"come and see"

When Andrew first met Jesus, he inquired as to where Jesus was staying. Jesus responded by telling him to, "come and see". Andrew, with his companion did as Jesus said, they spent the whole day with him. After one day with Jesus, Andrew was so excited, that he found his brother Simon and told him that he had found the long promised Messiah. 

The next day, Jesus met Phillip and told him to follow. Phillip did as he was told. He was so impressed with Jesus, that he sought out Nathaniel. When he found Nathaniel he invited him to meet Jesus. When Nathaniel scoffed at Jesus' hometown, Phillip invited Nathaniel again. What was his invitation? He invited Nathaniel to "come and see". 

With Jesus it just seems to work that way. The invitation is rarely "sit and listen" or "read and learn". Scripture has no space for felt boards or even well-intentioned blogs. If you want to met or know Jesus, words never work. His miracles sound to wonky, his parables are clever, but not revolutionary on first listen (give em time...). Jesus needs to be met. He needs to be experienced. To get Jesus, you need to "come and see". 

I confess that I like clever words. I like books. I like apologetics. I get excited by well-written sermons and good post-modern Christian literature. But I am not a Jesus follower for any of these reasons. I did not chose to allow Jesus to be my teacher because someone finally explained away the problem of evil, or convinced me that I truly had free will. I chose to follow Jesus because I came and saw Him. I prayed and I met Him. I worshiped and I felt His presence. As I studied His biography, something tugged at me that was not at all intellectual. When I feel far from Jesus now, no amount of conversation or study can match simply "being" with Jesus. 

John 1 (where I got the stories above) is short on fireworks. But we see some intangible something about Jesus. These men simply spend a day with Jesus and their entire lives change. They become disciples. 

So if you are reading this today I invite you to "come and see" Jesus. Go to church on Sunday, you can sit in the back if you want. Read a gospel, or as much as you can right now. Stop reading this blog and simply say "Jesus, if You're there I want to come and see You", then simply start talking about your day and wait to see if He responds. Let's face it, if Jesus won't meet with us, then I have dedicated my life to a fraud. But I bet, if we go to see Him, He will show up to meet with us.