Message
John 1:43-46
Philip – the penny drops … eventually
We all know that sharing the Gospel and telling others about Jesus is an essential part of being a disciple of Jesus.
After His resurrection Jesus commanded the eleven to go and make disciples … baptising them and teaching them to do everything I have commanded you. The disciples weren’t to keep the message to themselves – they had to pass it on.
Just before His ascension Jesus was even more specific in directing His disciples. You will be My witness in Jerusalem … and to the ends of the earth. The ends of the earth still need to hear the Gospel so this directive is just as much a part of our walk with Jesus today as it was back then.
But knowing what we should do ... and actually doing it ... can be two separate events can’t it.
We know people who don’t love Jesus are destined for an external separation from God.
We also know that we have a message of hope and transformation.
We know that Jesus promises to go with us as we speak the message.
So why don’t we just open our mouths, say what we are on about, and spread the Word?
Let’s stop and think about it for the moment. What is the number 1 reason that people say stops them from evangelising and sharing their faith?
(Wait)
FEAR
The answer that is often given at this point is fear … specifically the fear that someone will ask us a question we cannot answer. Does that ring true for you?
You want to share the Gospel but you’re afraid of the difficult questions.
• Why does a God of love let bad things happen?
• Do all religions lead to God?
• Is there a conflict between Science and Christianity?
• Why can’t God just overlook our sin?
• How can Jesus be man and God at the same time?
They’re some of the hard questions aren’t they? How can you be a good witness for Jesus if you are going to get stumped at some point? You want to share the Gospel, but you don’t want to look foolish, so you end up being quiet.
That’s how it works at times, doesn’t it. Not for all of us. Not all the time. But it happens. Today we are going to have a closer look at Philip the disciple and see what we can learn about being disciples of Jesus. What we are going to see is that you can be a disciple without having all the answers.
Let’s start at John 6:1-7.
Read verses 1-4. This sets the scene.
Read verse 5. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd come toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”.
Why did Jesus ask this question specifically of Philip?
(Jesus) asked this only to test (Philip) for (Jesus) already had in mind what He was going to do.
By this time Philip had seen Jesus perform many miracles. But in this specific situation Philip couldn’t see the answer coming from Jesus. All Philip could see was a problem – a huge problem.
You can just visualise Philip calculating the cost in his head -- and every time another ten or fifteen people walk up, he adds another denarius to his total. Finally he stammers in verse 7
Eight month’s wages (the original says ‘200 denarii’) would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! That’s a pretty precise answer … 200 denarii ... 200 days wages wouldn’t even be enough … but it is an answer that totally forgets how Jesus works. Phillip is a disciple ... but he doesn’t have all the answers.
Lets turn to John 14:1-8
Read verses 1-4 ... this gives us the focus of the discussion.
Then Thomas butts in ... read verse 5-7.
The way has been shown ... Jesus is the way.
But still Philip has a question ... verse 8
Philip says, Lord, show us the Father.
How that question must have pained Jesus. We are only one day away from the crucifixion. Christ has been with these men for over three years.
Day in and day out.
Living with them.
Teaching them.
Laughing and crying with them.
Jesus had shown these men that He was God. Yet here is Philip, a leader among the twelve, still completely missing the obvious. He doesn’t have all the answers.
Which raises a real issue.
In God’s family you can be a disciple without having all the answers ... but does that make you ineffective?
Not necessarily.
Turn to John 1:43-51 (Read)
What is happening here? Well this is Philip ... Philip who does not have all the answers ... bringing another disciple to Jesus. In the process of doing so technically Philip gets it wrong.
Verse 43.
Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, “Follow Me”.
Verse 45
We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Not only that, technically Jesus is not the Son of Joseph, Jesus is the Son of God. In his willingness to share Philip actually gets it wrong.
But that is OK.
Indeed we should find that fact a little encouraging.
It means that we can be good witnesses for Jesus without first getting every aspect of knowledge perfectly understood. You don’t have to feel ineffective just because you don’t have all the answers.
I can’t do calculus but that doesn’t stop me from adding and subtracting.
In the same way we cannot allow the unanswered questions keep us from talking about what we are sure of.
The Spirit can work in many different ways.
Back to Philip. While sharing with Nathanael Philip mentions that Jesus is from Nazareth. In response Nathanael says, Nazareth! Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
So this is the bit where the hard questions start. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Saviour was going to come from Nazareth. Nazareth was a nothing town. And all the people there were considered to be second class. No-one important has ever been born in Nazareth ... and Nathanael doesn’t expect Jesus to be any different. Social biases are hard to break down.
Now there is an answer ... and if Philip knew it he could have given it. He could have said,
Look Nathanael – you know that Jesus wasn’t born in Nazareth. Remember his parents moved there when He was a small boy. You’ve heard the story of how He was born in Bethlehem – that’s David’s city you know. That makes a lot of difference.
But he doesn’t have the answer. Instead he has one of those “difficult questions” … the ones that stop us from sharing the Gospel.
But does Philip allow that to stop him?
No! Philip doesn’t have time to argue – so he gives the best argument he think of.
Come and see.
Come and see. That’s the response ... and it is a good response.
When I was 17 I was on the look out for my first car. Dad said he had found a good one ... I wasn’t so convinced. He described it to me. I still wasn’t convinced. Come and see what it looks like. I did go … I was convinced. I loved that car.
Come and see! There’s something about those words which incites curiosity.
“Dad, come and see what I can do on the trampoline”.
“Quick, come and see our baby walking”.
“We have a new car, come and see”.
We should not underestimate the power of curiosity - it’s even stronger than scepticism! That’s why Nathanael goes with Philip in the end … his curiosity to see this Jesus from Nazareth is stronger than his scepticism about Jesus of Nazareth. In the end Nathanael makes a confession of faith ’Rabbi, you are the son of God!’
As far as I know, very few people in all of history has ever been talked into believing in God or confessing faith in Jesus Christ!
It’s not easy to make someone believe by winning a discussion.
In fact we are supposed to win people for Christ, not win arguments for Christ.
Over the years the church has been involved in all sorts of studies about church growth and evangelism in an effort to figure out how to help the church to grow. There has been a mountain of books written on the subject. There is no shortage of experts – everyone has recommendations on programs, music, the style of worship, the kind of preaching – everything from the sound system to theology is covered in these books.
But here is something really interesting. The National Church Life Survey asked people who were new to church why they came, and do you know what was the Number 1 reason given? We were invited by friends to come. The reason most people get involved in church is that someone has the courage to say to them “Come and See”.
“Come and See”. You don’t need to have all the answers to do that ... you can do it by simply telling others what your faith means to you.
Jesus isn’t looking for salesmen who can sweet-talk or exaggerate the worth of the product.
He doesn’t need our clever techniques or persuasive arguments.
He simply wants not-yet-believers to experience Him, to taste and see that He is good.
Jesus Christ is able to meet the longings of every human heart, if people will only, Come and see.
In God’s family you can be a disciple without having all the answers ... and you can still be very effective.
The truth is that God usually uses the common, the ordinary, the simple ... to accomplish some of His biggest achievements.
King David was originally a simple shepherd boy.
Joseph was a household slave.
Moses was an eighty-year old sheep herder.
Gideon was a common labourer working on the threshing floor of a mill.
Even Jesus was born in a stable and He grew up in a peasant home. In fact Jesus was a expert at making the common, the ordinary, the simple ... into the extraordinary.
He took bread and wine and made it into the most sacred and meaningful service we know ... the Lord’s Supper.
He used fishermen, tax-collectors, unschooled men to be his disciples ... to go and change the world.
He was crucified on a common cross and buried in a common borrowed tomb … now they are the most recognisable signs of hope.
In God’s family you can be a disciple without having all the answers ... and you can still be very effective.
We don’t need to be exceptional.
We just need to be willing to be useable.
To turn our lives and our common daily activities over to God to be used in a mighty way.
We live in a time of great scepticism about the church. People are sceptical and some have good reason!
Some were forced to go to Sunday School as children, were bored stiff and now that their mothers can’t make them go any more they don’t!
Some have painful memories of the church, they were hurt and rejected because they didn’t fit the mould.
Some were let down by the church when they needed help the most.
Some were overused and burnt out, others under-used and ignored.
Some have the same attitude as Nathanael. What good can come from Nazareth … what good can come from the church.
But we know it is different don’t we. All that needs to happen is for people to come and see.
Come and See love and faith in action.
Come and see the hope and renewal which can be yours.
Come and see strangers becoming the next generation of disciples.
We all have our own story of coming here and finding meaning, truth, acceptance, hope and love. We all have our own story of finding God in Jesus Christ. And that could well be enough.
People are already looking for purpose and meaning in their own lives.
We live in a time of great spirituality … people want to believe.
People are longing for the touch of the holy.
They are just waiting for an invitation Come and See. We can do it. We ought to be determined to do it. Determined to be the first to give an invitation Come and See. Come and see Jesus who is the only Way … the only Truth … and the only One who can give eternal Life.
Prayer
