Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

– John 1:46

Rob Bell’s Nooma video “Dust” can perhaps provide some helpful background information on this passage:

Nathanael’s opinion was par the course for how everybody viewed Nazareth in Jesus’ day. It was a blue collar town filled with laborers, not scholars or educated men.

Bell mentioned how the best of the best – the brightest – would follow the way of a single rabbi. Usually, these men would not come from Nazareth, it was a town made up of men who were surely a few fries short of a happy meal.

So, when Christ comes along teaching and preaching things that turned the world of Jewish law and custom on its head, everybody reacted the same way as Nathanael: “Nazareth? This guy is from Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding! What good can come from Nazareth?”

Yet Christ taught, and He taught with authority. He challenged popular rabbinic conceptions regarding the Law; in the Sermon on the Mount, every time Christ begins a teaching with, “you have heard it said…” He is taking something from the Law and turning it on its head.

Christ is showing the inability of anybody to live up to the requirements of the Law, and thus their need to trust in His forthcoming death.

Jesus’ teaching on the Law was radical – revolutionary. No one had even dreamed anything even remotely similar to the way Christ interpreters and applied the Law. His teaching truly was original, inspired, and authoritative.

And who taught in this way? A man from simple, lowly Nazareth, the place from which no good could come, from which no man could ever learn intricacies of the Law, let alone the revolutionary understanding Christ understood and taught.

With Philip I say to you, come and see. Come and see Jesus Christ, the Son of God who has come to teach a new way of life by covering your sins with His blood. Come and see Jesus Christ who knew we couldn’t meet the requirements of the Law, so He did for us. Come and see the teacher who didn’t just teach us how to live, but sacrificed Himself on a cross to offer us eternal life and the opportunity to live an abundant life (John 10:10).

Come and see Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

Obedience is bliss

There are numerous reasons why I love the accounting of Jesus turning water into wine* in the second chapter of the Gospel of John; we have discussed it before (found here).

For starters, I love it when Jesus addresses His mother in verse 4: “Woman! Why are you saying this to me!?” Only the Son of God can get away with talking like that to His mother, and if I ever addressed my wife as, “woman!” I would most certainly be on the couch for a week. But I digress….

It is interesting to see Mary commanding the servants to follow Christ’s instructions, no matter what they are (verse 5).

How often are we resolved to obey Christ completely and fully?

How often do we go to Him openly, humbly, and willingly, desiring to be obedient to His every command?

And notice: When the servants have obeyed Christ, what is the result?

The wine He produces is far and away better than the wine the wedding feast was already serving.

Too often we are afraid that following Christ results in a lackluster and uninteresting life.

But in reality, He promises life, and life abundant – indeed life to the full – John 10:10.

Now I am not suggesting we obey Christ because we will get a new car, a raise at work, or not have to deal with our in-laws anymore.

But in obeying Christ with our entire heart, we are submitting to His desires and purposes for our life, and in doing so we will find fulfillment and satisfaction in pleasing Him and glorifying Him.

When we obey Christ, we get the better wine!!

*The wine used in the first century bore little resemblance to what we know as wine today. The water they had was unsanitary and not used much for drinking by itself, milk and wine were frequently used. The wine was primarily water mixed with a small amount of fermented grape juice.*

Wholeness vs. Holiness

Too often, I fear, the Church seeks to market the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Too often the Church looks to make the Gospel attractive; to dress it up and embellish it.

I have no problem putting the Gospel on display for all to see, but in doing so, the Church should allow the  Gospel to be inherently inviting, and not attempt to increase its attractiveness, for that task is impossible.

As the Church has grown over the past twenty years, it has expanded and diversified, employing different approaches in hopes of drawing in the masses.

One could discuss the viability and practicality of church methodology (emergent/emerging, incarnational, attractional, seeker friendly, missional, etc) until blue in the face to no avail, for with each methodology comes a specific theology, audience, and conceptual framework by through which the ends are thought to justify the means.

However, one method that has caught my attention as particularly troubling is that of “wholeness”.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached as something to bring wholeness and completion to our lives; it is a quick-fix, a panacea, a 1-2-3 step process to a better life now; as though the world were suffering from a disease, and all they needed was a “Jesus” pill.

This world tells us we will find success in life when we are whole and when we are complete.
One more surgery, one more session with our  life coach, one more episode of Oprah…

And the Church has assimilated this approach into its thought and practice: accept Jesus Christ and your money problems will magically disappear, your depression will go away over night, your marriage will be like a fairytale without any hard work, and your house will double in value while the rest of the market is in a landslide.

Jesus isn’t treated as the Son of God who has come to give life abundant (John 10:10), He was a great teacher who imposed a flawless ethico-moral system which solves all our problems when we abide by it.

However, God does not want wholeness for your life (at least, not in the way we think of wholeness).

Instead, He wants holiness.

¹⁵but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
¹⁶because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
- 1 Peter 1: 15-16

Now it is no secret God desires the best for our life, but in reality He is the best!
He desires that we would have Him, and through that relationship we will find fulfillment and satisfaction the likes of which we thought could never exist.

God reveals our most desperate need, and it is Him; only through resting in Him will we find contentment in life.

Notice the words of the apostle Paul in the 4th chapter of Phillipians:

¹¹Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. ¹²I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. ¹³I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

– Phillipians 4: 11-13

The Gospel of Jesus Christ from the world’s perspective teaches us that when we receive Jesus Christ, our life becomes perfect over night, granting us our best life now.

However, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (pertaining to our specific context of discussing enjoyment, contentment, and satisfaction in life) is embodied in Paul’s passage above: receiving Jesus Christ into our lives allows us to live content in His strength and rest in His purposes for our life.

We don’t obtain this contentment through pursuing wholeness, we obtain it through pursuing His holiness, which is ultimately granted to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.