Scripture in Action

Aneel Aranha is an author, preacher, and evangelist who has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. You can find a huge selection of his reflections, articles, sermons, songs and other resources on his app.

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Scripture in Action

John 1:43-46 — Come and See

June 18, 2023 • Aneel Aranha • Season 2 • Episode 12

0:00 | 3:41

Thousands of people have found Jesus because somebody told them to come and see. You can do the same and change their lives forever.

John 1:43-46 — Come and See — Aneel Aranha

Hello and welcome to the Bite-Sized Gospel with Aneel Aranha. Today we will reflect on John 1:43-46. Listen.

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
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.
“Come and see,” said Philip.

Yesterday, we saw how Jesus invited two men to "come and see" where he lived. His words went beyond an invitation to see where he was physically living; it was an invitation to experience and encounter the person of Jesus. When they did, their lives changed instantly.

The same thing happened to Philip after he met Jesus. His response was immediate and enthusiastic. He recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scriptures and wasted no time sharing this revelation with his friend, Nathanael. "We have found the one Moses wrote about," he said excitedly. "He is Jesus of Nazareth."

Nathaniel scoffed, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Philip didn't bother explaining. He simply said, "Come and see." He instinctively understood a fundamental principle of evangelism. No matter how persuasive or eloquent we might be in describing the Savior, nothing could beat a personal encounter with him.

A Samaritan woman had such an encounter with Jesus by a well one day. It was such a profound event she immediately went into the town, telling the people to come and see! "Come," she said, "see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" (John 4:29). Scripture says that through her testimony, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus (John 4:39-42).

Everyone who has had a personal encounter with Christ is filled with the desire to share him with others. Consider Paul. Or Philip. Or Lydia. Or millions of others since then. If we do not find ourselves filled with the desire to share Jesus with others, perhaps we have not encountered him yet. He is just somebody we have studied about.

Let us pray that we have an encounter with Christ, and the easiest way to have this is by reading the gospels meditatively and spending time in personal prayer seeking his face. And when we have encountered him, nothing will be able to stop us from going around telling everybody we have discovered the Messiah. If they scoff or reveal their prejudices, as Nathaniel did, just tell them to "come and see!" Jesus will do the rest.

God bless you.