Today is the Second Sunday in the Season of Epiphany.

Epiphany – to make known, to manifest, to be drawn into God’s revealing the Godself to us through God’s Son, Jesus, the Messiah. Inviting us to become believers and followers. Jesus’ first disciples who invited others to follow said to them, “Come and see.”

“Come and see,”: Great words of invitation for anyone to experience an epiphany.

Our text contains a lot of Epiphanies:

For Philip, it was an epiphany when he said: “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” He found the connections between Moses, the laws and the town of Nazareth to Joseph’s son, Jesus.

For Nathanael, he first asks about Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  This might be an inquiry and perhaps an expression of some doubts about Jesus. We all cast doubts about things we are not sure of.

In an age of false news, alternative facts, misinformation and with numerous social media platforms, it is easy to be deceived. It is easy to believe that the posts you see on your FB or IG are true especially if they are posted by friends or people you know or people you simply follow because they are ‘credible’ known personalities.

I admit that I once fell prey to false memes which I reposted. It drew both support and condemnation. So, I had to check for myself the veracity of the post. I asked the person, a colleague in ministry, who shared it on her FB page. I found news articles that weighed in favour of the genuineness of the post. But I also noticed that some words in the “infograph” were added intentionally.

This is what I found out: the post was half true and half false. In its entirety, it is fake news. It was meant to make people angry and hateful, to the point of saying not so good things.

I stand on what is true in the post but do not agree with exaggerations and twisting the truth. I had to remove the said post.

So, when Nathanael asked: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, We should take the question with objectivity and not judge the person who asked. Perhaps Nathanael wanted verification, he might have doubts, he might not be fully informed like many of the believers during that time.

In today’s world, it might be similar to asking if this person is for real or fake? Is this person’s intention genuine or deceitful?

So, Philip replies: “Come and see.”

As soon as he sees Nathanael, Jesus makes a remark about Nathaniel: “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

Nathanael asks him, “Where did you get to know me?”

Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Now, what has sitting ‘under the fig tree’ got to do with Jesus’ very positive remark about Nathanael?

There are several interpretations about the words “under the fig tree” here. It may mean the following:

At the time, In Palestine the fig tree stood for peace, security, rest, and worship. Very often a man would go seek solitude and worship under his fig tree.
The fig tree was a common place for study and prayer, especially for young rabbinic students, which Nathanael may well have been.
Later on “under a fig tree” became a Jewish idiomatic expression referring to studying the Torah.

If Nathanael was specifically under a fig tree when Philip called him, chances are he was in prayer or reading the Torah.

Jesus comment that Nathanael “…is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” means Jesus knew Nathanael more than Nathanael knew Jesus.

This leads to Nathanael’s epiphany and declaration of faith: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Then Jesus says to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

I wonder what Jesus meant in saying these words. He may be alluding to Genesis 28:10-17 where Jacob in Luz (named Bethel later) dreamt about a ladder set up on earth and its reaching heaven with the angels descending and ascending in it and the Lord standing beside him saying, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your fathers and the God of Isaac…” and the Lord reminds him of God’s promise to Abraham.

What are greater things? Something bigger than us…something higher, nobler etc. It begins when we see heaven open and see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

In Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism (1:10), the heavens were “torn apart” and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. Jesus had the same vision that Jacob had but this time, it was the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus. What Bethel was for Jacob is baptism for Jesus. What Bethel is for Jacob is what is ‘under a fig tree’ for Nathanael. It is epiphany and revelation for Nathanael

For Nathanael, to whom Jesus said “”Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”, how do you think this was realised for Nathanael?

According to online materials, Nathanael has the distinction of being the first recorded person to confess belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour. When Nathanael accepted Jesus’ call, he became his disciple. He was a witness to the resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus Christ and became a missionary, spreading the gospel. Church tradition says Nathanael carried a translation of Matthew’s Gospel to northern India. Legend claims he was crucified upside down in Albania.

In the Season of Epiphany, we are invited to reflect on these words:

What’s is “Can anything good come out of Nazareth”? for us? In our Monday Bible Study and in the Elders’ Conversation, we asked the question “Can anything good come out of Dandenong?”. “What good can come out of our Congregations?” These questions are not to cast doubt or be sceptical but for us to know more about ourselves so that we can be what we can be in the ministry Christ asks us to do.

To where or to what are we invited to “Come and see.”?

What “greater things” does God wants us to see?

Epiphanies lead to transformation of self and community. But it does not stop there. It leads to seeking something greater: to see heaven opened. When we see the heavens opened, we invite the Holy Spirit to abide in us.

“Come and see” is our invitation to doubters, seekers, and sceptics, who ask “Can anything good come out of the church?”.