To Know and To Be Known
All of us have experienced that awful moment when something that we thought was a secret was revealed to those we never wanted to hear it. It may have been the moment that one of our children blurted out the truth to a neighbor, leaving us speechless and red-faced. It may have been the moment when we overheard two people talking in the checkout line at Wal-Mart and realized that they were speaking about us. It may have been the moment when, at a holiday party, a friend laughing shared a confidence with those around her, bolstered by the courage received from imbibing several glasses of wine or beer. Small towns are like that. Actually, large cities are like that, too. The only difference is that we usually do not know the identity of the one about whom others are speaking. I am convinced that we have all also known that awful moment when we have told someone special that we cared about them, only to learn that they did not have the same depth of feeling for us. We have felt this horrible sensation of being totally naked in a very public place …feeling the eyes of the world upon us… and not seeing anything that could provide adequate cover for the shame… the humiliation… the embarrassment of that moment.
That is usually the moment when we begin to build that incredible wall that surrounds each of us… that wall that is designed to protect us from those who would seek to know our thoughts… our feelings… and our inmost person. Over the next few decades and longer, we build that wall higher and higher with each embarrassing moment… each humiliating experience… and we obtain huge padlocks for the doors… allowing fewer and fewer people access to that private part of us. Behind those walls, we keep what is most important to us… our most private thoughts… our hopes and our desires… and all that we struggle with each day… hoping that no one else will find the key to unlock those doors… that no one will learn the secret of tearing down those walls… and leave us, once again, naked before the eyes of the world… shamed and humiliated once again.
And yet… side-by-side with the terror that lurks in our hearts, lives a flicker of hope. Do you not see it… that little flame that flickers in the darkness of that well-fortified castle… the tiny flame that struggles to survive against the mighty winds that would blow it out? It is the hope that someone will breach those walls…that someone will gently open those doors… and, finding inside our true selves,… will love us despite all that is hidden in the musty, dark closets of our souls. We desperately want someone to come in… and yet, we are terrified that they will.
Meet Nathanael. We do not know much about Nathanael, for he is only mentioned in two places in the gospel of John…and not at all in the other gospels, unless he is called by another name. And yet, there is so much that is revealed in just this simple story… so much that allows us to identify with Nathanael and learn more about our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Nathanael was minding his own business when Philip came to find him that day. Now, it is strange enough that these two were friends… the man with the Hebrew name and the man with the Greek name… yet, somehow circumstances brought them together and allowed them to build a relationship in a troubled world where Hebrew and Greek did not often seek each other out. Philip came to find Nathanael and demanded that he come with him to see this man, Jesus of Nazareth… the One about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote.
Now the phrase, “Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote,” sums up, basically, the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures, for it was believed that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, what the Jews called the Torah or the Law. The remaining books were comprised of the Prophets and the Wisdom literature… the latter of which was considered supplemental and less important. Do you find it strange that a Greek man would tell a Hebrew man to come and see something based upon evidence taken from the Hebrew man’s world view? Don’t we usually justify things based upon our own world view… our own opinion of what is important? But Philip did not do that. He dug into Nathanael’s world view and brought out evidence that would matter to Nathanael. “Come and see,” he said. “"We have found him about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
Now, note that Philip told Nathanael that the One he was to see was the One about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote. If this was true, then he could only have been speaking about the long-awaited Messiah and yet, this person he wanted Nathanael to see he identified as Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth. Nathanael was puzzled by Philip’s assertion, for his study of the Hebrew Scriptures said nothing about Nazareth being the town from which the Messiah would come. Nazareth is never mentioned in the Torah… nor in the books of the Prophets. Philip could not be right… and Nathanael tried to tell him so. You see, for the great Messiah to come from Nazareth… a little tiny town that was only a stone’s throw away from Nathanael’s own home in Cana… was like saying that the next President of the United States would come from Carrolton or Chalk Mountain. It was just inconceivable! The idea of the Messiah living in Nazareth made as much sense as the Messiah being born in a stable.
But Nathanael went with Philip to meet Jesus… and, as he approached Jesus… before they had even been introduced… Jesus said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” This was one of the highest compliments that a person could pay to a Jew in Jesus’ time. You see, ever since Jacob stole the birthright from Esau, the taint of his deceit hung over his descendents. Jacob, whose name meant “supplanter” or “deceiver”, was later given the name Israel, but the memory of his deceit remained in legend and story. So, for Jesus to say that Nathanael was an Israelite in whom there was no deceit was a compliment of the highest order. But how did Jesus know? Which is exactly the question that Nathanael asked! How did Jesus know that? Even if they had been introduced… how could Jesus know that?
Now, if Nathanael was taken aback at the idea that Jesus knew him to be a man without deceit… knew him well enough to know his character, though they had just met… then Nathanael must have been totally blown away at Jesus’ next revelation. For Jesus’ response to Nathanael’s question was to tell him that he had seen him under a fig tree before Philip called him… before Nathanael had even decided to come to meet Jesus. This was both a revelation… and a second compliment. Jesus saw Philip under the fig tree before Philip called him. How could he see him there? How did he know that it was Nathanael? And, for Jesus to reveal to Nathanael that he saw him sitting under a fig tree was to compliment Nathanael as a serious student of Hebrew Scripture, for there are multiple sources in rabbinic literature which say that a seat under a fig tree was the most appropriate place for a man to study the Torah.
How would you feel, at this point, if you were Nathanael? Would you be flattered that someone you had never met knew you so well… or frightened by the knowledge that you were known so completely by a total stranger? Jesus saw him before Philip called him. Jesus recognized him as a serious student of the scripture. And Jesus knew that he was a man without deceit. What else did Jesus know about him? How could someone break through all the walls that Nathanael had carefully built around him… and reveal the most important clues to his character without even an introduction? No one could do that. No one except… perhaps… the One about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote… the Messiah... the One whose coming Nathanael had studied all his life. And here he was… standing right in front him… telling him things about himself that others did not know. And, suddenly, to the bottom of his feet, Nathanael knew… without a doubt… this was the One. "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
To know… and to be known is our greatest desire… and our most terrifying fear. To know… and to be known is something we crave without being fully conscious of it most of the time. Yet, when we are confronted by a stranger… a new person in our lives… that old fear… and that old desire… rush to the surface and we ask… “Is this the one?” “Is this the one who will know me… my inmost thoughts… my longings… my passions?” “Is this the one who can bear the knowledge of my sin… my pain… my rejection… my inadequacies… my unworthiness …and not flinch?” “Is this the one who will see the good in me… and reveal to others the outstanding qualities that lie buried deep inside?” “Is this the one who will save me from myself… and my own destructive ways?” “Is this my Savior… my Redeemer… my Master… and my God?”
For Nathanael, on that day, the answer was “Yes, this is the One.” He had all the proof he needed that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus responded, “You think this is great? Stick with me, brother, and you will see greater things than these. In fact, you will see the barrier between heaven and earth disappear… and angels moving easily between these two worlds.” And that is how Nathanael became a disciple.
God calls each of us in a different way… and God calls us already having seen us before we are called… and knowing who we are before we have even been introduced. As your friend and your pastor, all I can say to you today is what Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see.” “Come and see the One about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote.” “Come and meet your Savior.” “Come and discover that you are already known by him.” “Come and know him.” Amen.