St. John 14:1-14
The saint day which recalls to the church the work of apostles Philip and James happens to be one week into the season of Easter. We look at these apostles only to see the work that Jesus does in using men--preachers to build up the church. These two men are looked at together on one day, perhaps, because of the complimentary role that they each played in the life of the early, apostolic church. In other words, this day is really meant to illuminate the work done by the Lord with these men. Philip’s name is Greek. He was of Jewish origin, but his name being Greek cannot underplay Philip’s cultural openness. Philip was the one who went to Nathanael and told him that they had found the one Moses wrote about in the Old Testament. When Nathanael asked “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, Philip responding with the preaching that sustains the church-- “Come and see.” Philip was also the one approached in St. John’s gospel when some Greeks came up for the Passover just before Christ’s arrest. They came to Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” The tendency for the Greeks to seek out Philip with the request is another signal, along with Philip’s Greek name, that Philip was a man they could talk to. Philip later went on to preach in Greece and Hierapolis, where he was martyred. Philip followed the command of the Lord to preach the gospel to all nations. James, the Lesser, or “James the Just” was the noted “brother of the Lord.” James did not travel so much, but found himself to be placed as the bishop of the Jerusalem church. He was the pastor there. The ministry in which he was placed was very different from Philip. James was to care for God’s people in the middle of a place that still largely rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah. James preached the gospel to the Jews, thereby also fulfilling the Lord’s command to preach the gospel to all nations. St. Paul calls James one of the pillars of the church. His importance in the early apostolic church cannot be overlooked. In Acts 15 when the Jewish side of the church clashed with the Gentile portion over circumcision, it was James gave the final decision. The church looked to God’s ordained man for direction in the life of Christ’s bride on earth. Our Lord loved His disciples and cared for them each according to their individual strengths and weaknesses. St. Paul gives us some commentary on the Easter celebration in 1 Corinthians 15. St. Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection and to whom Jesus revealed Himself. St. Paul tells us that Jesus appeared to Peter, then to the twelve disciples. Then Jesus appeared to more than five hundred of the disciples. Then, we are told, Jesus went to James and showed Himself to James personally, just as He had done to Peter. Why? We can only surmise, but James may have been singled out either because he needed to see Jesus in order to believe, to use Philip’s words, to “come and see,” or perhaps because of the important and difficult ministry in which he would one day find himself in Jerusalem. They were men, but we ought not make light of the important roles that these men played in the life of the church. Jesus used them for His purpose. James would even go on to write the epistle that bears his name. In the end, Philip and James would each be martyred for their confession of faith. The paraments are red because of the their blood that was shed for the bold confession of Christ. Jesus told them it would be that way. In the upper room before Christ’s betrayal as Jesus preached His last sermon, Philip interjected, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us”(St. John 14:8). Jesus responded by reminding Philip that the Father and the Son are one. Then, Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing”(St. John 14:12). This is very much synonymous with Christ’s words just moments later in the same sermon-- “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”(St. John 15:18). The pattern is set, Jesus is saying. Follow--do this in season and out of season. Following Christ is never as easy as we first think it to be. Philip and the other apostles likely responded with eager agreement, initially. In the upper room, they were with Jesus and were ready (in season). But just a short time later in the evening, following Jesus when the Roman guards came with Judas was not so easy(out of season). Our own self-reflection on our lives should bear this out. Following Jesus faithfully is not so easy. In one moment we are rejoicing in Christ’s goodness and in the next moment we are ready to move on to the world’s things. The soul rejoices in Christ’s love and forgiveness with its own thankfulness one moment, but the next moment the flesh takes over and desires to have its way with us. This should lead us to fall on our knees seeking Jesus’ forgiveness and help. Herein lies the whole cycle of the baptized life. In this we are no different from Philip and James. All of us find ourselves circling around and around looking at sin, repentance, and forgiveness. This places us right with Philip’s confession to Nathanael, “Come and see.” Come and see Jesus, the Messiah of whom Moses spoke. We are to come and see Jesus in the Scriptures and in preaching. Jesus is the one we seek, for Jesus is forgiveness. Jesus is truth and love. To do what Jesus had been doing is to rest in that truth and love that covers us. Jesus was trying to tell Philip, in between the lines, to look at Jesus and there you see God in the flesh. You want to see the Father? You want to see God? Then look at Jesus and you see Divinity. Philip and James looked into the eyes of God. They looked into the eyes of wisdom, into the ancient of days who has always existed. They looked into the eyes of the Lord who condemns to hell and raises up to heaven. The power of life and death were in the eyes and within the man who stood before them. Consequently, their very lives were in the Lord’s hand. Their place in the church as pastors and evangelists was in the Lord’s hand. The salvation of Philip and James was in the Lord’s hand and power, and Jesus secured it on the cross. The work that these apostles did was, indeed, holy. They were God’s appointed servants, but they, like us, needed Jesus to save them from their sins. The same is true for each of us. It is a pure gift that we rest in the arms of Jesus. Our very lives and souls are in His hand. These men may have died martyr’s deaths, but Jesus won for them a crown of life. They will rise from the dead in Christ’s victory. Jesus has won for you this same crown of life. Your sins were paid for on the cross, and your salvation is secured. Christ’s rising is thereby your rising. His death is your death, and you are yoked by Christ’s merits to the body of Christ. Jesus has grafted you into the church that includes Philip and James and all the Christians. His blood has redeemed us all and the gospel faithfully preached by God’s men still rings in our midst, as we recall the mercy of the Lord that stretches down to us from heaven through the preaching of Christ, even today. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
