The Sunday of Orthodoxy
The first Sunday of Lent marks celebrates the triumph of Orthodox Christianity over the Iconoclasts, who for over a century had hijacked the Eastern Church and destroyed icons anywhere they could find them in an effort to appease the encroaching Muslim armies. So on this day, Orthodox Christians bring their icons to church and make a procession around it, holding up their icons, to celebrate this victory.
In our Gospel reading for this Sunday, John 1:43-51, we learn how Jesus called His first disciples: Andrew and his brother Simon whom Jesus renamed Cephas (Peter) meaning a "Stone," then Philip and his brother Nathanael. Nothing is said here about James and his brother John, likely because of the author’s reluctance to name himself, although the other gospels place them among the first batch of disciples.
When Philip invites Nathanael to see Jesus, Who seems to be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, Nathanael makes this strange statement: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (v.46). How should we understand this? The brothers Andrew and Peter, as well as brothers James and John, all came from Nazareth, but Nathanael seems to disparage the town, wrote Chrysosotom. Augustine, however, thought it could be taken two ways: "either as casting aspersions on Jesus' birth and upbringing, or affirming that something good can come out of Nazareth" (ACCS). But Nathanael’s brother Philip brushed aside this complaint by simply saying – "Come and see." This is what we need to say when people bring up objections about Christ, Christianity and the Church: invite them to church: "Come and see," or better yet, pick them up and take them to church. Only about 10% of the people you invite to church come, but 100% of the people you take to church come!
And what's that strange bit about the fig tree? When Nathanael came, Jesus said to him – "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Nathanael seems a bit embarrassed and asks – "How did you know me?" And Jesus replied – "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (vv. 47-48). What's with the fig tree? It was a place of shade in hot weather where a man could sit and pray or meditate on the Scriptures (NIVSB). Nathanael knew that Moses and the prophets hadn't written anything about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, but rather from Bethlehem: what a puzzle!
Okay, that’s the lead-in. The stunning thing about this Gospel reading, however, is that the relatively obscure Nathanael, not Simon Peter, is the one who makes the shocking confession right at the start of Christ's ministry – "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (v. 49). It was only much later that Peter would confess – "You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God" (Mat. 16:16). Why is this? St. John Chrysostom wrote that "Jesus was praising Nathanael for being so diligent and careful in his search for the Messiah. Christ's foreknowledge and His ability to see into Nathanael's heart stir him to this confession of faith" (OSB note).
This is all it took for Nathanael, he was hooked on Jesus when He told him – "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these" (v. 50). All it takes for most people is a personal encounter with Christ through someone who sees their heart, cares enough to show interest in them, and that person sees Christ in them. Do we care enough to show interest in people... especially those "others" who are maybe a little strange and different from us?
Even more stunning than Nathanael's confession of Jesus as the Son of God, however, is what Jesus said to him next – "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (v. 51). This brings to mind Ezekiel’s vision – "...the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God" (Ezek. 1:1), and the story of Jacob’s ladder in Gen. 28:12 – "Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." What does all this mean, and how does it tie into the Sunday of Orthodoxy?
When the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God – the eternal Sophia and Logos – became the Son of Man. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is not just a man who was a created being and became really godly, like the Arians and later the Muslims would say; nor a half-and-half, part man and part God, as the Nestorians taught. NO! The invisible God became a visible, tangible and very real human being while remaining fully God. This is what the iconoclasts and the Muslims fought against, that the invisible God, Whom nobody may make a three-D carved image of, became visible and could be depicted in a two-D image, an icon.
St. John the Evangelist wrote in the first part of this chapter – "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [kharis] and truth [aletheia]" (v. 14). Grace is not merely a free gift from God, as our Evangelical friends say: it doesn't make sense to say that Jesus was full of the free gift from God. Grace is also God's divine energy that transformed Mary into the Theotokos, the Birthgiver of God, and is transforming us into His likeness. And the truth here is God's Word that sanctifies us – "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth" (Jn. 17:17).
So now we've solved this puzzle: the Son of God – Sophia or Wisdom, Logos or the Word – no longer is just an abstract ideal in the realm of ideas. He came down the Ladder of the Virgin Mary’s womb, He took on human flesh while remaining fully divine, God became the Son of Man, became a visible, tangible Man, as St. John wrote later – "That which was from the beginning, which we have seen and heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word [Logos] of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship [koinonia] with us. And our fellowship [koinonia] is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ" (1 Jn. 1:1-3 NIVSB).
This koinonia-fellowship refers to Communion, the Eucharist, in which we become koinonos-partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4 KJV+). It is not merely a symbol, it is partaking of the very real Body and Blood of Christ: the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, the Word becomes flesh and dwells in and among us; thus we become the Body of Christ, the Church. Let us now proclaim what we have seen and heard to the whole world: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Rom. 1:16) – and also for the Carpatho-Rusyns and for the Russians, Serbians, Americans, Italians, Africans, Fijians, Peruvians… "Come and see!"
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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Sources:
ACCS = Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures, on this passage (e-Sword add-in)
KJV+ = King James Version with Strong’s Dictionaries and Concordance (e-Sword)
NIVSB = New International Version Study Bible
OSB = Orthodox Study Bible (used throughout except where otherwise noted)
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In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!