Come and See

John 1:46 – “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

Jesus called Philip to follow Him and Philip did. But Philip did not stop there. He found Nathaniel and told him about Jesus. He describes Jesus of Nazareth, as the one that Moses wrote about in the Law. And Nathaniel’s response was the sceptical question, Nazareth, can anything good come from there? Nathaniel had his own views about Nazareth and expecting good things from that place were not among them.

Philip’s response was simple. Come and see. Figure out for yourself, Nathaniel. Come and meet Him and you decide for yourself.

We live in a world where stereotyping is so common. From opinions of places to people from different walks of life, to schools and colleges, governments, localities people stay in, we have our opinion about everything. People are often rather set in their ways and views which are not very easy to change.

If we were to share the Gospel with one of our friends today, it is possible we will be met with a response similar to Nathaniel. Philip presents us with a great example of how to counter that. Rather than argue or force his own opinion, Philip just simply and graciously says, come and see.

Often, we have opinions so strong that we are eager, sometimes even adamant that we want to convince the other about what we believe. It is important however, especially when we share the Gospel, to be gracious. Also, to remember, God alone can change hearts, we cannot. We are only called to be pointers, directing people to Christ, so that He might change their hearts.