"can Anything Good Come From Me?"

“Can Anything Good Come from Me?”

John 1:43-51

Jesus finds Philip and then says to him: “Follow me.”

After this, Phillip runs to tell his friend Nathanael, “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.”

At this, Phillip scoffs and says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

Nathanael isn’t buying it, is he?

After all, “can anything good come from Nazareth?

Can anything worthwhile come out of that place?”

I think we ask the same question in a lot of ways, often about ourselves…

… “Can anything good come from my life?”

“Can anything good come out of my family situation?”

“Can anything good come from someone with my personality?”

“Can anything good come from someone who looks like me?”

“Can anything good come from someone who struggles with the things I do?”

“Can anything good come from someone my age?”

“Can anything good come from someone who’s failed and made mistakes like I have?”

I’ve wondered about these kinds of things many times.

How about you?

Let me ask everyone watching, “How are you feeling this morning?”

What motivated you to come to this Facebook page and watch this Worship Service?

Are you feeling good?

Has it been an inspiring week?

Or has it been awful?

Do you feel like you are at the end of your rope?

Do you feel as if you are not good enough?

Do you wonder how or if God loves you?

Perhaps this is how Nathanael was feeling as he sat under the fig tree the day he met Jesus.

Perhaps he was simply projecting his own feelings about himself onto Nazareth…that little backward town where no one famous has ever come from before…when Phillip told him that he had found “the one Moses wrote about…Jesus of Nazareth…”

Maybe Nathanael had been feeling small.

Perhaps he had been struggling with some sin.

Maybe he was feeling bad about himself.

And so, instead of kicking the dog, he kicks Nazareth—“Can anything good come from there?”…

…But what he’s really thinking is, “Nathanael! Can anything good come from me?”

There are times when we look at ourselves or a part of our life; maybe it’s a secret we have carried for years, the illness we face every day, the addiction we hide, the hurts we have caused, the loneliness and lostness of grief, and we say it will never get any better.

I think that is where Nathanael was when Philip found him with the news about Jesus.

And Jesus’ reply to Nathanael is brilliant.

Jesus says to him: “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

In other words, “I see you Nathanael; I know what you are like.

I’ve got you all figured out.”

And Nathanael is shocked.

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asks.

“I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you,” is Jesus’ answer.

In Bible times, if you told someone you saw them sitting under a fig tree, you’re really saying two things.

First, you’re telling them that you know them inside out.

It’s another way of saying, “I’ve known you since the cradle.

I know you better than you know yourself.”

And second, you’re telling them that they are part of God’s purpose in bringing God’s Kingdom to earth.

You know, when someone sees you and accepts you as you are and believes in you, it’s a powerful thing, is it not?

It is a freeing thing.

It is a life-giving thing and a transformative thing.

Jesus knows us completely.

He sees us like He saw Nathanael.

He sees all our misgivings and questions.

He understands our faults, failures and insecurities.

He knows the things we’ve dared not tell anyone.

He knows what makes us laugh and what makes us cry.

He sees the ways we have been misjudged and misunderstood.

He sees the hurts and the scars we carry.

He knows our secret dreams and our wildest hopes.

He understands what happened in our past and what we long for in the future.

Jesus isn’t shocked by anything about us.

Jesus loves us no matter what and He died to set us free from our fears, our torment, our self-doubt our sin.

He has great plans for us.

There is never no future with Christ.

When Nathanael realizes how much Jesus knows him…

…how well Jesus knows him…

…Nathanael recognizes Jesus as God’s Son.

And Jesus says to Nathanael, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.

You shall see greater things than that…

I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”