Close Encounters with Jesus – John 1

Unfortunately we’ve come to that time of year when summer is over and a new school year has just started. Now if you’re an optimist summer isn’t officially over until Sept 22 when fall begins so theoretically there are still some summer days left. But practically speaking summer has come to an end. So I want you to reflect back on the vacations you took this summer. Did you go anywhere interesting? And in particular, did you get in the car and hit the open road to take any road trips? There’s something great about loading your stuff up in the car and driving somewhere new. And maybe you didn’t this summer, but you have in the past. Turn to someone next to you and answer that question-What was the best road trip you’ve ever taken? Obviously Monica and I took a long road trip this summer moving out to Long Island. It’s 1061 miles-but we broke it up by stopping at my aunt’s in Chicago and then spending the night somewhere in PA. But we’d never taken a road trip before with two cars and a cat! Nor had we ever had to find pet-friendly hotels. But Callie had a great road trip and loved hanging out in the van. One of our favorite road trips as a family was a few years ago when we drove out West to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills. It’s a long desolate drive on I-90 through S. Dakota but eventually you hit the Badlands which are amazing-almost like a mini version of the Grand Canyon. We hiked around for the afternoon before getting back in the car and continuing west. As I said our main goal was a cabin in the Black Hills by Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore-but before we stopped there we continued right past and drove into Wyoming to spend the night. Now I had never been to Wyoming before so I felt like I was really out there on the final frontier of America. But the reason we went was to see Devil’s Tower-pic. And it’s awesome-we had a blast with the kids hiking around the base of Devil’s Tower during the day-but seeing it at night with the stars behind it was very exciting because all I could think about was aliens landing on the top. As a little kid I loved that classic Steven Speilberg movie-Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Maybe you remember it from the late 70’s-but that’s where the big ship lands and as a human race we have our first close encounter with extra-terrestrials! So of course the gift shop at Devil’s Tower had lots of alien keychains and t-shirts and souvenirs-playing up the whole close encounters theme. Needless to say we didn’t have any close encounters-but it was a great road trip!

And that’s what makes a roadtrip so great-all the different stuff you get to see along the way.  That’s why you sometimes opt for the roadtrip instead of flying. There’s so much to experience and capture your interest along the road-and that’s the nature of the new series we’re starting this morning-because imagine if you will, going on a roadtrip with Jesus. If you were traveling with Him, if you were going through the countryside, from village to village, across those dusty miles what kinds of amazing things would you see? It certainly wouldn’t have been made-up, fictional encounters with aliens at Devil’s Tower-but real encounters with the supernatural as Jesus would have said and done things you never would have expected. I can only imagine the wide-eyed wonder as the disciples travelled with Jesus seeing firsthand all that He did. If you’ve ever read through the gospels, frequently you’ll see that little phrase and the disciples. It will say and the disciples were with Him, or the disciples followed Him. Or there’s other places where Jesus has seemingly random conversations with the least likely of people. But Jesus didn’t come to earth and hit the open road all by Himself going solo, He did it in the company of others. So during these next several weeks, we’re going to examine a variety of passages where people have these close encounters with Jesus. And of course it isn’t accidental or random as if Jesus just happened to land here.  Close encounters with Jesus are the focus of what His mission is all about.

So open up your Bible to the gospel of John. Of the four different gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John-John does the best job of highlighting these encounters. Now unlike the other gospels which have those long genealogies at the beginning-so and so begat so and so-which are an earthly look at Jesus’ identity and where He came from historically, John does it differently. His gospel begins with heaven’s perspective on Jesus and where He came from eternally. And he does that so we’ll immediately realize the significance of encountering Him here on earth. Look at what it says-1:1­-9  And who’s that? v. 14a-the eternal one who was with God and was God, who made all things-that One-v. 14. The whole theology of the incarnation-meaning when Jesus was born Bethlehem-is that God became flesh and dwelt among us. The text doesn’t say that Jesus just came to sit on a throne and rule, the text doesn’t say that He came to watch over us and make sure we were doing everything right, the text doesn’t even say that He came to rent out a large synagogue space and preach every day. It says that He came to dwell. The verb literally means to tabernacle, meaning to pitch a tent, to set up a tabernacle. And of course the tabernacle was the tent in the OT that the Israelites set up in the wilderness where God would meet with them. It wasn’t the permanent temple, it was a traveling, portable structure they used as they were journeying-much like a tent when you’re on a hiking or camping trip. And that’s Jesus-not only is He the fulfillment of the tabernacle but He’s on this journey, this road trip in which He’s come to earth to pitch a tent and live among us. He didn’t come to set up a giant palace or stand aloof or be distant or holier than thou-of which He would have had every right-but He came to invest in people. He came to reach out and build into people’s lives. One of my professors from seminary was Howard Hendricks and he said, You can impress people from a distance but you can only impact them through a close relationship-meaning a close encounter. And that’s precisely what we see in Jesus. No doubt He could impress the crowds-He was God in the flesh-impressing the crowds with a miracle or two wasn’t hard for Him. But that wasn’t His mission. Jesus came to impact people and save us, He came to build relationships-to dwell among us.

And right away that’s how Jesus begins His ministry. John doesn’t make us wait very long to see verse 14 fulfilled. Look at what happens in v. 35-37a-and we’ll soon discover those 2 disciples are Andrew and Peter-but v. 37. And as we read earlier, that was the nature of John the Baptist’s ministry-to point people to Jesus. He came to bear witness about the light-and that light is Jesus. But did you catch what just happened? John the Baptist lost 2 of his followers. John’s ministry was reduced by 2 people that day. Now that’s okay because that’s John’s purpose-to have people stop following him and start following Jesus. John the Baptist is doing what God’s called him to do. But-let me pause and say that’s not always easy for us-in fact, that’s humbling because we’re often most concerned with people being impressed with us, enamored with us, right? But if our goal is to truly serve Jesus than it means we have to stop worrying about our pride and wanting people impressed with us and instead desire that they become followers of Him. And that’s what John knew really well-the ministry was never about him, it was never centered on him, it was always about Jesus. Later on he’ll say that Jesus must increase and he must decrease. And that’s what you and I have to remember-especially when you’re tempted to make it about you. We want people to make much of us and be impressed with us. But that’s not how it works in following Jesus. That’s not what it’s about. John doesn’t hinder the ministry by telling Andrew and Peter to come back and stay with him, he wants them to leave and follow Jesus. That’s discipleship 101-John invested in them and now they’re with Jesus. And this is where it gets exciting!

I love Jesus’ response-v. 38a. What are you guys after? Why are you trailing me? What are you looking for? And of course Jesus knows this is a rhetorical question on His part to make them think-“What are you seeking by following Me?” And at this point they’re not really sure. I sort of picture the-I don’t know-He asked you, not me scenario. Neither disciple is really sure what to say so-v. 38b-39a  Now there’s more depth to this statement than we might initially think-and we’ll talk more about it shortly. But this is the first moment that any of the disciples spend some time with Jesus-and notice what happens-v. 39b. And your Bible may have a footnote indicating that’s about 4pm-as the day’s winding down. So Jesus says-Yeah, come on over and you guys can stay at my place. Which seems like the reverse because usually Jesus was the guest at someone else’s house. But on this occasion He invites them over. I’m sure it wasn’t a big place but they probably had some good middle-eastern food-maybe Jesus had some hummus or falafel or decided to fire up the grill for lamb burgers and they sat at His place eating and talking together. Wouldn’t you have loved to be there? What’s it like for a couple of ordinary guys to hang out with Jesus? And remember what we just read earlier in the chapter-that the person they’re hanging out with is the maker and creator of everything, the one who’s existed from the beginning? Put these verses side-by-side-v. 1-3a and v. 39. Same person! What was their conversation about? You could have every question you’ve ever wondered about answered right there. A night hanging out with Jesus-just try to imagine that privilege. Hey Jesus, did you build this house yourself? Yeah, and I built the whole universe too. Is it scary? Is it intimidating to be at the Son of God’s house? Do you have to on your best behavior? Sit up straight and no burping at the dinner table? Or is it peaceful and perfectly relaxed-with a burning sense of wonder? What I love about this simple scene is that the disciples have this odd combination of recognizing how truly extraordinary and amazing Jesus is and yet how comfortable they are hanging out with Him. Certainly they haven’t put all the pieces together about Jesus’ identity. But they’re starting to; they realize that Jesus is someone very unique, yet you don’t see them getting all weirded out the next day or wanting to get away from Him-Thanks for the invite, Jesus-we’ll see you around. Wow-was that intense! Not coming here again! It’s the opposite because right away they spread the word to others-v. 40-44. So there’s 3 disciples-v. 45-46. And just like that there’s 4 disciples.

Did you notice that Philip is echoing Jesus’ words from v. 39? Come and see. That’s no accident. If these guys are on a road trip with Jesus, Philip’s just leaned out the window and said to Nathanael-Hop in bud! This is going to be an amazing adventure-come and see where we’re going. Now what kind of car would you picture Jesus driving? If this is a road trip it seems like the brand of car Jesus would drive is Infiniti-since He’s actually infinite-however, I picture a road trip     with Jesus and the disciples more like this. Jesus is driving, Peter’s got the curly hair, maybe Andrew has a guitar, Philip’s looking at the map-and now Nathanael just joined them-and they’re all singing as they’re cruising down the road! Crazy visual-but this is Jesus doing exactly what He’s come to do-back to v. 14-to dwell among us-and that happens through establishing relationships. Here’s this group of 4 guys that have just met Jesus and joined up with Him. It’s all about relationships and going where’s He’s going. Original small group!

And what Jesus says to Nathanael is very profound. Now we don’t read much more about Nathanael in the NT, but the rest of this chapter describes his close encounter with Jesus. Look at how this goes-v. 47. Odd opening statement. You probably wouldn’t start off with that at a dinner party-but Jesus isn’t saying that Nathanael’s never told a lie in his life. What he means is that Nathanael’s been completely honest in his approach to Jesus, not having any deceptive motives because Nathanael’s being really blunt by wondering how the Messiah could ever come from such a run-down, two-bit town like Nazareth. Historians believe that in those days it was a village of around 100 people-super tiny and insignificant! So Nathanael is confused why the Messiah would come from a place like that and not Jerusalem. But Jesus is refreshed by his honest question. He sees that Nathanael isn’t trying to earn brownie points or sound religious or be tricky as the Israelites had often been in the OT, he’s just trying to honestly figure it out-v. 48a. And right here at the start of Jesus’ ministry we get a glimpse of His supernatural ability. Maybe Nathanael was having a great quiet time under the fig tree or a powerful time of prayer or just having a good nap-but either way this was information that only Nathanael would have known-that he was hanging out under the fig tree. Yet Jesus speaks of it with full knowledge.

Imagine you were home yesterday all alone and you sat down on the couch to read a book-no one was there and yet someone later asks-How was the book? You’d be baffled and amazed at how they could know that. That’s Nathanael-completely amazed with Jesus’ ability to know that he was sitting under the fig tree-v. 49. Boom! He has that Aha! moment, the lightbulb just turned on in his head, the switch was flipped in his heart to understand the depth of who Jesus is. Wow! This isn’t like the other people from Nazareth that I know-this is the Son of God actually standing here talking to me! Remember-the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! That is what’s happening-and Nathanael’s just figuring out! And it’s no different for you and me when we realize that Jesus is speaking to us!

So this brings us to the first question I want to answer this morning-and you’ll see it on the back of your bulletin. Obviously you’ll remember the popular phrase from a few years ago, What Would Jesus Do, WWJD. It was put on bracelets, t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, etc.  And it’s a good question-but it’s theoretical-we don’t always know what Jesus would do, but we can sure open our Bibles and read about what He did do. That part we do know-and that’s what God has given us to see-the lesser popular acronym, WDJD. But :What Did Jesus Do? He initiated relationships with specific people. And that’s important to remember-because Jesus didn’t come and form relationships in some nebulous sense where He’d show up, preach, shake hands, wish people well and then head home. No-He spent time and patience with people, He showed hospitality by opening up His home, He went to where people were and formed actual, real relationships. He wasn’t distant or aloof or detached or removed, He was personable and authentic and relatable; someone these guys liked and could connect with. That’s Jesus-our Maker and Lord! He valued relationships. And if you and I are trying to be followers of Jesus should we be any different? Shouldn’t we want to spend time with others, investing in their lives, getting to know them and hanging out with them? As I quoted earlier-You can impress people from a distance but you can only impact them through a close relationship. What keeps you from that? What keeps you from initiating relationships with others? I find it interesting that Jesus so loves people that His ministry is centered around getting to know people-but today it seems like we don’t have any time for that. We rush around, going from one activity to the next. Or maybe we hide behind social media. But are we making time to develop real relationships? 4 Chair, 59

And that leads us to the second question :What Did the Disciples See? A genuine Savior who actually cared about them. That’s their first big takeaway from Jesus. That’s the simple but powerful truth they immediately realize. This guy wants to spend time with us, He’s interested in us, He’s pursuing us, inviting us to His home, He’s calling us to follow Him. We’re not just a number to Him, we’re not just a cause or someone to pity. This guy is genuine and wants to know me-that I would walk with Him and see who He really is. And that word see is so important in the text. Did you notice how much it pops up in this chapter? v. 39, 46-and now v. 50.  Jesus is saying that they’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg. Listen to how He goes on-v. 51. That may sound like a bit of a riddle-angels ascending and descending-but where have we heard that before? Jacob, in the book of Genesis, sleeping outside under the stars with a stone for a pillow-Gen 28:12-13a NIV. Jesus is referring to that stairway to heaven. Not the Led Zeppelin song-but this vision of Jacob. But here’s what’s so fascinating about comparing these two passages. Where did the stairway go in Jesus’ statement here in John? Why is it missing? What replaced it? The angels are ascending and descending not on a stairway like in Genesis, instead they are ascending and descending on what? On the Son of Man-on Jesus Himself. He has replaced the stairway. Jesus is saying to Nathanael-In Me you’re going to see the fulfillment of salvation. In Me you’re going to see the glory of the gospel because the way to heaven, the way to reach God our Father isn’t through a giant stairway you have to climb, it’s through a relationship you need to have with Me. In Jesus, we see heaven opened up because as He will later say in John’s gospel-He is the way to heaven, He is the truth, He is the life-No one comes to the Father but through Him, through a close encounter with Him. That’s what it’s all about. In Jesus, heaven is opened up because He is the one our souls were created to know.

So the 3rd question asks:What Do We Learn? Jesus desires a real, authentic relationship with me.  Just as He came to establish relationships with the disciples back then, so He does with you and me today. Jesus mission hasn’t changed-He’s still here to know us and dwell among us. Sure, it’s easy to think that the disciples had it so much better because they could actually see Jesus and walk and talk with Him. But because it’s something spiritual for us doesn’t make it any less real. What did Jesus say to Thomas who demanded the evidenceJohn 20:29. And that’s Jesus speaking directly to us today. He knew He was soon ascending into heaven and that one day He would return-but in the meantime Jesus’ mission of pursuing real, authentic relationships with us hasn’t changed-Rev 3:20. That’s the language of relationships. Generally you don’t go out and eat with someone you can’t stand. It happens-we’ve all been at that awkward dinner we can’t wait to escape from-but generally eating together and sharing a meal is what relationships are all about; it’s what you want to do with someone you enjoy-let’s go get a bite. That’s what Jesus did with the disciples back then-and that’s what He desires with you and me today.

And that means the big question you have to consider is have you heard His voice? As Jesus called out to Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael, have you heard Him calling out to you? Or maybe you’ve heard it but tried to stifle it or ignore or put His call on the back burner. But whether you realize it or not, that’s why you exist-to know the One who made you and saved you and to follow Him. There is no greater joy or excitement or privilege than that-to encounter Jesus. Now as humans we try to find joy in all sorts of other stuff we encounter-like health or wealth, fame or fortune, success and security, technology or social media, or comfort and pleasure. We desperately hope those things will bring us the joy and satisfaction we crave-and maybe for a moment they do-but it’s just a moment. Those things never last or truly satisfy because our hearts weren’t made for stuff, they were made for the Savior- Ps 73:25. The first 4 disciples realized that. How about you? Will Jesus’ invitation to Andrew and Peter in v. 39-come and see-become His invitation to you? Will you hear those words and say-Yes, Lord I will. Will you begin a relationship with Him? Or maybe you have a relationship with Jesus but over the years you’ve wandered away, you’ve lost interest and let your heart grow cold and callous. Or maybe you’ve been going through the motions lately and lost your joy in knowing Jesus. Will you hear His voice this morning and rekindle that relationship with Him? Will you experience afresh the wonder and amazement that are found in Him? Will you witness His glory and taste His grace? Will you continue on that great journey He has for you?
There is no better time than this fall, at the start of a new school year, to encounter Jesus-and come and see who He is.

There’s a powerful story from the Montreal Gazette newspaper a few years ago about a man, Pierre-Paul Thomas who was born blind suffering from congenital nystagmus-a condition in which the eyes move from side to side involuntarily. That led to damaged optic nerves and cataracts bulging behind his pupils. So for the bulk of his life he walked with a cane to avoid the obstacles in front of him, but at age 66 he fell down the stairs and fractured the bones in his face. Certainly a very tragic event. But the article in the paper said: A team of doctors operated on him and repaired the bones and one day, months later, he was examined by a plastic surgeon at Montreal General Hospital. During the consultation about repairing his scalp, the doctor asked him matter-of-factly:“Oh, while we’re at it, do you want us to fix your eyes, too?” Thomas was dumbfounded. Fix my eyes? And so over two days in February, Thomas underwent surgery to heal and remove the cataracts from his eyes and the operation to put it mildly, was a success, for Thomas could now truly see for the first time in over 6 decades. His shadowy grey world receded to reveal colours he had never before seen: Red, yellow and even dark green, which were previously only a dull black. Snowbanks, which he perceived as a light shade of grey, were now luminous white. But the reality is that this 66 year old man could have had this surgery at a younger age and been able to see so much earlier. He had assumed such a possibility was impossible and had resigned himself to a life of blindness, when in reality the gift of sight was available all along.

And it’s no different with you and me. You don’t need to suffer from spiritual blindness, you don’t need to have a fog of worldliness or self-absorption or the distractions of busyness obscure your vision of Jesus. You just need to come and see who He is. Isn’t that what a roadtrip is all about? Come along and see something great! That’s what Jesus is calling you and me to do. To encounter something great-and that something to encounter is Him-our Savior. Won’t you hop in and travel down the road, experiencing the joy and the wonder of a relationship with Him.