‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SUNDAY, 17 JANUARY, SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

Greek Orthodox Icon: The Calling of Philip and Nathanael

Dear Friends

As mentioned in last Sunday’s ‘thought for the week’, we continue to explore, during Epiphany, narratives from the Gospels which encourage us to reflect upon the ‘epiphany’ (unveiling, or manifestation) of the glory of God in his Son, Jesus Christ.  The Feast of Epiphany itself focuses upon the visit of the Magi to the infant Christ, and the presentation of the three symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, as recounted by Matthew.  Then, last week, the story of the baptism of Christ, which is to be found in all three synoptic Gospels, to a greater or lesser extent, depicts Jesus coming up out of the water after his baptism in the river Jordan, experiencing the Holy Spirit descend upon him, and receiving confirmation, through the ‘voice from heaven’ of his unique role as Son – it is one of the key instances in the New Testament in which the Trinity begins to be revealed (although the word ‘Trinity’ as such is not to be found within any of these documents).

This Sunday, the focus, in the narrative of the calling of Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51), is upon the way in which Jesus, newly anointed for his messianic role by the Spirit, begins to gather around him a group of disciples.  As so often in the Scriptures, it is a story which reflects the fact that God’s choice can be unexpected and frequently rests upon those who seem least ‘worthy’.  As one commentator has suggested, if you put yourself in Nathanael’s shoes, and your friend, Philip, comes to you with the outrageous suggestion that the One about whom Moses and the prophets have written is a denizen of Nazareth – a small village in the backwaters of Galilee, truly the back end of nowhere – it is perhaps not surprising that Nathanael’s reaction is at first incredulous, and even cynical: ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’.  It is not at all what he was expecting – Nazareth is ‘off the religious map’ and this is not what is supposed to happen when the Messiah comes!  Nevertheless, he responds to the invitation to ‘come and see’, and Jesus praises him for his integrity: ‘There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no guile’.  As a result, Nathanael finds himself the recipient of a promise that he will see God’s glory revealed in a way that will demand his lifetime commitment – God, through his Son, has made even Nazareth (and Nathanael) new.

The season of Epiphany is a time in which we, too, are especially invited – although at times we may feel as sceptical or incredulous as Nathanael – to offer our lives once more to be transformed and renewed, so that God’s glory may be revealed, even in us.

Fr Stephen

Almighty God,

in Christ you make all things new:

transform the povertyof our nature

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

A readinf from the first book of Samuel.

The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. 

The word of the Lord was rare in those days; 

visions were not widespread. 

At that time Eli, 

whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, 

was lying down in his room; 

the lamp of God had not yet gone out, 

and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, 

where the ark of God was. 

Then the Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" 

and he said, "Here I am!" 

and ran to Eli, and said, 

"Here I am, for you called me." 

But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." 

So he went and lay down. 

The Lord called again, "Samuel!" 

Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, 

"Here I am, for you called me." 

But he said, 

"I did not call, my son; lie down again." 

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, 

and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. 

And he got up and went to Eli, and said, 

"Here I am, for you called me." 

Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, 

"Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 

"Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' " 

So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

Now the Lord came and stood there, 

calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" 

And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 

He found Philip and said to him, 

"Follow me." 

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 

"We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, 

Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 

Nathanael said to him, 

"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" 

Philip said to him, "Come and see." 

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, 

he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 

Nathanael asked him, 

"Where did you get to know me?" 

Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 

Nathanael replied, 

"Rabbi, you are the Son of God! 

You are the King of Israel!" 

Jesus answered, 

"Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? 

You will see greater things than these." 

And he said to him, "Very truly, 

I tell you, you will see heaven opened 

and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."