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INJ
'You Will See Greater Things than These'
St John 1:43-51
Epiphany II
January 15th, 2006
Divine Service
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Dear Saints,
“You will see greater things than these.” That is what Jesus says to Nathanael, the one sitting under the fig tree, the one called by His brother Philip to “Come and see” Jesus... “You will see greater things that these.”
The Gospel text before us is about Jesus. If we miss that, we miss the text. Jesus is the one coming and calling and seeing and blessing and promising and giving. He is the one doing the work, but the greatest work is left undone, Jesus only points to it, saying to Nathanael and to us, “You will see greater things than these.” But what great things had Nathanael seen? And what great things will he see?
Nathanael was sitting under the fig tree when his brother, Philip, came to him with the bold and joyful news, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth.” What a message! What a thing to be told! That your waiting is finished, that your hope (and the hope of all the world) has been met, that the Long-Expected, the Messiah, the Promised One is here, is coming up the road on His way to Galilee. Could it be! “Come and see.”
But Nathanael's hope is mixed with doubt, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip, the patient brother, answers with the words of Jesus, “Come and see.” [St John 1:46, see 1:39] And Nathanael does, he comes to Jesus, and Jesus, seeing Him says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” This is the first great thing that Nathanael sees, or better, that he hears, that Jesus knows Him, and so he asks Jesus, “How do You know me?” Jesus answers, and this is the second great thing that Nathanael will see, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
And with this Nathanael is comforted and convinced, he sees who Jesus is, and so he exclaims, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel.” This is a wonderful confession of Jesus. Nathanael confesses that Jesus is true God, begotten of the Father before all worlds: “You are the Son of God,” and also that Jesus is true man, born of the Virgin Mary: “You are the King of Israel.” To this confession Jesus replies, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than these. I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
“You will see greater things than these.” “Nathanael,” Jesus says, “If you think that it is something that I saw you from afar, this is nothing compared to the things that you will see.” And indeed, through the whole Gospel of John, Nathanael, with all the disciples, sees greater and greater things, works of Jesus. Water turned to wine. [St John 2] The healing of the nobleman's son and the sick man at the pool of Bethesda. [St John 4:46-5:15] And still, he will see greater things than these. The feeding of the five thousand [St John 6:1-14] and Jesus walking on the sea [St John 6:15-21]. And still, he will see greater things than these. Jesus gives sight to the man born blind [St John 9], and then raises Lazarus [St John 11]. These, indeed, are great things, all of which Nathanael witnessed, but the greatest is yet to come. He will see greater things than these, indeed the greatest thing of all.
This, dear saints, is how it will be for us for these next few weeks in the season of Epiphany. We will see greater and greater things than this. We will hear of Jesus casting out demons and healing the sick and working miracles. Greater and greater until we come to the most glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus' divinity in the Transfiguration. We, like Nathanael, will see greater and greater things, but the greatest remains.
“You will see greater things than these,” says Jesus to Nathanael, “I tell you the truth, you will see heaven opened.” And that, dear saints, is the greatest sight of all.
When Adam and Eve sinned, disobeying God, they were cast out of paradise and the Lord placed an angel to guard the way back, with a flaming sword, the way to paradise was blocked, the door to heaven was shut, and the entrance to eternal life was slammed shut. “You shall surely die.” And the closed door to heaven has no handle, no key hole, no door bell, no welcome mat, not for us sinners. There is no way to open it, no way for us to pry our way into heaven. This is as true for us as it was for Adam and Eve, for we have inherited their closed door, their being locked out of heaven.
Locked out; locked out of heaven. This is how we are born, and this is how, if it were up to us, we would die. But look, Jesus says, to locked-out Nathanael and locked-out you and me, “You will see greater things than these, I tell you the truth, you will see heaven opened, and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” “I am the door,” [St John 10:9] Jesus would later teach Nathanael and the other disciples and us, “I am the way.” [St John 14:6] He is the ladder and the bridge and the way and the door into heaven. He has the key, and He crashes through. The door that we could not budge, He throws open, unlocking it with the key of the cross, tearing is off the hinges, opening them so that they can never be shut, making for us the way to everlasting life.
“You will see greater things than these,” Jesus tells Nathanael, and us, and Nathanael saw, and we have heard, for the Lord was lifted up for all to see, lifted up on the cross. This is the wonderful vision, perhaps horrible for the eyes to see, but beautiful to faith, the greatest sight of all: Christ crucified. There you behold the very face and heart of God, His fatherly love for you, His mercy and compassion for you. On His cross, heaven was opened for you in the forgiveness of all of your sin.
“You will see greater things than these?” No, not greater than this. For there is nothing greater, nothing more wonderful, nothing more comforting or spectacular than this: our Lord Jesus and His death on the cross for you.
Dear saints, as we wait for Jesus to return and the great day when we will see Him again on this earth, may the promise of Jesus to Nathanael bring you this comfort and peace. “You will see greater things than these.” Indeed, you have heard these great things, even the greatest: Jesus on His cross, for you. Heaven is open, for you. Amen.
And now may the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Wolfmueller