Peek-A-Boo ... I See You! --- John 1:43-51 --- Second Sunday after Epiphany

 

John 1:43-51 ESV

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Peek-A-Boo! I See You!

Seems like a theme is happening from last week. Heaven is opening not only to Jesus at his baptism, but heaven is opening for all to see the love of God for his creation. There is a Link between heaven and earth. There is a Link between you and I and God.

Philip witnessed to Nathaniel, to “Come and see.” Yes, come and see. As I witness to you and as you witness to those God gives to you; we bid those we meet to “Come and see.” Come and see the One who drew near to us and decided to abide with us. Come and see the One who is present in the good and the bad times of life. Come and see the One who takes all our sin upon himself and dies in the sin that we deserve to die for. Come and see, the One who goes to hell in the punishment of our sin that we deserved to go to hell for. Come and see, the One who makes us righteous and one with God as he takes our sin and gives us his righteousness and glory and honor. Come and see the One who made right what mankind failed at, in sin. Come and see. Give Jesus a chance. God is nearer than you think. Come and see!

I recall a time in my life when I was in the darkness of deep, serious, sin. Sin punishable by death in the Old Testament and the Law. My sin was front and center in my life. I was sorry, I was in the depths of despair for what I had done. Upon driving home, I noticed a huge sign at a church that I drove by each day as I drove to and from work. The sign had a message… “God is closer than you think.”

I just couldn’t imagine it. Why would God want to be close to me. I was a sinner. A huge sinner. I had hurt people close to me and I had hurt people that I wasn’t even aware that I hurt. I, for sure, deserved eternal damnation and eternal life in hell.

God is closer than you think? Really? No way! God should have nothing to do with me. I was in the midst of the stench of my sin.  But there was the message! Peek-a-boo! I see you! That sure seemed to be what I was hearing from God. And Peek-a-boo! I’m going to stay with you. Peek-a-boo! I’m going to save you from your awful sinfulness. Peek-a-boo! I’m going to wallow in your sin and take it upon myself. I’m going to take your awful sin to the grave and hell for you. Peek-a-boo! You just, “Come and see!”

I think possibly Nathaniel was amazed at how Jesus knew him way more than he ever thought Jesus could know him. Jesus told Nathaniel, that before Phillip even said something to him, Jesus saw him under the fig tree. Huh? How’s that? How can you see me before I’m even aware of you, Jesus?

But God does see us. Peek-a-boo! I see you!

The fig tree was a common and traditional place, in Nathaniel’s day, to study the Torah. And, Nathaniel was one that searched and studied the scriptures diligently. I, too, for years have searched and studied scripture. I search and listen for God’s call, God’s presence, God’s direction. Yet, even with that, I sin. I sin daily. I still sin. In the midst of my sin, in the heart of my study of Word, I know God cries out to me… Peek-a-boo!

Peek-a-boo! God is going to connect. God is going to draw close to you and to me.

John 1:51 ESV

And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

You see, Jesus is the One who connects heaven to earth. Jesus is the Door, the Highway, the Stairway. Jesus connects heaven to earth and God to you, and God to me. Jesus IS THE Connection. Jesus always has been the Connection and always will be the Connection.

Genesis 28:12 ESV

¹² And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!

Way back in the Old Testament is an account of Jacob. Jacob stopped for the night and had a dream. Jacob, too, saw heaven open to him. And Jacob saw God’s angels ascending and descending on a ladder that stretched from heaven to earth. Here we see the heavens open and angels converge on Jesus, the Ladder, the Door, the Highway, the Stairway. For Jacob… “God is closer than he thought!” And God responded, and Jacob replied:

Genesis 28:15-17 ESV

¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

And God changed Jacob’s name, to Israel.

Ish ro’eh el or A man seeing God.

Yes… God is closer than you think! True for you, for me and for all. Yes… even in the midst of the deepest, darkest, sin of our lives, there is a Connection, a Gate, a Door, a Stairway, a Ladder. In those times, as well as at Baptism, the heaven open and the angels converge on Jesus to connect heaven to earth and God to you and to me and to all. You WILL see heaven opened!

Peek-a-Boo! Watch! All who watch Jesus will discover divine glory in Jesus.

Lord, your servant is listening. Lord, I know, that you, are, and always have been, present in life. I see how I was bought with a price. I was bought with the price of the life, death, suffering and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. You are closer that I could ever imagine. Yes, Lord, Peek-a-boo! You see me… and I see you. May I glorify you in all I say and do… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

I leave you with a song that I listened to this week while in preparation for this reflection upon the Word. Enjoy!

Heaven and Earth - Hillsong Worship