Come and See: Beheld to Behold and Beseech

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Good morning. My name is Amanda. I am a part of the Alameda Small Group.

So today's reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 35 to 41, as printed in the liturgy.

John 1:35–41

The next day again, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said,

Behold, the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What are you seeking?

And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?

He said to them, Come and you will see.

So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and follow Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which means Christ.

He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John.

You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.

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 of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote,

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him, Come and see.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and said to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.

Nathanael said to him, How do you know me?

Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the son of God.

You are the king of Israel.

Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree.

Do you believe?

You will see greater things than these.

And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise you, O Christ.

You can take your seats.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Andrew.

I'm the assistant pastor here.

It's good to celebrate Christmas with you.

And in case you're wondering what some of the things that I love, well, I love the warriors and I love Christmas.

And I love that the warriors are in first place right now.

Thanks be to God.

Merry Christmas.

Will you join me in prayer before we get into God's word?

Father, we are so glad that your son has come.

We're so glad that there can be joy in this world and that we have hope that your son will come again.

And that's good news for us.

Help us to see and savor this good news as followers, as disciples of this risen and exalted son we celebrate this season.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

So again, Merry Christmas, everyone.

The word has become flesh.

That's what we're talking about a lot here in the gospel of John.

The word has become flesh and dwelt among us.

Emmanuel, right?

God is with us.

And we're going to continue emphasizing that theme throughout our sermon series in John's gospel.

But today, I want to conclude, as we conclude the first chapter of John,

we're going to have a glimpse of the other side of this God with us coin.

The other side of it.

You see, yes, it's absolutely profound that the eternal and infinite and divine Lord became God with us.

But today's text invites us to consider the equally true reality of us with God.

Us with God.

Not just God abiding with us, but us abiding with God as his disciples.

Here in John chapter 1, we're looking at the beginnings of the discipleship ministry of Jesus.

John 1 · chapter mention

Now, honestly, Jonathan and I and Christ Church historically,

we have tried really hard to avoid using Christian-y language.

As much as we can, we want to translate terms from the Bible into our everyday common speech.

I remember sitting down with some of our past pastors,

Bart, Patrick, and Quinn, a couple years ago, discussing this very word, discipleship.

Discipleship.

And we were trying to come up with a suitable synonym, because discipleship just sounds so Christian-y, right?

It sounds like language that's only used inside the church or maybe within a cult

or in other strange hierarchical kinds of relationships.

And it just so offends our egalitarian, everybody's equal sensibilities, right?

So we were like, okay, what's it going to be?

It's going to be apprenticeship, mentorship, followers, pupils, I don't know, Padawans, I don't know.

But none of them really stuck.

None of them really stuck.

So even though I hesitated a bunch in deciding whether or not to use this term, discipleship,

talk about disciples today, I'm just going to go with it.

I'm just going to go with it.

And if you have a better one, go ahead and email me, let me know.

But I also think, you know, there's something quite beautiful about reclaiming this term, discipleship,

and unashamedly using it in our everyday language to describe who we are

and who we want to be in relationship to Jesus.

See, because language creates culture.

And that's what I'm hoping to do here very intentionally by using this term, discipleship,

to talk about us as disciples of Jesus.

This is what we want for our church.

We want to be a church with a discipleship culture.

This is what we mean when we say that Christchurch exists,

to lead people into deeper relationships with Christ and His church through community for the city.

This is what we're truly after, the making of disciples.

This is what we want, the making of disciples.

You know, recently, someone who's newer to our church was having a conversation with Jonathan,

and they said to Jonathan something that we just absolutely love to hear.

They said, you know, now that I'm here at Christchurch,

I'm beginning to see myself less as just a Christian, less as just a believer, and more as a disciple.

And that was just music to our ears that made our hearts sore because that's what we're after.

Remember the risen Jesus, He didn't say,

All authority in heaven and on earth have been given unto me.

Therefore, go and make nominal cultural Christians.

Therefore, go make mere believers.

He said, therefore, go and make disciples.

Not just churchgoers, disciples.

He said, therefore, go and make disciples, teaching them to do what?

Everything that I have commanded you.

He wasn't looking for the growth of Christendom.

He wasn't looking for an increase in church attendance, upping the membership and baptism counts,

just getting people into the door.

He was looking to have the formation of disciplined followers from among the nations

who would sit at His feet under His ultimate authority as the master rabbi.

People who would abide with Him.

People who would serve Him and commit themselves to knowing and memorizing and imitating His words and His ways.

That's what it means to be a disciple, especially one of Jesus, the master rabbi, the Lord, the Son of God.

And if this intimidates you, well, it should.

It should intimidate us.

This call to follow Jesus in His way and on His terms rather than our own.

It's serious.

It's the biggest and most important decision that any of us could ever make.

It's not a call to be mere admirers of Jesus.

It's not a call to be mere partners or associates.

It's a call to be ride-or-die disciples.

Jesus said, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,

yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Wow, right?

Jesus doesn't play.

Jesus doesn't play.

But you know, at the same time, what I hope to convey to you from these scriptures today, from John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

is that while discipleship under Jesus comes with a fair measure of intimidation,

it comes with just as much, if not more, personal invitation.

Jesus doesn't just say, you must hate your own life to be my disciple.

He says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

So wherever you're at with respect to Jesus this morning, all I want to do, all I want for Christmas,

is to make clear his invitation to you, to all of us, his invitation, my invitation, to all of us in the words of Jesus and his disciples here from John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

to come and see.

Just come and see.

That's it.

In fact, this invitation from the lips of Jesus, from his disciples to come and see, it's really at the core of what discipleship is all about.

Come.

Come.

Like, just follow me.

But it's not like, come, follow me, or else, or come, follow me, you idiot.

No, it's come and see.

Less command and more invitation.

It's, hey, come, follow me, because I really want to show you something.

Hey, come, follow me, and see what I've discovered.

Hey, yo, check it out.

It's amazing, and I'm convinced you'll think so, too, if you just see it with your own eyes.

If you just see it with your own eyes.

And see, this is the one thing that is, or at least it's one of the things I love about the Christian faith,

is that it's not a coercive faith.

We don't seek to convert through coercion, but by conviction.

Christians don't force people into the family of God.

We hope that the gospel itself, the good news about Jesus, fascinates people into the family of God,

because it's just the best news ever.

Really, that's all that discipleship under Jesus is about.

Beholding the goodness of Jesus.

Seeing him for who he really is, and then extending his invitation to come and see to others,

so that they might come and see, too.

Let's look at this text.

Look with me at verse 35.

This is how it all starts.

The next day, again, John the Baptist was standing with his two disciples, with two of his disciples.

John the Baptist has at least two guys, right, who are his disciples.

They're committed to following him, but look what he does in verse 36.

And he looked at Jesus.

In the Greek, it's this word, he gazed intently.

He beheld Jesus as he walked by, and seeing with eyes wide open,

seeing Jesus for who he truly was, this prophet of God, John the Baptist,

invites his disciples to see what he sees, and he says,

Behold, behold the Lamb of God.

And I love that word, behold.

I love that word, behold.

See, this is how it all starts, with one person beholding Jesus for who he really is,

and then prophetically inviting his own disciples to come and see,

to come and see what he sees in Jesus.

This is where it has to start.

This is where it has to start.

We will never be disciples of Jesus,

and we'll definitely never be disciples of Jesus,

who make disciples of Jesus,

who make disciples of Jesus,

unless we have beheld Jesus as the most amazing person that he is.

We've got to behold him.

And you know, in reflecting on this this week,

I was so encouraged by this model.

Because lately, if I'm honest,

I've been feeling a little lost as a preacher.

Chelsea even asked me,

after one of my sermons a few weeks ago,

is it possible to get worse at preaching?

And then,

the past handful of times,

I have been,

I have been, you know,

I've been working on these sermons,

and I've been kind of second-guessing myself.

I've been kind of wondering, like,

what is,

what is my goal?

What is the purpose of preaching?

Is it to inspire,

to comfort,

to challenge,

to rebuke,

to encourage,

exhort,

provoke,

to get people to repent,

get people to rejoice,

receive,

to laugh,

to cry?

What is it that I'm supposed to be doing up here?

And I imagine that it's a combination of all these things,

but the challenge of getting the right balance of all these things,

from all these different passages of Scripture,

it's tough.

And if I'm honest,

most of the time I usually come up here

not feeling like I've figured it out.

But you know,

in reflecting upon this passage this week,

and thinking about,

not just what I'm supposed to be doing

as a preacher,

but thinking about what we're trying to do as a church,

and leading people into deeper relationships with Christ,

and His church,

making disciples,

I was reminded that even as I'm still figuring out this preaching thing,

there's at least one thing

that I should definitely keep trying to do.

And it's to get us all to behold.

To behold the Lamb of God.

To see Him for who He really is.

You know when I often say,

this is the gospel.

That's what I'm trying to do.

I'm trying to say,

behold.

I'm saying,

come and see.

Check this good news out.

Behold.

The good news of Jesus.

And so it's been helpful for me as a preacher

to remember that I'm not coming up here primarily as a preacher.

But more importantly,

as a disciple maker.

As a disciple of Jesus who wants to make more disciples of Jesus.

Simply beseeching people to come and see and behold.

And I wonder if that might help the rest of us here too.

For those of us who identify as Christians,

for those of us who identify as disciples of Jesus,

but maybe we haven't given much thought to next steps,

about how to invite people into discipleship.

We haven't given much thought into what to do

to become disciple-making disciples of Jesus.

I wonder if it's because we're kind of psyched out.

We've psyched ourselves out with this seemingly daunting task,

right, of, ooh, doing discipleship.

Oh, I'm not mature enough for that stuff yet.

I'm not holy enough.

I'm not smart enough.

Who'd want to learn from me?

Who'd want to follow me?

But what I want to say this morning is,

hey, let's slow down.

Let's slow down.

And like, what if we saw discipleship

and the making of disciples not primarily as

seeking to become a teacher or some Jedi master, right?

What if we saw discipleship more as a way of life?

What if we saw it as being a person who is intentional

about being invitational

and beckoning others to simply come and see,

to come and behold Jesus for who he truly is?

And sure, that might look like what we have in our minds,

you know, someone leading a Bible study

and investing in a group of people on a regular basis

and keeping each other accountable.

But it could also just look like conveying to a friend,

a coworker, a neighbor, someone in our family,

our kids, whether Christians or not,

just conveying to anyone and everyone in fresh and creative ways

what we see in Jesus.

And hoping that they too will see what we see in Jesus

as amazing as we believe it to be.

Just living an invitational life,

inviting people to see the beautiful things we see in Jesus.

Like really, discipleship,

it can come in baby steps.

The key is this simple invitation

to come and see Jesus for who he really is.

I mean, look, look at verse 41.

This is all that one of the first disciples, Andrew,

really does, right?

He just makes an introduction.

That's all he does.

We don't know him for much else in church history,

in the rest of the scriptures.

I asked my parents,

why did you name me Andrew?

Because I was actually named after this disciple.

So I texted them earlier this week

and this is what my mom texted me.

She said,

at the time,

we really wanted to name you

after a person in the Bible

that wasn't a bad person,

you know, like Satan or Judas.

So thanks, Mom, right?

But then my mom said,

however,

since then we've learned much

about the disciple Andrew

and feel that it was providential

since he introduced Peter to Jesus.

And that is how we see God calling you

to introduce others to the gospel.

See, introductions,

introductions to Jesus,

just bringing people

to come and to see.

Andrew isn't a big,

huge character in the Bible,

but with no invitation

from Andrew to Peter,

we don't get Peter.

We don't get Peter.

So the question for us,

for those of us who identify

as disciples of Jesus today,

is who in our lives

might we invite

to come and see Jesus?

And might it be that

they're closer to us

than we think?

I mean, again,

for Andrew in verse 41,

I love how it says,

he first found his own brother.

He went to his family.

Easy.

And as it says in verse 42,

he brought him to Jesus.

He brought him to Jesus.

And I know that's for some of us,

we might have these

decades-long,

complicated family dynamics

and tense and complicated things

going on there.

But at the end of the day,

it's still family.

And how better to love

those whom we're called

to love most

than to invite them

to come and see Jesus?

Or maybe parents,

are we at least doing this

with our kids?

Are we bringing our kids

to Jesus?

Do our kids see us

beholding the Lamb of God?

Do they see us

opening up our Bibles?

Do they see us

talking to God?

Do they see us

singing to God?

And are we inviting them

into that

to come and see?

Discipleship is actually

best done

within families.

So again,

who are the people

in our families,

whether Christians or not,

that we want to bring to Jesus?

I've been really encouraged

by two guys

in the discipleship group

that I have here.

One has just recently

invited his brother

to lessons and carols

and to church

and is often praying

for his brother,

asking him how he can

pray for him.

He's inviting him

to come and see.

And another guy

is about to start

reading Mere Christianity

with his brother,

wanting to invite him

as well to come and see.

This is come and see

discipleship.

This is it.

At work,

in everyday life,

in our families.

And even outside

our families,

come and see discipleship

is for everyone.

Even for those

we might not expect

to be very interested

in Jesus.

Philip was a Greek name.

Who would have thought

he'd be interested

in following

this Jewish rabbi?

Or Nathaniel,

we might consider him

an antagonistic skeptic

who might have something

against where Jesus

was from, right?

Can anything good

come from Nazareth?

But notice how

Philip handles

this skepticism.

He doesn't feel like

he needs to have

all the answers

for his friend Nathaniel.

He isn't fazed

by the skepticism.

Philip has had

his own life-changing

encounter with Jesus.

And he's convinced

that Nathaniel will too

if he will just come

and see Jesus

for who he really is.

It's the easiest job

in the world.

I don't need to convince

people of anything.

They just need

to encounter Jesus.

Jesus.

Some of you

might remember

a couple weeks ago

when I was preaching

and I mentioned

how we had a newcomer

come to my house

who had some questions

and we had

popcorn chicken

and watered-down boba

together.

And he had these

tough theological questions.

But, you know,

he actually first asked

these tough theological

questions to

Josh Lynn,

actually,

one of our youth mentors.

And Josh,

I love how Josh

was humble enough

to admit that

he didn't know

how to answer

these questions,

but he was also

bold and confident

enough in his own

encounter with Jesus

to not be fazed

by his inability

to answer

these skeptical

questions.

Instead,

Josh just invited him,

this newcomer,

to investigate

these questions

together with his pastor.

Like Philip,

Josh's priority

was not answering

a skeptic's questions,

but his priority

was inviting him

to come and see.

And also like Philip,

Josh wasn't just saying,

hey, go and see.

He said,

come,

as in I am coming

with you.

And Josh picked up

the boba,

and he picked up

the popcorn chicken,

and he drove

this friend

all the way to my house

in Casha Valley

in the middle of the day

on a Friday

during Leah's nap time.

This is come and see

discipleship.

It's invitations

to behold Jesus,

just like John the Baptist's

invitation.

Behold,

the Lamb of God,

right?

It's coming alongside people.

It's going the extra mile.

It's meeting people

where they're at

and taking the time

to understand

where they're at

and what they're after

in their lives.

And it's doing it

with genuine hospitality,

just like Jesus.

Jesus invited these two guys

to stay with him,

to abide with him

in verses 38 and 39.

Why do you think

I'm always trying

to have people

over at my house?

It's because I believe

what the former professor

at Syracuse,

this author,

Rosario Butterfield,

says.

She says,

the gospel comes

with a house key.

There's something

really special

about hospitality

and I'd love to tell you

her story sometime.

You could look it up

in the secret thoughts

of an unlikely convert.

But there's something special,

she says,

about,

there's something powerful

about having people

in our houses,

you know,

feeding them

and having honest

and real and personal

face-to-face conversations

just like Jesus did here.

Asking people

with genuine interest.

What are you seeking?

Right?

Verse 38.

What are you seeking?

Being genuinely interested

in people as people

and what they're seeking

in life.

The goal of Christian discipleship

is simply to help people

on this quest

with the confidence

that Jesus is the key

to their quest.

Notice how when Andrew

goes to Peter,

he says,

we found the Messiah

because he knows

Peter's looking for the Messiah.

When Philip goes

to Nathaniel,

he says,

we have found him

of whom Moses

and the Law

and the Prophets wrote

because he knows

Nathaniel is a student

of the Hebrew Scriptures.

I love how,

notice both Andrew

and Peter say,

we have found

what you're looking for.

We have found it.

The one you've been

looking for,

we have found him.

Again,

this is invitational

discipleship

fueled by the joy

of an incredible discovery

that's too good

to keep secret.

So again,

who might we invite

to come and see

in 2022?

And how might we take

steps toward this?

We love seeing

so many of your friends

and families

at Lessons and Carols

and at Christmas Eve.

We hope that you'll invite

some of your friends

and family

to Christianity Explored,

which begins

on January 12th.

Or maybe for the youth,

inviting people

to our youth retreat

or to our youth gatherings

on Wednesdays.

Now,

I know there are

some of us though,

maybe many of us

in this room.

Whether we identify

as Christians

and disciples of Jesus

or not,

who are still unsure though

if Jesus is worth

coming to see

for ourselves.

Or if he's worth

inviting others

to come and see

for themselves.

And like I said earlier,

this invitational

come and see approach

to discipleship,

it only makes sense

if we've personally

beheld Jesus

for who he really is.

It only makes sense

if one's been captured

by a vision

of the glory of Christ.

So I want to wrap up

by pointing out

two things

from the end

of John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

that I think

are absolutely compelling

about who Jesus is

and why he is worth

coming to see

and inviting others

to come and see.

And the first is this,

that Jesus sees us,

he knows us,

and he's interested in us

personally,

intimately,

and individually.

Like think about that

for a second,

that the Son of God,

the creator of the universe,

is interested in you.

He's interested in you

personally,

individually.

Look with me

at verses 37 and 39.

These two disciples

of John the Baptist,

they start stalking Jesus,

and it says he just stops

and then he turns around,

he turns toward them,

and he gives them

his whole attention.

The Greek word is

theomai.

He marveled at them,

he beheld them,

he was intrigued

and impressed

and interested in them.

And this Lord of the universe

who's on his own mission

to fulfill his heavenly

Father's grand plans

for the world,

he stoops down

and has the tenderness

and care

to genuinely inquire

to these two guys,

what are you seeking?

He really wanted to know.

Like he really wants

to hear from you.

He really wants

to hear from us.

So bring your hard questions,

bring all your skepticism.

He invites you

to just come,

to just come

and see for yourself.

Come investigate him

as thoroughly as you want.

He's ready.

Come.

This is a God

who cares about

what we care about.

It's not trivial to him.

Whatever is on your heart

and mind,

whatever you're bringing

here today,

it's okay to tell him.

In fact,

he's interested.

He's interested.

He wants to help you with it.

That he is the creator

of the universe.

It doesn't make you

and your concerns

too small for him.

But actually,

that he is the creator

of the universe

means that he is

absolutely concerned

about what you're

concerned about.

And he sees you.

He sees us.

Isn't that good news?

You are not overlooked.

We are not overlooked.

We are seen

by the gaze

of God himself.

Look at verse 38.

Jesus turned and saw

these first two disciples

in their seeking.

Verse 42.

Jesus looked at Peter

intently

and saw him

in all his potential.

Jesus looked at Peter

and saw a lifelong friend.

Someone he wanted

to have a personal relationship.

So personal,

he even gave him

a nickname, right?

Kephes,

Rocky,

he calls him.

Verse 47.

Jesus saw Nathaniel

coming to him.

And he saw him

for whom he really was.

In Israel,

in whom there was no deceit.

A man concerned with the truth

and keeping it real.

And then when Nathaniel

was like,

wow,

how did you know me?

In verse 48,

Jesus also says,

I even saw you

under the fig tree.

He sees us.

You know,

a lot of commentators,

they try to guess

what Jesus saw

Nathaniel doing

under that fig tree,

but there is,

there's no consensus.

People make guesses,

there's no consensus,

and I'm not gonna

give you a guess either.

We don't know

what Jesus saw Nathaniel

doing under that fig tree.

And we don't know

why Jesus mentioning

this to Nathaniel

all of a sudden

made this skeptic

suddenly go from,

can anything good

come from Nazareth?

All the way to,

Rabbi,

you are now,

you are the son of God.

You are the king of Israel.

But you know,

I wonder if that's the point.

That we don't know

what Jesus saw.

Like,

we can't know,

and we won't know,

but Jesus knew.

And Nathaniel knew.

And this was between

Jesus and Nathaniel

in the context

of their own

unique personal relationship.

Isn't that fascinating?

That in Jesus,

we have a God

who is interested in us

and who sees us

in our fig tree moments.

These moments

where we feel

maybe unseen,

these moments

that no one else sees,

Jesus sees.

And he assures us

that we are known

and loved

and cared for

and valued,

not just generally,

but in a unique,

individual,

personal way

as his disciple.

You know,

I'm probably over time now,

but the last thing

I want to point out

about who Jesus is

and why he's worth

coming to see

and inviting others

to come and see

is that not only

is he,

not only does he know us,

not only does he see us

and take interest

in us personally

and individually,

but what I love

about Jesus

is that he is both

the ladder

and the lamb.

He is both

the ladder

and the lamb.

This chapter ends

with Jesus saying

to Nathaniel

in the last two verses,

man,

you thought me

knowing about you

and the fig tree

was impressive?

He says,

wait till you see

what I really

came here to do.

And he makes

this reference

to Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

If you want to look

on page 22

in your pew Bibles,

starting in verse 10,

he makes this reference

to Genesis chapter 28.

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

And in Genesis chapter 28,

Genesis 28 · chapter mention

you have Jacob,

right?

This guy who fathered

the 12 tribes of Israel

and he's in really,

really bad shape.

He's just deceived

his father.

He's deceived his brother.

He's now estranged

from his family,

running away from home.

He's literally hit

rock bottom.

He's got a stone

for a pillow.

And the promise of God

to bless him

and his family

and the world

through them richly,

it just seems

impossible,

outlandish, right?

But on his journey

away from home,

God encounters him

in a dream.

And what Jacob sees

is he sees this ladder.

And at the top

of the ladder

is God himself.

And on this ladder,

he sees the agents

of God,

the power and presence

of God

and the persons

of angels

ascending and descending

on this ladder.

And in this dream,

God assures Jacob,

deceitful,

run away from home,

nothing in his pockets,

Jacob.

He assures him

of his promise

that no matter what,

I will never leave you,

I will never forsake you,

but I'm going to be

your God

and I'm going to be

with you,

your personal God.

I'm going to be with you

no matter what.

And so what Jesus

was saying to Nathanael

in verse 51

when he said,

you will see the heavens

opened

and the angels of God

ascending and descending

on the Son of Man,

Jesus was saying,

Nathanael,

O true Israelite,

O student of the Scriptures,

don't you see

that I am the ladder?

I am the connecting point

between heaven and earth.

I am the way to God.

I am the very sign

and assurance

of God's promise

to be present

with his people,

to be present

with you,

with us.

And in one sense,

this is amazing

all by itself

that Jesus is the ladder

between us and God

because God

is our greatest need.

He's the very thing

that all of us wanderers

are seeking.

But perhaps even more amazing

is what qualifies us

to even get on the ladder

into the presence of God.

In Psalm chapter 24,

Psalms 24:3

verse 3,

the psalmist asks,

Who shall ascend

the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand

in his holy place?

He who has clean hands

and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul

to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

Now, according to that criteria

from Psalm 24,

neither Jacob

nor any of us

are qualified

to ascend the hill of the Lord.

Neither Jacob

nor any of us

are qualified

or able to get on

that ladder.

For none of us

has clean hands.

None of us

has a pure heart.

And all of us

have lifted up our souls

to false gods.

All of us have trusted in

and followed

and become disciples

of lesser lords.

But the good news

of the gospel

is that not only

is Jesus the ladder,

but just as John the Baptist

proclaimed,

Behold,

he is the Lamb

of God

who takes away

the sins

of the world

by his precious blood

poured out for us

in love

to cleanse us

of our sins

and to make us

white as Christmas snow.

And this is the gospel.

The good news

that Jesus invites us all

to come and see

and to behold

and to be with him

because he is the ladder

and the Lamb

for us

and for all

who want to follow him

in this path

of discipleship.

Will you pray with me?

Amen.

Lord,

help us to see.

Help us to behold.

Help us to taste

and see

that you are truly good.

That the good news

of Christmas

is the best news,

the best gift,

and that your son

is so worthy

for us to follow.

It has to start

with us seeing, Lord.

So would you open our eyes

like only your spirit can

and help us to

come and see

and to behold

the Lamb of God,

the ladder

and the Lamb,

we pray.

Amen.