Sermon for the Second Sunday After the Epiphany
Shine On
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ! Amen. The Gospel of the Day is from St. John chapter 1.
In this Gospel, Jesus "found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me.'" After
that-amazingly enough-"Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have
found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of
Nazareth, son of Joseph.'"
Dear Christian friends,
Today is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. Epiphany is all about Jesus
displaying the power of His divine nature to the world. The theme of
Epiphany is light-the Light of God the Son beaming forth from the human
nature of Jesus the Christ.
In today's Gospel, there are two displays of Christ's Epiphany light.
The clearest and most noticeable display of your Lord's divine glory is in
His conversation with Nathanael:
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do you know
me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the
fig tree, I saw you."
Only God reads the hearts and minds of men. Only God has the power to see
through Nathanael's cocky attitude and his "Can anything good come out of
Nazareth" humor. Only God can perceive the faith and piety and trust that
had been cultivated in the Nathanael's chest from the Sunday School days of
his youth. And here we get to see the sort of man this Jesus of Nazareth is.
Jesus is God in human flesh; God, who here displays His divinity and might
by seeing Nathanael from afar and perceiving the faith hidden deep within:
"Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
If your God in Christ should so thoroughly know Nathanael at the first
moment He met him, how much more thoroughly does this same God know you?
Should we not think that, if Jesus can distinguish faith and unbelief in
Nathanael, He likewise is more than able to distinguish faith and unbelief
in you and in me?
I went through a time in my childhood when I was a somewhat afraid of Santa
Claus. It wasn't the red suit or the beard or the creepy co-workers. It was
that song my mother was always singing to me at Christmas time:
He knows when you are sleeping,
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake.
I hate to say it, but that is the sort of Epiphany picture we get of our
Lord Jesus in today's Gospel. Jesus is God and nothing can be hidden from
God. Maybe that should make us just a little bit afraid-especially when we
feel the urge to hide something from Him. Our Lord Jesus sees through us and
He is not playing any games. Jesus is God; God cannot and will not be mocked
(Galatians 6:7).
Your God in this Gospel shows Himself able to distinguish between deceitful
Israelites, as it were, and Israelites "in whom there is no deceit." Stated
another way, your God in this Gospel shows Himself able to distinguish
between false Christians and true Christians, pretending Christians and
honest-to-goodness Christians.
But all is not fear and trembling in this Gospel. Listen again to what your
Lord Jesus said about Nathanael. "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there
is no deceit!" Jesus did NOT say, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there
is no sin." No, Jesus said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is
no deceit!"
From these divinely spoken words, we may conclude that Nathanael made no
bones about his temptations and his sins. Rather, he freely admitted them,
possibly even confessing them as part of his worship just as you do today.
It is not that there was no sin in Nathanael. Nathanael was "sinful at
birth" (Psalm 51:5, NIV), just like you and me and everyone else who has
ever drawn a human breath. The sin is not the point Jesus is making: Jesus'
point is that there was no deceit in Nathanael about his sin. Nathanael
admitted that he had it, that he somewhat liked it, and that he could not
escape it.
Nathanael's meeting with Jesus the all-seeing God probably came as a relief.
Jesus brought to Nathanael forgiveness for those sins that Nathanael so
freely admitted he had. Jesus allowed Nathanael to stand in the presence of
forgiveness and finally to say, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the
King of Israel!"
It may indeed seem a little spooky to know that your Lord Jesus can see
right through you-and along the way see everything you try to hide inside of
you. Everyone has things they would rather others not know about. But Jesus'
divine perception is only frightening for you if you foolishly keep trying
to hide something from Him.
Jesus is not the least be concerned with whether you are hiding any sins
inside of you. Jesus came for the purpose of cleansing you of all your sins,
that that task was as good as done as soon as your Lord was baptized. When
He was baptized, He took upon Himself all those sins you feel like you need
to hide, and after carrying them for three years or so, Jesus killed all of
those sins by dying on the cross with them.
No, Jesus is not the least be concerned with whether you are hiding any sins
inside of you. Jesus did NOT say Nathanael, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in
whom there is no sin." Jesus is much more interested in your honesty about
your sins-which is the flip side of faith. Jesus said to Nathanel, "Behold,
an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"
Speak honestly to Jesus, dear saints, because Jesus will not fail to speak
honestly to you. As St. John explains in another place,
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).
That is the main part of today's Gospel. Jesus' conversation with Nathanael
is surely the most noticeable display of Christ's Epiphany glory in this
Gospel. The second display of Christ' divinity and power is not nearly so
exciting as the first, but it is important for your life and therefore it
ought not to be passed over. In this Gospel, Christ displays His Epiphany
glory, not only in His conversation with Nathanael, but also in Philip's
conversation with Nathanael.
Here is how it happened:
Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow
Me." [After that] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found
Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth,
son of Joseph."
Here is the point: Through the miracle-producing, faith-bestowing power of
His divine Word, Jesus made Philip the disciple in the wink of an eye. Jesus'
words, "Follow Me" re-created and strengthened confirmed the gift of faith
that Philip had learned from his earliest lessons in Scriptures. By the
power of Jesus' speaking, Philip believed and followed Him.
The same miracle-producing power that was in Jesus' mouth now also entered
Philip's mouth. When Philip went to Nathanael and said, "We have found Him
of whom [we learned about in Sunday School]," Philip was not speaking mere
information to Nathanael. Philip was breathing upon Nathanael the same
divine Word of forgiveness and life that Jesus had first breathed on Philip
when He said to Philip, "Follow Me." In Philip's speaking, Jesus exerts His
faith-producing power over Nathanael. In Philip's speaking, the miracle of
faith and hope and eternal life burrows deeper into Nathanael's heart and
mind. In Philip's speaking, God performed an Epiphany miracle.
So it is with your speaking of the Word as well, dear saints. You may feel
powerless to speak to others about Jesus. You may feel that you don' really
know what to say. Say it anyway! Philip did not create a fancy theological
treatise or a polished sermon manuscript or a lofty argument. Philip did not
really do all that much at all. The best he could muster was, "We've heard
about this guy before and I think you should meet Him."
Epiphany is all about Jesus displaying the power of His divine nature to the
world. Epiphany still burns brightly in the Church today. The Epiphany
Christ shines from the altar, where Jesus the God-Man gets served to you in
bread and wine. The Epiphany Christ shines from the pulpit and the baptismal
font, where God the Son miraculously continues to create faith and give
life. The Epiphany Christ beams brightly also from your mouth and your lips,
accomplishing great thing through you-things that only God Himself can do.
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