20210824 BELIEVING IS SEEING MORE
24 August, 2021, Tuesday, St Bartholomew, Apostle
First reading |
Apocalypse 21:9-14 © |
He showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven
The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 144(145):10-13a,17-18 © |
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
They make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn1:49 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Rabbi, you are the Son of God,
you are the King of Israel.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 1:45-51 © |
You will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’
BELIEVING IS SEEING MORE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Rev 21:9-14; Ps 145:10-13,17-18; Jn 1:45-51 ]
It is significant that the gospel of John began and ended the ministry of Jesus with the theme of seeing and believing. When the first two disciples of John the Baptist wanted to follow the Lord, they asked Him, “where are you staying?” Jesus said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. (Jn 1:38-39) Then when Philip found Nathanael, he said the same thing to him, “Come and see.” At the end of the gospel, we have the episode when St Thomas did not believe “when the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.'” (Jn 20:24f) A week later when the Lord appeared to him with His crucified marks, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (Jn 20:28f)
Clearly, believing cannot be the result of seeing. On the contrary, Jesus tells us that that believing is seeing. This truth is very beautifully brought up in today’s gospel of Nathanael. Philip having found Jesus said to Nathanael, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” In Philip’s understanding, Jesus was the Messiah, the One that was foretold in the Old Testament summed up by the phrase, “Moses and the prophets.” Moses did prophesy that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” (Dt 18:15,18) Indeed, the Old Testament is a closed book unless read in the context of Christ as Jesus taught the disciples. (Lk 24: 25f, 44f)
Like Thomas, Nathanael was sceptical but he was ready to meet Jesus. He doubted what Philip said. “‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?'” Indeed, Philip, like Nathanael, did not know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Nathanael pretended to believe when he did not. Like St Thomas, he was a sincere man. But he was not arrogant and incredulous. He was just being cautious. His openness is seen when he took up the invitation to “come and see.” Together, they went to meet Jesus. He was still unbelieving. We must learn from him the right disposition to faith, especially for those who have difficulty believing in Jesus. We want proofs and answers that satisfy our intellectual curiosity. But finding Jesus is not a question of sitting in our study room, reading books and doing intellectual research to come to faith. The only way to come to faith is to “come and see.” In other words, we must come to meet Jesus personally, so that we can be like the first two disciples of Jesus who remembered vividly their encounter with the Lord.
What happens when one is brought to the Lord? He will reveal to us our true identity and our desires. Most of all, Jesus will help us to see by believing in us. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming He said of him, “There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.” Jesus saw through Nathanael that he was a sincere and honest man. He would not lie or deceive others. Nathanael was taken aback that Jesus could read his character and his values. How could He know, he thought, unless Nathanael had told him about himself? Hence, his question, “How do you know me?” This was the beginning of faith in Jesus. The truth is that when someone shows himself to know us and to believe us, we tend to open ourselves even more to the person. Faith presumes trust and trust strengthens relationships.
Secondly, the Lord affirmed His knowledge of the deepest secret in his heart, which is to find the Messiah. Jesus replied, “Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.” To see someone under the fig tree means that one is a contemplative. (cf 1 Kgs 4:25; Mic 4:4) The fig tree is a symbol of one in prayer and contemplation because it gives shade for one to sit and meditate. Undoubtedly, Nathanael was praying for the coming of the Messiah whom he had hoped to meet. So when Jesus revealed that He knew his deepest desire in his heart, he knew that Jesus must be that person and hence, he exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” At this point, perhaps his confession was not tantamount to a full confession of His divinity yet, but at least it was close to it in the sense that Jesus was the Anointed One of God, since the titles Son of God and King of Israel were titles that implied being the anointed of God.
However, Jesus wanted to lead him deeper into knowledge of His true identity. Jesus told Nathanael, “You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” Because he believed, the more he believed, the more he was able to see. This is a very important principle of faith. When we believe in someone, we tend to be more receptive, and we will come to know more about the person not only because we believe what he or she tells us but because we learn how to feel with the person, and to identify with him or her. This knowledge surpasses any factual information we can gather about the person. True knowledge of the person requires us to know the person on the level of the heart, empathizing and entering into the heart of the person.
But what the Lord said to Nathanael about knowing Him even more is now addressed to us all, for there is a change of verb from singular to plural. He said, “I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.” The word “solemnly” is rightly translated as “Amen. Amen.” It is a double certainty and affirmation of what was said. This citation and reference to Jacob’s ladder is very significant in understanding the true identity of Jesus. We will not just see heaven open but “the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.”
The title “Son of Man” is the preferred title of our Lord in designating Himself. He never called Himself, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of David or the King of Israel. These titles were given to Him by the people or even used by the Devil, but He avoided using them simply because these did not fit Him perfectly. In fact, Jesus was more than these titles. When the people used them, they tended to reduce Jesus to a political figure, a political liberator, freeing them from the oppression of the Romans and re-establishing the earthly dynasty of King David. This would be a wrong understanding of Jesus’ mission because He did not come to restore the earthly kingdom of David but to be the universal King of the world. The Lord told Pilate, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” (Jn 18:36)
Jesus as the Son of Man is truly man but He is also God because He is the ladder between heaven and earth. The angels were just messengers between heaven and earth, ascending and descending the ladder. But Jesus is that ladder because He is the one mediator between God and man. (1 Tim 2:5) Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (Jn 14:6f) In other words, Jesus was saying to Nathanael and all of us, that He is the true House of God. Jacob, after encountering the Lord at Bethel, said “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gn 28:17) Today, let us take a page from Nathanael, that even if we are sceptical, it is acceptable, otherwise we can fall to the other extreme of being too naïve and credulous. But it is also important that we “come and see” the Lord so that we can deepen our relationship with Him, and come to know Him as He truly is. With openness and sincerity in wanting to find Him, the Lord will find us more than we find Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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