God Knows Us
God loves us. Last Sunday, we reflected on the baptism of Christ and the wonderful truth that, because we are united with Christ, God sees us as we are in him: "you are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter." As I said last week, this is not because we have proved ourselves worthy, good or perfect. God knows everything about us - including the not so nice bits - yet he still loves us. We are known and we are loved.
In our gospel reading this morning, we heard the rather strange encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. During this encounter, Jesus reveals that he "knows" Nathanael and this has a transformative effect. So let's look at this story more closely.
Jesus had earlier called Philip to follow him. In his excitement, Philip finds Nathanael, telling him "we have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Could he be the Messiah? Nathanael hardly responds with enthusiasm; he replies skeptically: "can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Certainly, Nazareth was not a place of any significance and it is never even mentioned in the Old Testament. This may account for Nathanael's skepticism. Or perhaps it's because Nazareth is in Galilee, and Galileans were of mixed stock and looked down on somewhat by 'pure Jews' such as Nathanael probably thought of himself. How could anyone of any significance come from Nazareth in Galilee?
Whatever the cause of Nathanael's skepticism, Philip does not give up. 'Come and see' he urges Nathanael. These are the very same words that Jesus had said earlier to the two disciples of John the Baptist who started following him and asking questions. 'Come and see.' And it is an invitation that is offered to all of us, not matter how skeptical or doubtful we are.
Nathanael, for all his skepticism, is willing to take up this invitation to "come and see". "Seeing" is an important theme in John's gospel. Jesus later criticizes those Jews who claim to follow Moses but refuse to recognize him, and he accuses them of spiritual blindness. Nathanael, on the other hand, is prepared to "come and see" and so follows Philip to go to meet Jesus. But, before Nathanael arrives to see Jesus, he is first "seen" by Jesus. And for Jesus, seeing is knowing.
Jesus, seeing Nathanael approach, says of him: "here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." What exactly Jesus means by this we don't know, but it certainly seems that Jesus recognizes that, despite Nathanael's skepticism, he is open to the truth. Nathanael is clearly struck by Jesus' capacity for profound insight because he responds with astonishment: 'where did you get to know me?' And Jesus responds enigmatically: 'I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.' The reference to the fig tree may have a symbolic significance; for in rabbinic literature the rabbis taught the law under a fig tree. Jesus may again be emphasizing that Nathanael is a true Israelite; beneath all his skepticism, he wants truly to follow God.
Jesus sees Nathanael's potential, just as he had seen Simon Peter's potential as recorded earlier in this chapter of John's gospel. When Andrew brings Simon before Jesus, we are told 'he looked at him and said 'you are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas (which is translated Peter).' This name means 'rock'. Jesus 'looked' at Simon Peter, knew him, and saw his potential.
That Jesus sees and knows the inner heart of those he meets is emphasized several times in the gospels. Jesus sees and knows Peter in his potential, but also in his weakness. Even while Peter boasts that he will remain faithful to Jesus whatever the cost, Jesus perceives that Peter will deny him three times. When Jesus meets the Samaritan woman by the well, he reveals that he knows the shame and failure of her life, yet also her potential as one who will believe and testify to him. 'Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done,' she tells her neighbours afterwards; through her they come to find out more about Jesus.
We read in chapter 2 of John's gospel that 'Jesus knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone, for he himself knew what was in everyone.' (John 2. 24). Jesus knows both the weaknesses and failures and the potential for faith and growth in the people he meets. He sees, he knows, and he loves. In Mark's account of the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man, I am always struck by the words: 'Jesus, looking at him, loved him.' Jesus knew the hold that the rich man's possessions had on his life and how this prevented him moving forward in faith. He saw the man's weakness, yet he loved him.
Jesus is the good shepherd who knows and loves his sheep and calls them by name. Jesus reveals the divine knowledge and love of God for his people, for each individual. He knows us; he knows our weaknesses and failures and sins, he knows all the dark and hidden secrets of our hearts, even those we don't acknowledge to ourselves. But he also sees our potential for growth and faith, he knows the person we can become. And he sees and knows in love. I think of the wonderful way that the risen Jesus reinstates Peter after his denial. He asks him three times whether he loves him, echoing the three times that Peter denied him and then calls him to look after his sheep. Peter's failure in the past does not prevent his growth in faith and responsibility for service in the future. There is a great joy and liberation in realizing that Christ knows our failures and sins, yet still loves us and calls us to follow him and serve him.
We are seen, we are known, and we are loved. We are seen and known by Jesus before we begin to see and know him. Just as we heard in our Old Testament reading this morning, Samuel was known and called by God before he really knew who the Lord was. Everything begins with God. He sees and knows us, loves us and calls us, and we are invited to respond.
Let's go back to Nathanael. The realization that Jesus knows him has a profound effect on him, and evokes a response of faith; he responds by declaring: 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!' Seen and known by Jesus, Nathanael begins to see and know Jesus in return.
Jesus promises Nathanael that he will see 'greater things'. Jesus then speaks of seeing heaven opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This echoes the vision Jacob had of a ladder between heaven and earth with angels going up and down upon it – except that here it is Jesus himself who is the ladder. He is the one who brings together heaven and earth, things earthly and heavenly, humankind and God. Nathanael will learn more about these 'greater things', he will learn to see more and more clearly the truth about Jesus. Last Sunday we heard about heaven being opened at Jesus' baptism. It was as if a window was opened onto the heavenly reality, revealing what was really going on. Something similar is mentioned here. We are invited to see more clearly God's dimension behind our ordinary daily reality, to see and understand more about Jesus and God's ways in this world.
Everything starts with God. He knows us and he loves us, but this is not the end of the story. We are invited to know and love him in return; to learn more and more about Jesus and to allow him to shape our daily lives, our attitudes, actions and relationships and to shape our vision and understanding of the world.
One last thought. We are all seen, known and loved as unique individuals and then called in response to see, love and follow Jesus. We will all have our own story to tell, just as Nathanael, the Samaritan woman, and Peter had their own particular stories. But we are not just a collection of separate individuals on our own personal journey of faith. We are also called into a community, to learn about the ways of God in Christ together.
It is interesting that although Jesus' encounter with Nathanael is intensely personal, the final verse of our passage is addressed not to "you" in the singular, but to "you" in the plural. The vision of the heavens being opened and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man is not just for Nathanael but for all the disciples. We may not see heavenly visions, but we are all invited to see, to learn together more about Jesus and who he is.
We are known and we are loved. We are called to know more of Jesus, to love him and to follow him, not just as individuals but as a community. And we can rejoice that one day all of us will know as we are fully known, and love as we are fully loved.
Helen Marshall