Have you ever noticed how some authors have a certain way of writing that lets you identify them? The other day I noticed the expression “Come and see” in the Gospel of John. No other evangelist uses that expression. It’s unique to him. It appears four times. Jesus says it to two disciples of John the Baptist (1:39), Philip says it to Nathaniel about Jesus (1:46), the Samaritan woman at the well says it about Jesus to some people (4:29), and some people say it to Jesus when they show him the tomb of Lazarus (11:34). The first three are about discovering who Jesus is.
 

These three references come early in the Gospel because the literal sense of “seeing” Jesus is not going to be possible at some point. Remember what Jesus said to doubting Thomas? “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (20:29). Then John comments: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name: (20:30). In a sense the Gospel itself becomes the way of “seeing” Jesus.

Like Philip and the woman at the well, we are to extend the invitation to “come and see” to others. We do it in a figurative sense. We invite people to discover Jesus in the Scriptures, in the actions of believers, and in us. I’ll write a little more about that next time.

Read John 1:38-51, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A38-51&version=NRSV