Imagine, if you will, the surprise Nathaniel experienced when Jesus said to him, “you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Even today we don’t have to think long and hard to understand Jesus’ image. Back in the book of Genesis Jacob has a dream about a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending; it was assumed in those days that there were physical locations where heaven and earth were connected unbeknownst to the casual observe until someone, like Jacob stumbled upon it whereupon strange things began to happen. Perhaps we might imagine a first century Bermuda Triangle or Area 51 in the American southwest.
Imagine Nathaniel’s surprise; Nazareth was the last place on earth where any good was expected to occur. Rebellions against Roman occupation had occurred there and nearby Sephora. Unlike faraway Jerusalem where compromises had been made with the occupying Roman forces, things in Nazareth far to the north were often tense. Moreover Nazareth was tiny even by first century standards, only 150 people lived there. Still, invited by Phillip, Nathaniel goes to meet Jesus and, again, is surprised by whom he finds; he immediately acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God and King of Israel.
For our purposes this morning there are a couple of important takeaways. You never know when or where you are going to encounter the Savior, even in Nazareth, even on the streets of Lancaster or Reading, even in a chance encounter with someone in a supermarket aisle. Thus, any place, no matter how grand and glorious or ordinary and mundane, can be a holy place, a place where we encounter God’s Son, who, like Jacob’s ladder connects us with our heavenly Father.
While it is Phillip who brings Nathaniel to Jesus, it is in reality Jesus who draws each of us to himself. Encountering Jesus, Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus; Phillip brings Nathaniel, but it is Jesus himself who comes to seek them all, to seek all of us. Who brought you to Jesus? A pastor, a youth leader or Sunday School teacher, a parent or grandparent, a school classmate, or a spouse? In the end they may have played a part, but it is only as we ourselves experience the love or God in our lives through an encounter with Jesus, that we are able to proclaim him as our Savior and Lord.
So, here’s the catch! How do we recognize our Lord’s call when it comes? After all in our Old Testament lesson for today it did not even register with Samuel that God was calling him until Eli understood and instructed him. The thing for us to hold onto as men and women of faith is that our Lord does come to call us, perhaps more often than we are aware; and finally like the calling of Samuel, our Lord does tend to be persistent. The God who surrounds us with his saving and redeeming love is patient awaiting our response, “speak Lord I am listening.”
