Jesus the Nazarene, Come and See

by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” v44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. v45Philip 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.” v46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” v47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” v48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” v49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” v50Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” v51And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” – John 1:43-51
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The Quiapo district in Manila last Tuesday was the epicenter of an amazing spectacle of religious fervor of Filipino Catholics with the yearly celebration of the feast of the Black Nazarene. The celebration is one of the most crowd drawing religious event in the country with the ‘Translacion’ or the procession of the life-sized black statue of Jesus garbed in maroon and bearing the Cross. The statue of the Black Nazarene or Hesus Nazareno which was carried through the Quiapo district to the Quiapo Church was attended by more than 2 million devotees according to the organizers. The long hours procession is believed to heal and give miraculous powers. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth” or “the Nazarene”? What does that mean?
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Jesus was raised in Nazareth, and this is a significant piece of information regarding Jesus’ life and story. His humble upbringing was consistent with the humility Jesus demonstrated during His life and ministry. It is mentioned in numerous places in Scripture that Jesus was indeed from Nazareth. A typical Jew in Jesus’ time had only one name, sometimes followed by the phrase “son of [father’s name]”, or the individual’s hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth”. Some theologians have theorized that Isaiah’s prophecy in the 11th chapter reference Nazareth as the hometown of the coming Messiah. This is because the word “branch” in Hebrew has the same root word as Nazareth. This may make sense of what Matthew’s Gospel says when it teaches that the prophets predicted that the Messiah would come from Nazareth (see Matthew 2:23). Matthew was able to glean even more from this prophecy in Isaiah with the knowledge of where Jesus was from.
Nazareth today seems to operate under the same name, but it doesn’t look the same way that it had in Jesus’ day. In Jesus’ day, Nazareth likely would have had fewer than 1000 people in the town’s population and most of the people would’ve worked off the land. It has now shifted from a land of agriculture to a city with a predominant Arab population. Today, Galilee, the region in which Nazareth was located, is within northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Nazareth still exists and is a major city with a large population. Most people who reside there are either Christian or Muslim. In the mid-1800s Europeans declared Nazareth to be a holy site, which led its growth into what it is today.
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In Jesus’ time, Nazareth was located in southern Galilee, which was north of Judea (where the famous Bethlehem and Jerusalem were). Galilee was geographically somewhat separated from Judea by the non-Jewish territory of Samaria. It’s important to realize that Jewish Judeans typically thoughtless of their northern Galilean brethren. Galileans were thought of as country “bumpkins,” and their accent was mocked by Judeans (they are the ‘promdi’). During Jesus’ trial, Peter was suspected of being a follower of Jesus simply because of his Galilean accent (Luke 22:59). Judeans also looked down on Galilee for its greater racial and religious mixing, where conservative Jews lived right next to pagans. Galileans were considered less sophisticated and corrupted by Gentile influence. Judeans tended to believe that Galileans were lax in following proper religious rituals. The fact that Galilee was so much farther from the temple and theological leadership in Jerusalem didn’t help matters. Hence, the deprecating remarks of Nathanael, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” This saying, similar to the claim that no prophet can arise from Galilee, is a reflection of popular prejudices current at the time – neither has any scriptural basis. Galilee was looked down on because there were many non-jews living in that region.
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I remember writing on this same insolence expressed on this verse twenty-one years ago on this same column. ‘Prejudice. Bias. Every generation and culture have its own version and context. The gospel lesson is a classic example. When Philip told Nathanael that he has found the person that Moses mentioned in the Law and the prophets wrote about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael reacted with revulsion with these now infamous words, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Today we see people who have the same problem. These people are sure of themselves that they are to the point where they believe very little of what they are told.’ Prejudice is a great time saver. It enables one to form opinions without bothering to get the facts. Skepticism is not a modern virtue. Doubting Thomases have been around since the dawn of time. By nature, we don’t want to be led. We all want to lead but at least we need a follower if we are to lead, don’t we? But Nathanael was transformed. His prejudice was removed because he responded to the invitation of Philip, “Come and see.” We too will be transformed, and our biases removed if we are open to the invitation to look into other people’s lives with love and openness. We shall be changed if we are willing to be followers of the Lord’s leading.
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Our calling is always to Come and See. We do not ponder anybody at a distance. I believe that if you only hang around with people like yourself, you become arrogant and ignorant. We go to others, to those not really expecting us. And we find both Jesus and ourselves there. I read about a rich donor who was visiting Calcutta and met Mother Teresa. She pulled out her checkbook and said “How can I help you in your work?” Mother Teresa pressed the checkbook back into the woman’s purse, took her by the hand and said, “Come and see.” She led the woman into an impoverished barrio, and found a hungry, frail child. “Care for her.” The woman took the child in her lap, wiped her brow, and fed her. Transformative. Mother Teresa was right when she said “When we care for a child, we are caring for Jesus. When we love the unloved, we are loving Jesus.”
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Our task as Christians is not to “prove” the truth of the Christian faith, although many scholars have written persuasively of the truth of Christianity. Our task is not even to persuade others to become Christian. Our task is to say, “Come and see.” Philip could have given Nathanael some of his own opinions. He could have said, “This Jesus knows a lot about the Bible.” Or he might have said, “There is something about this man Jesus that draws me to him.” Even when Nathanael expressed skepticism about “anything good coming out of Nazareth,” Philip might have listed some successful people from Nazareth. But no: Philip simply said, “Come and see,” as if to say, “You don’t need me to advertise for Jesus; come and see for yourself.” Nathaniel came and saw for himself. That now becomes our task, to tell people, “Come and see.” Come and see what Jesus has done and is doing for you!
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Like Nathanael, many of us are judgmental and dismissive of other people and cultures. He says nothing good can come from Nazareth. Yet, God can do unexpected things. The very people or places we look down upon or despise are the ones God raises and blesses. During the time of Jesus, Nazareth was a rural area, far from Jerusalem. Who would have imagine that the promised Messiah could come from that place? Nathanael himself was an ordinary person and despite his judgmental (and bias) attitude, Jesus praised him as a true child of Israel and as a person without any duplicity. Who could have imagined that Jesus would call him one of the Apostles? Not even Nathanael himself expected it. Indeed, God does not use human standards. Nathanael is usually identified with Bartholomew the Apostle mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts 1:13.
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The call of Nathanael is a call for everyone to “come and see” Jesus and to become His apostle. It was Philip who actually told Nathanael about Jesus. May we be like Philip who evangelizes other people and may we be like Nathanael who accepted the invitation and recognized Jesus as the son of God; the King of Israel. If we truly believe, Jesus promised that we will see greater things than those we consider great. “Follow me,” he says to each one of us. And so, we follow, as he guides us out into the highways and byways of life, where we will find people for us to talk to–where we will find our own Nathanaels. That’s how it went with Philip and Nathanael. Same thing today. Invite the folks you know–your friends and neighbors and your family members–invite them to come and see. And when they come, what they will find here is Jesus giving out his gifts.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, BCP).**