Come and see. You’ve heard those words. A child has pulled you up from a chair to see fireflies. Your friend has grown an amazing amount of rhubarb and invites you to look. A nature enthusiast has gotten you out of bed at 6 a.m. to see a waterfall, a deer, or a silent lake. It’s not enough just to tell someone about the fireflies or the rhubarb. They need to come and see with their own eyes.
This is what Philip says to Nathanael in John’s gospel. Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip doesn’t try to argue his case. Philip says three words: “Come and see” (John 1:43-51).
Come and see. You’ve got to leave the place you are to see the thing that is new. Revelation doesn’t happen from an armchair.
So come and see. Come and see Jesus. Get up. Move. Hike or bike or hop in a car. Push your wheelchair, paddle your canoe. Go to where Jesus is and meet him. Look at him.
And then, testify.
This message is excerpted from “Come & see” by Susan K. Olson in the January/February 2019 Gather magazine.
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