A Lenten Reflection
Where did Christ find you?
Today's Gospel reading (John 1:43-51) tells of how Philip and Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) were called as disciples to follow Christ. As I was reading the passage over with my husband Charles, a certain line kept catching my eye:
"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me." (John 1:43)
Found and Follow.
Notice that Philip didn't find Jesus, but that Jesus found him. Many scholars believe that Philip probably knew Andrew and Simon Peter, they lived in the same village after all. For whatever reason Andrew did not think to bring Philip to Christ (it is thought by theologians that Philip was a quiet, thoughtful man...perhaps easily overlooked by others)....and Philip had not sought out Christ on his own accord.
Yet the Savior sought Philip out...He found him. Where, it isn't clear. We don't know if Philip was listening to John the Baptist teach (remember Andrew had been John's disciple before becoming the first of Christ's)....or if Philip was down by the fishing boats, maybe repairing nets. Perhaps he was reclining on a stone wall and eating lunch...we just don't know. He was, most likely, just engaged in the process of living his every day life.
And then Jesus found him.
Everything changes when Jesus finds us, doesn't it? Nothing is ever the same again once we've truly encountered the Lord.
Then Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me."
The mark of being a disciple of Christ is that of "are we actively following Jesus?" Are we learning from Him, doing His bidding, keeping His commandments. Are we living within His love and sharing what has been given with us to a lost and needing world.
So what did Philip do? He got up and followed Christ. Not only that, but in the same narrative, we learn that Philip goes to his friend Nathanael and tells him, "'We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
(It is of note that Philip was so well acquainted with the Scriptures that he could tell that Jesus was the one foretold about by Moses and the Prophets....by being knowledgeable about God's Word, he was prepared when Christ called him. Are we keeping ourselves properly prepared to do God's work by immersing ourselves in His Word?)
Something in Philip's encounter with Jesus was so moving, so life changing, that he left what he was doing and followed Jesus; and he was so excited about it, he went and told his friend that same say. He didn't wait, he didn't postpone, he didn't keep this news to himself...he had to share it, and quickly.
When was the last time you were so excited over what God was doing in your life, or the lives of those you love, that you went and shared the Good News? Philip didn't even wait a day before he had to tell someone! How many of us are stuck in our daily lives, and while we keep the Gospel to ourselves, we haven't allowed it to fully infuse our lives, nor that of the lives around us? How many of us are sitting on that life-giving news of the Gospel, while the lost languish all around us?
Jesus found Philip, and nothing was ever the same again in Philip's life. Where did Jesus find you? A call from Jesus changed everything for Philip.....what has knowing Christ changed in you?
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Where did Christ find you?
Today's Gospel reading (John 1:43-51) tells of how Philip and Nathanael (also called Bartholomew) were called as disciples to follow Christ. As I was reading the passage over with my husband Charles, a certain line kept catching my eye:
"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me." (John 1:43)
Found and Follow.
Notice that Philip didn't find Jesus, but that Jesus found him. Many scholars believe that Philip probably knew Andrew and Simon Peter, they lived in the same village after all. For whatever reason Andrew did not think to bring Philip to Christ (it is thought by theologians that Philip was a quiet, thoughtful man...perhaps easily overlooked by others)....and Philip had not sought out Christ on his own accord.
Yet the Savior sought Philip out...He found him. Where, it isn't clear. We don't know if Philip was listening to John the Baptist teach (remember Andrew had been John's disciple before becoming the first of Christ's)....or if Philip was down by the fishing boats, maybe repairing nets. Perhaps he was reclining on a stone wall and eating lunch...we just don't know. He was, most likely, just engaged in the process of living his every day life.
And then Jesus found him.
Everything changes when Jesus finds us, doesn't it? Nothing is ever the same again once we've truly encountered the Lord.
Then Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me."
The mark of being a disciple of Christ is that of "are we actively following Jesus?" Are we learning from Him, doing His bidding, keeping His commandments. Are we living within His love and sharing what has been given with us to a lost and needing world.
So what did Philip do? He got up and followed Christ. Not only that, but in the same narrative, we learn that Philip goes to his friend Nathanael and tells him, "'We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
(It is of note that Philip was so well acquainted with the Scriptures that he could tell that Jesus was the one foretold about by Moses and the Prophets....by being knowledgeable about God's Word, he was prepared when Christ called him. Are we keeping ourselves properly prepared to do God's work by immersing ourselves in His Word?)
Something in Philip's encounter with Jesus was so moving, so life changing, that he left what he was doing and followed Jesus; and he was so excited about it, he went and told his friend that same say. He didn't wait, he didn't postpone, he didn't keep this news to himself...he had to share it, and quickly.
When was the last time you were so excited over what God was doing in your life, or the lives of those you love, that you went and shared the Good News? Philip didn't even wait a day before he had to tell someone! How many of us are stuck in our daily lives, and while we keep the Gospel to ourselves, we haven't allowed it to fully infuse our lives, nor that of the lives around us? How many of us are sitting on that life-giving news of the Gospel, while the lost languish all around us?
Jesus found Philip, and nothing was ever the same again in Philip's life. Where did Jesus find you? A call from Jesus changed everything for Philip.....what has knowing Christ changed in you?
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
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