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The Epiphany, as well as this season after it, are about what the word precisely means. They are about revelation. They are about manifestation. They are about revealing the Truth.
On the Epiphany, that was about the revelation of Christ’s birth to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi through the science of astronomy. Last week, it was about the revealing of Christ’s nature to the world through His Baptism.
This week, we see Christ revealed to His early followers at the start of His ministry. Through the Beloved Disciple’s writing in John, we see it in a very important way.
The first Disciples have already seen Jesus for who He is and are now revealing the Truth to Nathanael. Here is the important aspect: Nathanael is no different from the leaders of the various religious groups in his time like the Pharisees or the Sadducees or even the religious leaders like those of the Sanhedrin. Nathanael has serious doubts about Jesus. As he says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Today we might hear this said about people from our own state, or perhaps we have said it about people from other states ourselves.
Unlike all the others around him who remain skeptical about Jesus, Nathanael is open. He heeds the call to “Come and see.” He is open to seeing and hearing the Truth. He is open to being proved wrong. This is why Jesus says he is a true representative of Israel. Nathanael is open to seeing God at work in the world. Nathanael is open to having the Truth revealed.
We are called to be like Nathanael too. We are called to be open to recognizing that we are wrong. We called to be open to recognizing that there is Truth. We are called to have our ears and eyes open to listen and witness what God is working in the world. We too are called to “Come and see.”
The Truth that Jesus calls us to hear is this: we cannot do this on our own. Left to our own devices, as we have seen throughout history including our present current events, we will fall. We fail to do the right thing. We fail to listen. We fail to follow God.
But Jesus came to bring us the forgiveness and grace we so desperately need. Jesus came to give us new life, one that will no longer lead to death but one that will allow us to be fully present with God. Jesus, in fact, came to bring us back to God. Jesus came to show us what love truly is by giving His life for ours and by rising again so that we could rise with Him back to God.
If we, unlike Nathanael, cannot listen to the Truth that God gives us in our Lord Jesus Christ, then we are doomed to continue to fall away from God over and over again. Instead, we are called to “Come and see” what it is that Jesus is trying to tell us. We are called to “Come and see” the Truth: God loves us and died for us because of that love so that we could come back to Him.
Who will we be like? Will be like the skeptics of Jesus’ day and follow our own path, one that continually draws us away from God? Or will we choose to listen to the Truth like Nathanael? Will we choose Truth, love, grace, hope, and forgiveness? Will we choose the path that leads back to God? Will we choose to hear and follow Jesus?