Fig tree

This is taken from a talk I gave at a Christmas fair a couple of weeks ago. Sorry I can't invite you all for cake. This was partly inspired by Tim Keller's book 'Encounters with Jesus', which I highly recommend.

So here we are again. Time for shopping, wrapping, mince pies and mulled wine, visiting family- and yes, you’ve guessed it, that time of year when your Christian friend invites you to church. We all know the story by now, don’t we? The manger, the angels, the wise men and shepherds are very familiar from the nativity plays and the Christmas cards. So why do we keep inviting you year after year? Well, bear with me for a few minutes and I will try to explain it. I’m not going to talk about the baby in the manger, instead I’m going to talk about the man he grew up to be.

I expect we all know something about the man Jesus. I expect we all have an opinion on who he is. He’s known for his wise teachings- do as you would be done by, love your enemies, turn the other cheek, blessed are the meek. He’s known for his stories- the good samaritan, the lost sheep, the prodigal son. He’s known for his miraculous powers, healing the sick, stilling the storm. So what can we say about him? He’s not a myth, a story- even wikipedia agrees that he lived, and died by crucifixion. Can we say he’s a wise man, a prophet, a teacher? Well, what about the more difficult things he said? Such as claiming to be one with the Father, such as using God’s name for himself, and forgiving people’s sins.  And what about his claim to be ‘the way, the truth and the life’- the only way to God? It’s the height of arrogance- unless it’s true. Yet Jesus isn’t arrogant- he hangs out with the people who are shunned by everyone else and washes the camel poo off his friends’ feet.

I’m going to look briefly at a story early on in John’s gospel. Jesus has left Nazareth and is gathering his team. One of the men he called, Philip, ran straight off to find his friend Nathaniel, and told him, 'We've found him, the one written about in the scriptures, the one God promised. It's Jesus, from Nazareth, the carpenter’s son.

Now, Philip and Nathanael both knew what had been promised in the Old Testament. They were talking a common language. I wonder what the person who invited you today said? If it was me I probably made a big deal out of the cake.  What I should have said was- I’ve found the answer to all our longings for true love, for fulfilment and purpose, the answer to our griefs and our fear of death. It’s Jesus of Nazareth.’

What does Nathanael reply? ‘Nazareth? Can anything good come out of there?’ I wonder if there was a bit of prejudice going on here, some rivalry between towns. To borrow an illustration from my northern routes, in Lancashire there’s a saying ‘The only good thing to come out of Yorkshire is the road to Lancashire.’ If you pop over the Pennines to Yorkshire there’s the same saying only the road is going in the opposite direction. Really, I don’t think I blame Nathanael for his doubt. After all, the Jews had been promised a forever King, a rescuer, and who is this Jesus anyway- an ordinary man, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth of all places. . And if he really is the promised rescuer, then a lot of hopes and dreams rest on him, and well, life can’t exactly go on as before.

I wonder what are our equivalents of Nazareth today- our reasons for doubting Christianity, for not looking for answers there?  Perhaps you come from a different faith or none and don’t think Christianity is for you. Perhaps you don’t like Christianity’s claim to exclusivity. Perhaps you have had negative experiences in churches or with Christians.

Philip replies- come and see. And Nathaniel packs up his doubts and questions and goes. Let me read to you what happens next

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, ‘Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.’

‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig-tree before Philip called you.’

Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.’

Jesus said, ‘You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than that.’

And just like that the opinion Nathanael held about Jesus is turned on its head, in one encounter. And who does he say Jesus is? The Son of God- the King of Israel.  

By the way, I’m not saying Nathanael’s experience is typical. The actor David Suchet, when talking about his own conversion to Christianity, said that he had enough questions to last him about 21 years! There may even be a note of reproach in Jesus’s reply to Nathanael- you believe just because of that - you haven’t seen anything yet. Then Jesus says this difficult thing about ladders and angels- ‘you will see heaven open, and angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man’. What is that all about? Well, he is effectively saying that he’s going to make a way between heaven and earth, between man and God, where there wasn’t a way before. All other religions say ‘this is what to do to get to heaven’. Only Jesus says ‘you can’t do it- so I will do it for you.’

So Nathaniel makes this statement of faith on surprisingly little evidence, and Jesus tells him he will have many more reasons to believe. And yet, again, I think I know where Nathaniel is coming from. You see, if what the Bible says is true, then Jesus is alive today and we can really know him- and he really knows us. When I first became a Christian, and several times afterwards, there have been some really sweet moments where I realise that Jesus really knows me. Fig-tree moments if you like. To finish, let me tell you one.

A few years ago my daughter was going through a lot of health problems and one summer found us in A and E more than we thought possible. She had had 2 operations, followed by several infections with very high temperatures, then one summer morning she had her first seizure and I found myself in an ambulance on the way to a and e yet again. Now normally I go into autopilot and manage these hospital visits quite calmly, but not this time. This was scary and I was so weary of being there. I sat in the empty waiting room, covered in vomit and holding a sleeping child and I thought to myself- they will ask me to explain her entire medical history from day one, because they always do, and I just can’t face it.’ I didn’t pray it. I just thought it. Then the doctor arrived. ‘Ive read her file’ he said. What?!! They never read the file, never had before and never have since. He had even read up which blood tests she had had recently so we didn’t need to repeat them!

Now this might sound incidental to you- but to me, I knew I had been heard. Even though I didn’t say it out loud, didn’t even pray it. He knew. He saw. He heard. In the middle of a terrible memory is a really sweet and precious moment. And I want to tell you that if you haven’t met Jesus yet, you have these moments to come.

So today, I invite you, like Nathanael, to come and see. Take a second look at the man from Nazareth- pick up a gospel, talk to a friend. Whatever you are expecting, hoping, dreaming- you will discover something much greater in Jesus of Nazareth.