Come And See For Yourself

“Quickly! Come and see a man who told me all that I ever did.”

I can’t predict how you would respond to a statement like that. I would have said something like, “Go home Jack, I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

But, one time in history, this was said about a man— and too much drink had nothing to do with it!

Let’s be honest, when we think of religion— or more specifically Christianity— what comes to mind is cold, boring, rules and regulations. I was convinced that if that’s all there was to religion then I was better off without it. 

What caused me to re- examine Christianity was a man called Jesus. What sparked my attention was hearing Jesus say— ‘Come and look at me’.

Jesus was great at regularly challenging peoples’ preconceived ideas of religion and God. But he was also gentle and patient when inviting people into a relationship with him. At the start of the Gospel of John (which is a record of Jesus’ life), Jesus and his follower’s begin calling others to come and check him out. 

The Jews at the time of John’s Gospel had their own preconceived ideas. For many centuries they had been through persecution and pain. They believed that the climax of their long and difficult history would be the coming of a “Messiah”, like a hero figure, who would come and save them. The Jews had different expectations of what he would be like and what he would do. 

At this time in the story of Jesus, people are starting to draw attention to him. Rumours are being spread— about him being the one who has come to rescue them— and the Jews are curious to find out who is and what he has to say. 

We read about two young lads approaching him. They want to know more about him. They’re asking themselves the question— ‘Is this really the promised Messiah? The man who is going to come and save us?’ 

I’ve tried to imagine the nerves that these lads must have been feeling in this moment. I’m going to risk sounding ridiculous— what comes to mind is finally asking that person you’ve been thinking about for the past few weeks out for a coffee. ‘What are they going to think about me? What if I’m not good enough?’ I know these are the questions I’d be worried about. 

Back to the story! What stands out to me is how Jesus responds to these two lads. He just says ‘Come and See’. He doesn’t belittle them. He doesn’t ask them to prove themselves to him— there were zero prerequisites. Jesus tells them to hang out with him, see who he is and what he’s got to say. In essence, Jesus says, ‘come as you are, spend the day with me and find out more about me for yourself.’ 

I think this moment perfectly portrays a posture that most of us fit at a certain point, or many times, in our lives. These two lads are intentionally searching for answers. They are curious to seek out truth. I love how Jesus opens up the way for us who want to know more about him. We don’t need a background in the Bible or prayer. We don’t need to follow the Ten Commandments perfectly. Jesus invites us to come and see him and what he’s got to say!

A bit later in the Gospel of John, one of Jesus’ most recent followers, Philip, reaches out to his friend Nathanael. Philip, in excitement, tells his mate to come and meet this Jesus— who he believes to be the promised Messiah. Philip makes one mistake— he tells Nathanael that Jesus is from Nazareth. 

‘Nazareth?!?’, Nathanael responds. ‘What good ever came out of Nazareth?’ 

‘Gosh— what’s so wrong with Nazareth?’, you might ask. Well it was a pretty insignificant place at this point in history. Try thinking about a rural town, in the middle of nowhere, with pretty much nothing going on. No pub, no McDonalds, no shopping centre— because of the motorway you probably don’t even realise it exists.  Well, that’s what Nazareth was like!

Nathanael’s response is that of the sceptic. This is someone who has been through religion and came out the other end saying, ‘there’s nothing there’. He’s making the statement, ‘why should I bother with this Jesus of Nazareth? Why would this fella have anything important to say?’   

2000 years later and this is the predominant way people view Jesus. It’s also important to note that a lot of people have good reason to be skeptical. Nathanael saw Nazareth as a grim place, he had good reason to respond with uncertainty. If you’ve had a negative experience with Christianity you might feel like getting to know Jesus would be pointless or useless. 

Philip’s response to his friend shows no hint of trying to shame him. He doesn’t get annoyed. He just says, ‘Come and See’. He simply welcomes him to come and check Jesus out for himself.
Philip understood that the best thing for Nathanael would be to come and see Jesus for himself! And why not? If we have questions, if we are looking for answers— why not come and check out what the man who claimed to be God has to say? 

Jesus has a simple invitation to come as you are— skeptical as you are— to just see who he truly is.

In Ireland, we’ve had far too many misconceptions and preconceived notions about the character of Jesus— why not come and see for yourself who Jesus really is?