20220824 COMING TO FAITH IN CHRIST
24 August, 2022, Wednesday, 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.’
COMING TO FAITH IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rev 21:9-14; Ps 145:10-13,17-18; Jn 1:45-51]
How does one come to faith in Christ? This is the question being addressed in the first chapter of John, particularly from verse 35 onwards. We have the call of the first disciples. The first two disciples, Andrew and presumably John, asked to follow Jesus. They said, “When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He 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 1:38f) Then they brought Peter to Jesus. (Jn 1:40-42) It is significant that only Philip was explicitly called to follow Him. (Jn 1:43) Others either asked to follow Him or were introduced to Him. Whereas Andrew and John brought Peter to Jesus, Philip brought Nathaniel to our Lord.
From this it flows that coming to faith in Christ takes different routes. Not all of us come to faith in the same way. God calls us differently according to the circumstances in our lives. There is no one way to call a person to faith. Some come to faith through friends, family upbringing, through good teachers. Others come to faith through study and research. Some through crises and prayer. Whichever way we come to faith in Him, there are certain dispositions necessary for anyone to come to faith. These are exemplified in the person of Nathaniel whose feast we celebrate today.
Firstly, we must be aware of our prejudices. When “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?'” Nathaniel was sceptical when he heard that Jesus came from Nazareth. Just like people in his time, no one expected the Messiah to be associated with Nazareth. Furthermore, Nazareth was not known to be an outstanding village. Verification of Jesus’ Messiahship required them to authenticate His origin.
This is consistent even with the opponents of our Lord. Later the opponents also asked the same question, “When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him.” (Jn 7:41-44) Then “Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.'” (Jn 7:50-52)
However, unlike the opponents of our Lord, especially the religious leaders, Nathaniel was docile and receptive. He did not close his mind to the possibility that Jesus could be the Messiah. He was ready to correct his wrong understanding of Jesus. This was because Nathaniel was sincere in searching for the Messiah. This was brought out by Jesus’ recognition of his sincerity when He remarked to him, “‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.'” The symbol of the fig tree is one who sits in prayer and contemplation waiting for the revelation of God. Nathaniel must have been one who was waiting for the Messiah to be revealed to him. So long as we are not closed but docile and receptive, we can be sure that God will give us the grace to come to know Him deeply and personally. We must be like Nathaniel, docile, humble even when we search for God. But this search must be done in the context of prayer and contemplation. When we contemplate, God will find us instead of we finding Him.
Indeed, Nathaniel was described as someone who was sincere and true to himself. Jesus said, he “deserves the name, incapable of deceit.” This did not mean that he could not be wrong in his opinion or understanding of God. He could have held wrong beliefs but he was a sincere and honest man. He truly sought God and had a clear conscience. He put God above everyone else. So when he found Him in Jesus, he was ready to follow Him. And this is true for anyone of us. If we find ourselves not ready to receive Him or to accept Him, the Lord is patient with us. We do not force people to accept Christ when they are not ready. But what is required of us all is that everyone, whether a believer or not, must be sincerely searching for the truth, the ultimate, like Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree. We must challenge ourselves and not rest till we rest in God. So for those who still have not come to faith in Christ, we must continue to challenge them to find the answers to the ultimate questions of life, such as, our origin, our destiny, our identity and our purpose in life.
Indeed, what distinguishes Nathaniel from his fellow Jews and from us who are non-believers in Christ is that we do not have that docile humility to find out the truth. He was ready to “come and see”. This ‘seeing’ in John’s gospel was not so much a physical seeing but a grasping of the truth, of divine revelation. Of course, this seeing is through the humanity of Jesus but the reality of Jesus is more than His humanity but His divinity. Jesus was able to “see” through Nathaniel and so confirm His true identity. Only God can read the heart of man, and Jesus saw his heart. Nathaniel came to recognize and confess that Jesus was truly the Son of God, the King of Israel because He saw him from afar. This “seeing” of our Lord also authenticates Philip’s assessment of our Lord when he said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote.” What did Moses write? “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?’ If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.” (Dt 18:18, 21f
“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.” Why did Jesus call him a true Israelite? By confessing in Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel, he was worthy to be called an Israelite. In the Old Testament, the King of Israel was also called a son of God. So in confessing that Jesus is the King of Israel, therefore the son of God, he proved himself to be a member of the Chosen race. Unlike the rest of the Jews who did not believe in Jesus but who considered themselves as such, they were in reality not true Israelites. As the Lord said to them, their origin was not traced to Abraham but to the devil. Jesus said to them, “It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires.” (Jn 8:42-44)
Although, Nathaniel confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, using Messianic titles, he was still far from the full understanding of Christ. His faith had yet to blossom to its fullness, just like the rest of the apostles. It would take time for him and for the rest to grasp more fully what they confessed about Jesus. For now, it was just a glimpse of who Jesus was. He is indeed the Son of God, the King of Israel but far beyond what Moses and the prophets had in mind. The titles were true and accurate but the meaning surpassed their understanding. Jesus was more because He is the bridge between God and man, as in the vision of Jacob which the Lord cited. “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.'” Jesus is the locus of divine glory, the mediator between God and man. He is the glory of God, the house of God, the gate of heaven. (Gn 28:17), the Gate (Jn 10:7), the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Jn 14:6) This promise of seeing the glory of God in Jesus is fulfilled after His resurrection when St Thomas saw Him and confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:29) We too must arrive at this truth finally in our faith in Him!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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