Jan 18, 2015 Second Sunday of Epiphany

John 1:43-51 (The Message)

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." … 45 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" 46 Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself." 47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body." 48 Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." 49 Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! 51 Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

Nathanael was too sure too soon.  Jesus chides him a bit for his ease of believing, and reminds him that he hasn’t seen anything yet.  He is going to see more than his certainty can be sure of!  He is going to discover that faith is more than being sure: more than little miracles.

“The quest for certainty is self-defeating, and that is true whether the certainty we seek is an assurance about God or about some person we love very much or about the significance of our own selves.  In each case, I think, the more we seek certainty or assurance, the more uncertain we become. ... But the quest for understanding, as I see it, requires that we give up the search for certainty and go on a voyage of discovery.  And there is a lot to discover  about God, about other people and about ourselves.”  John Dunne, Psychology Today, Jan 1978




“I am looking for a voyage of discovery which
continually opens up new possibilities to me;
new joys, new discoveries of the meaning of being loved and of loving both humanly and
with my God.”  
                    Anyita Bryan








Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me open to new understanding of your love for all.
Help me discover more and more of what it means to walk with you.”