the first time that he's seen this. And it has never ended well. 133 00:14:53,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Now, we know from history that Jesus is different. These others are historical footnotes. 134 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:13,000 And Jesus, however, we try to sometimes disguise this, our very calendar is centered around his birth. 135 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:18,000 And so, Nathaniel is skeptical, and I think with good reason. He's heard this before. 136 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Secondly, he's skeptical because, biblically, this is a big claim. 137 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,000 We have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets wrote. 138 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,000 There's a lot of prophecies about the Messiah. 139 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:39,000 And for Philip to show up and say, "We've got the guy who meets all the criteria, and his name is Jesus of Nazareth," 140 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,000 there is a problem. 141 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:47,000 Because in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2, we know the Messiah isn't born in Nazareth. 142 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,000 He's born in Bethlehem. 143 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:56,000 And so Nathaniel, skeptical, not just culturally, because everybody claims to be the Messiah, 144 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:02,000 but also biblically, because he hears this, and he doesn't know the whole story. 145 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,000 He says, "I don't know." 146 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,000 And also, locally, this is a big claim, right? Nazareth is a small town. It's not important. 147 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,000 It has a bad reputation. In fact, this whole area of Galilee has a bad reputation, 148 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:21,000 and then Nazareth has the bad reputation in the area of having a bad reputation. 149 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:26,000 And what's interesting is, Nathaniel, he's from a town called Cana. 150 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,000 It's less than five miles from Nazareth. 151 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:35,000 In fact, in the next chapter, Jesus' mom is in Cana, helping out with a wedding. 152 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,000 And while it doesn't seem that Nathaniel knows Jesus, 153 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:47,000 it seems maybe he's heard of Jesus' family, because he kind of responds with a joke. 154 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:52,000 He says, "What good comes out of Nazareth?" 155 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,000 What good? There's nothing good. 156 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,000 The implication is, nothing good has ever happened here. 157 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,000 Nothing good ever will happen here. 158 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:05,000 And if there is some guy claiming to be the Messiah, I've heard this before. 159 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:11,000 I know the Bible, and I know Nazareth, and this is not possible. 160 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:16,000 Nathaniel, I think rightfully, is skeptical. 161 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:20,000 And so he goes to Jesus anyway, and I like this picture. 162 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Philip just simply invites him. He says, "Come and see." 163 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,000 "Come see for yourself." Not manipulating. 164 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Not trying to argue him into it. 165 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,000 But rather, he says, "Just come and see Jesus." 166 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,000 And listen to Jesus' response to Nathaniel's skepticism. 167 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:42,000 First of all, we find out that Jesus knows Nathaniel. 168 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:48,000 And before we look at the skepticism, know that Jesus isn't mad. 169 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,000 He doesn't get mad at what it is. 170 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,000 He's not frustrated. He's not hurt by it. 171 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,000 It's almost as if Jesus accepts it in stride. 172 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:04,000 And one of the things we see is honest, real questions to Jesus. 173 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:11,000 He always responds not with anger or meanness, but with gentleness to those who are asking. 174 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:19,000 And so Jesus sees Nathanael coming toward him, and he says, "And I think in a little bit of humor, but also with a little bit of truth. 175 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:26,000 Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit." 176 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:32,000 So to understand a little bit about what Jesus says here, we need to know about a man by the name of Jacob. 177 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:38,000 He's the second son of Isaac. He's the grandson of Abraham. 178 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,000 And Jacob has spent much of his life chasing something bigger. 179 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:52,000 In fact, in this time and culture, he's born second, which means you receive less of an inheritance, less of a blessing, less of a future. 180 00:18:52,000 --> 00:19:01,000 And from his very birth, he is born, holding on to his brother's foot as if he has been fighting to be first. 181 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:09,000 And if you read Jacob's story, he's a trickster, he's a swindler, and he is basically a terrible human being. 182 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:18,000 His brother comes in one day from hunting. Jacob, knowing he's going to be hungry, and knowing his brother's impulsive, he has this beautiful meal, this fragrant stew. 183 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:24,000 And his brother comes in, and he goes, like my kids do, "I'm dying of hunger," right? 184 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:30,000 And he comes in. His brother says, "Well, I'll trade you the blessings of your birthright for some soup." 185 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,000 And Esau's like, "Yeah, whatever. What good is it to me if I'm dead from hunger?" 186 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:39,000 And he's not going to die from hunger. He's short-sighted. Jacob steals his birthright. 187 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:46,000 But then, the blessing from his father, which would go to the firstborn. 188 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:54,000 And Jacob's brother Esau goes out to hunt, to prepare a meal for his father in this ceremony to receive the blessing. 189 00:19:54,000 --> 00:20:02,000 And Esau, while he's out hunting, Jacob comes, and he takes some fur of an animal, and he makes a stew. 190 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:08,000 And he goes into his father, and he says, "I've brought the animal. God's given me great fortune." 191 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:16,000 Begins to feed. His father eats this meal. His father says, "Ah, you kind of sound like Jacob. Let me feel your arms, because your brother's hairy." 192 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:21,000 And so he has this animal skin on his arms. He says, "Yeah, that's Esau." 193 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:28,000 And Jacob, tricking and deceiving his father, steals the blessing that is intended for his brother. 194 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,000 And when his brother hears this, he says, "I am going to kill him." 195 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:37,000 And not figuratively, how we might joke with our brothers, "I'm going to kill you." 196 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:42,000 Jacob literally is on the run for his life. 197 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:49,000 And he lives a life, for most of it, of this struggle to get more through deceit, 198 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,000 through shady dealings. 199 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,000 And then in Genesis 32, Jacob gets into a fight he can't win. 200 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,000 And he loses this fight. 201 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:09,000 But in his determination, he clings tightly to the one in whom he is fighting. 202 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:17,000 This angel of the Lord, which, theologically, is the pre-incarnate Christ. 203 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:31,000 And the blessing he receives this: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God, or wrestled with God, and have prevailed." 204 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:39,000 And here Jesus is, looking at Nathanael, and he says, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no receipt." 205 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:46,000 You are part of this family of Israel, but you are also a wrestler with God. 206 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,000 But not in a deceitful way like Jacob. 207 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,000 You're skeptical. 208 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,000 You don't believe it the first time you hear it. 209 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:04,000 You struggle to see, culturally and biblically, and in the area in which you live, how this can be true. 210 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:10,000 And you're wrestling, but you're doing so in a way that is honest, and without deceit. 211 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,000 And in this, Jesus acknowledges the objections. 212 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:22,000 He acknowledges his skepticalness, and he says, "Welcome. I know who you are." 213 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:29,000 And what you find, Jesus knows Nathaniel, and look at how he responds to him. 214 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,000 This is in verse 48. Nathaniel goes, "How do you know me?" 215 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:39,000 And Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 216 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:45,000 And so Nathaniel goes, "How do you know that I'm wrestling? How do you know my character?" 217 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:51,000 And Jesus says, "You're under the fig tree. I saw you." Listen to Nathaniel's response. 218 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:57,000 Nathaniel answered him, "Rabbi or teacher, you are the Son of God, and you are the king of Israel." 219 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,000 And this seems like an out-of-proportioned response. 220 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:12,000 How has Nathaniel gone from making fun of Nazareth to declaring Jesus to be the Messiah in just a verse? 221 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,000 How has he gone from saying, "There's been a bunch of people who claim to be Messiah." 222 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,000 From Nazareth? That place has a terrible reputation. 223 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:26,000 How has he gone from that to declaring Jesus so quickly? 224 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:31,000 It seems like it is out of proportion. 225 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,000 There are a few things happening here in what Jesus says. 226 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:45,000 In the writings of the rabbis of this day, we find that the fig tree is frequently used as a place to teach. 227 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:50,000 It's frequently used as a place to sit and study. It's shady, and it's quiet. 228 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,000 And there's enough light that you can sit if you are studying the Scriptures or the Torah. 229 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:01,000 And you're meditating on it, and you are praying on it. 230 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:07,000 And Nathaniel has come from this place of meditation and study and prayer. 231 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:15,000 Which is the picture we find in the first century of those who sit under fig trees. 232 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,000 And he's reading, and he's studying, and I think he's praying. 233 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:24,000 But I think Nathaniel under that fig tree is wrestling with God. 234 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,000 And I think we know that because Jesus says, "Here comes an honest Israelite. 235 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,000 Somebody who has wrestled with God." 236 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:38,000 His friend goes, "We found the one from whom the law of Moses and the prophets speak." 237 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:44,000 Almost knowing you're sitting there studying. We found the one whom you are studying. 238 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:51,000 And what I think Jesus is saying in these words, when he says, "I saw you under the fig tree, and I know you." 239 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,000 I know what you've been doing. You've been searching the Scripture. 240 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:58,000 You've been meditating on it. You've been wrestling with God in prayer. 241 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,000 You've been thinking about the coming of the Messiah. 242 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,000 And you've been praying for these things. 243 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:12,000 And Nathaniel, it clicks. How does this guy know what I'm praying for? 244 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,000 Right? This isn't just Jesus going, "I know where you come from." 245 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:24,000 This is Jesus, in these words, saying, "I know what you have been praying for." 246 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:29,000 And Nathaniel goes, "There's only one person who knows what I have been praying for." 247 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:35,000 And in Jesus' response, we see gentleness. We see love. 248 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:51,000 We see Jesus trying to show him who he is, not just with some kind of good argument, but with an example of his deity, evidence of his identity. 249 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Then Jesus makes this promise. 250 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:00,000 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 251 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:12,000 You will see greater things in these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels ascending and descending before the Son of Man." 252 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,000 You can almost hear the humor in Jesus' voice. 253 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:26,000 "I know you, and I love you, and I hear your declaration, but I am going to show you something that is even more wonderful." 254 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:36,000 The promise of Jesus is that Nathaniel would see something that is greater than simply understanding that Jesus knows what he is praying for. 255 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:47,000 In Genesis 28, Jacob is on the run. He stops for the night, and it's kind of a rough situation. Scripture says he has a rock for a pillow. 256 00:26:47,000 --> 00:27:00,000 And in that moment, as he goes to sleep, on the run for his life, he has this dream. And this dream of Jacob's ladder, of this ladder extending to heaven, and angels going up and down it. 257 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:11,000 And God promising him there would be a future for him. Jacob's response in Genesis is to call this place Bethel, God's house. 258 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:18,000 And this becomes one of the great sanctuaries of Israel. And it does so because Jacob says, "This is where God is. 259 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:26,000 This is where he lives." And we know that that's a small picture of the reality of the situation. 260 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:33,000 But the promise to Nathaniel is going back to the story of Jacob again. Something better than Bethel. 261 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:39,000 These prophecies you've been studying and wrestling with and praying about, they point to me. 262 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:48,000 Just like Bethel points to the presence of God, "When you're with Jesus," N.T. Wright says, "It is as if you are in the house of God, 263 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:56,000 the temple itself, God's angels coming and going, God's own presence there beside you." 264 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:04,000 So the question that I want us to consider is just simply this: What about us? 265 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:12,000 We've got a skeptical guy who humbly takes his skepticism to try to verify it, not just simply assuming, 266 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,000 but saying, "I'm going to go dig into this and find out what is going on." 267 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,000 He's honest about his struggles. He's honest about his skepticism. 268 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,000 Jesus knows him and responds and makes this wonderful promise. 269 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,000 So what about us? And I don't want you, if you're a Christian, 270 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:35,000 I don't want you to think for a minute that this is not about you or for you. 271 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:44,000 It can be about belief, as Nathaniel comes, but it can also be for us, we see in Scripture, 272 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,000 not just skeptical of who Jesus is, but maybe skeptical of his promises. 273 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:56,000 He says, "I love you," and you may say, "Well, do you know me? How can you love me?" 274 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,000 Or maybe it's we're skeptical of what he has called us to do. 275 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:05,000 If you keep reading the Gospel, Jesus' followers are skeptical people. 276 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,000 Thomas at the resurrection. 277 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 Peter, when Jesus sends him to the Gentiles going, "Lord, are you sure you want me to do this?" 278 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,000 Ananias in Damascus. 279 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:21,000 And God comes and says, "There's a guy by the name of Saul, and I need you to go tell him about me." 280 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:27,000 And Ananias goes, "That guy, I have heard nothing good about him." 281 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:36,000 So many times it's easy for us to think, when we think about being skeptical, it's for somebody other than us. 282 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:43,000 But we find if we're honest, we struggle a lot as well. 283 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:50,000 And what you find is we have this call to take our struggles to Jesus. 284 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:54,000 I'll go back to the fridge with you for just a minute. 285 00:29:54,000 --> 00:30:00,000 Standing in front of the fridge, and I'm going, "I don't know what's in here. I don't know what I want." 286 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,000 My wife goes, "What are you looking for?" 287 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:10,000 And here we stand in church, or sit, and we're going, "What are we looking for?" 288 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:16,000 And so last week, one of those moments where I was standing there at the fridge going, "What am I looking for?" 289 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:21,000 And we were talking about dinner, and I'm just standing looking. I said, "There's nothing here. Nothing good. 290 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:26,000 When I get hungry, I get real cranky. And everything's bad, and it's terrible." 291 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,000 And Rachel goes, "Let me make something for dinner." 292 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:33,000 And I go, "What are you going to make? Everything's bad." 293 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,000 I sound like a three-year-old. It may be where my kids get it from. Just don't quote me on that. 294 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,000 And she goes, "I got this thing I'm going to make." And she tells me what it is. 295 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:51,000 And it's times like this I wish I had volume control for my face, because evidently the expression that I made was not good. 296 00:30:51,000 --> 00:31:00,000 And she just goes, "Trust me on this." I'm like, "I don't know if I can." 297 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:09,000 You know what? It was delicious. It was exactly what I wanted, even though I didn't know it at the time. 298 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:14,000 When I'm standing in front of the fridge with a bad attitude. But here's the thing I should have known, right? 299 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:22,000 Rachel knows me. She knows what I like. And just like I know her, and I'm not going to serve her something with red onions in it, right? 300 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:30,000 She's not going to do that to me, either. She's not going to give me something terrible. 301 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:38,000 This morning I want you to know that there is one who knows you. Just like he knew Nathaniel. 302 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:43,000 And Nathaniel struggles, and he cares for you. 303 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,000 You say, "Well, how do I know Jesus?" 304 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,000 I think one of the answers is we've got to talk to him. 305 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,000 I love the Bible as it talks about prayer, because sometimes we think of prayer as this big formal thing. 306 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:00,000 And sometimes in Scripture it is. Formal thing in a formal place. 307 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:12,000 But there's also times where it's in the darkest moment, in the deepest, blackest situation, and there's short and there's long. 308 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,000 If we say, "I want to see Jesus," have we talked to him? 309 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,000 Have we listened to him? 310 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:25,000 Hebrews chapter 1 says that God long ago spoke to the fathers through the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 311 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:30,000 and in these last days has spoken to us through his Son? 312 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,000 Have you seen Jesus and heard what he has to say? 313 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:41,000 Or with his people who have walked with him for a while? 314 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:46,000 There are a lot of reasons this morning that I'm a Christian. 315 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:51,000 A lot of my reasons, at least I think, are pretty reasonable. 316 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,000 I see how the world works. 317 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,000 I see the Word of God. 318 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,000 And I know the arguments. I know the reasons. 319 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,000 And I know the logical arguments and the philosophical arguments that are made. 320 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000 And I understand them and I agree with them. 321 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000 But I also know the Bible. 322 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:17,000 And I see how it is written and how it is tied together. 323 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:23,000 And I see the truth and reliability of Scripture. 324 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,000 Some might say, "Well, what about science?" 325 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:33,000 And I see God in the revelation of science, in every new discovery, showing us His magnificence. 326 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:37,000 And we see the history that goes along with the Word of God. 327 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,000 And how it is all tied together. 328 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:43,000 And I love talking about these. And if I'm honest, I really like to argue. 329 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,000 And I like to argue about this stuff. 330 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:49,000 And I'll argue with anybody, anytime, because I just like to argue. 331 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,000 Whether I agree with you or not, I'm going to argue with you. 332 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,000 But you know what captures my heart? 333 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,000 What really captures my heart in relationship to Jesus? 334 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:11,000 It's built upon this foundation that I see of truth, and of logic, and of the solidity of God's Word. 335 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:16,000 All of that supports my faith. 336 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:27,000 But the reason that I'm a Christian is because God has always been there, and He's always been good. 337 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Not always what I expect or what I want. 338 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:35,000 It's not always been in health. 339 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:40,000 It's not really ever been in prosperity. 340 00:34:40,000 --> 00:35:06,000 But it's in the midst of fear, and in anguish, and in loss, and in those dark moments where you're 100% by yourself, and you're about to go into an operating room, and you don't know if you're coming out on the other side, and you're not fearful. 341 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:27,000 In fact, your heart is saying with the psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my soul, and my portion forever." 342 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:44,000 That's why I'm a Christian. The foundation of truth and reliability, but it's because as well in those darkest moments, God has always been there, and He has always been good. 343 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:57,000 Psalm 34:8 says it this way, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." And I love this. 344 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:12,000 Because I do this all the time with my kids. You serve them dinner. This has to be the most frustrating thing, isn't it? And they go, "Ew." And you go, "Try it!" And they finally take a bite, and it's the most amazing thing they've ever had. 345 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:26,000 That's what the psalmist is saying. He goes, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Jesus says it this way, "What are you seeking?" 346 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:40,000 He said, "Where are you staying?" And Jesus just simply says this, "Come and you will see." Taste and see that the Lord is good. Come and see. Let's pray. 347 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:55,000 Father, I thank you that you are here with us in the darkness and in the joy. I thank you that you are the light of our soul and our strength forever. 348 00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:10,000 I thank you that you answer our questions. You answer our hard questions. You're not angry and frustrated with us when we ask them. Thank you for Jesus and for grace. It's in his name we pray. Amen. 349 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:18,000 We're going to sing. We're going to sing, "I Set My Hope on Jesus."