Friday, January 26, 2018
John 1:44-45 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
FROM SKEPTIC TO BELIEVER, BY THE POWER OF THE WORD
It's true, Nathanael was a more than little bit skeptical at first. He wondered how anything good, anybody important (the world’s Savior, really?) could arise from such an insignificant, out of the way village of northern Galilee, Nazareth. No way! How can it be?
We may be tempted, in moments of weakness, to ask similar questions: what good could come from sharing the message of the crucified and risen Savior with a friend? How can inviting people to read their Bibles accomplish anything good or positive for them in their lives? Will Scripture really serve as a lamp for their feet? How can the labors of our hands, we who are weak mortals, we who are members of a little congregation or a tiny synod, accomplish anything worthwhile for the kingdom of God?
But just as Jesus used His Word to enable a cynical Nathanael to become a devoted disciple, someone who believed that the greatest Good, the best Friend he would ever know, did indeed come from Nazareth … so He does for us. The Savior uses His Word to chase away our doubts, dispel our skepticism, to enable us to believe: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10-11). "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes" (Psalm 19:7-8). What an encouragement for our work as missionaries of Christ!
Oh, make Your Church, dear Savior, A lamp of burnished gold
To bear before the nations Your true light as of old!
O teach Your wand'ring pilgrims By this their path to trace
Till, clouds and darkness ended They see You face to face!
(Lutheran Service Book, 523:3)
