This sermon was preached on Sunday 14th January 2024 at All Saints Church, Oakham.

Readings: 1 Samuel 3:1-10; John 1:43-51

‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’^[1]

John 1:51 [NRSV]

Do you ever think that church is about saying some words and prayers and singing some songs and that’s it? Like that’s all there is to church, to being a Christian? Let me reassure you that these are good and valuable parts of our Christian life. Our prayers, our songs, our reading of scripture. However, for many of us, this is where our Christian life starts and ends. And I think this is a shame. It’s a shame because Jesus has so much more for us. Just you wait. ‘You will see greater things than these.’^[2]

I opened by quoting the final lines of Jesus from our gospel reading. ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’^[3] If you are confused by what Jesus is saying here, then don’t worry. (Welcome to the club). But when we read these words, we discover that Jesus promises the full weight of heaven’s glory to come down to earth through the incarnate Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. 

These words of heaven opening and angels ascending and descending are quoting Genesis 28. To refresh us of the story, we remember how Jacob tricked his brother Esau in order to receive his father, Isaac’s, blessing. Isaac blessed Jacob saying:

‘May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!’^[4]

Genesis 27:28-29

When Esau found out that his younger brother had stolen his blessing, he was mad (and that’s putting it lightly). Esau went to his father Jacob and pleaded with him to bless him too, however, the blessing Isaac gave Esau was the exact opposite to Jacob’s, including the blessing to be a servant to his brother, Jacob, the same brother who stole the blessing intended for him. Esau hated Jacob so much because of this and, knowing that his father was old and near the point of death, decided to kill Jacob once his father had died. Jacob then flees to his uncle to escape Esau. 

One night when he was asleep on his journey, God came and spoke to Jacob in a dream. In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder going up to heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending the ladder. God stood next to the ladder and spoke to Jacob of all his promises to give him the land where he lay and to make his descendants numerous like the dust of the earth. God made all the same promises he had made to Abraham to make them into a great nation blessed by God.

When Jacob woke from the dream he said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’^[5] When Jacob had got up, he took the stone he used for a pillow and set it up as a pillar. He poured oil upon the stone and named the place Bethel, the house of God. Beth, meaning house (like Bethlehem is the house of bread), and El, meaning God, like Elohim, or Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani. Jacob was at Bethel, the place where God was present with him and met with him. It was the gate of heaven, that is it was the place where the heavens opened to allow God to come and be present with him on earth. This is the story that Jesus is alluding to when he says his final words to Nathanael. 

At the start of our gospel reading, Nathanael is doubtful about Jesus. Jesus had called Philip to follow him, and Philip in his excitement went and found Nathanael to tell him what had happened. Philip says to Nathanael, we have found him, the Messiah foretold in all the scriptures, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael is not convinced. How could the Messiah come from Nazareth? ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’^[6]

William Barclay believes that Nathanael said this because ‘There was nothing in the Old Testament which foretold that God’s chosen one should come from Nazareth. Nazareth was quite an undistinguished place.’^[7]It just isn’t the place you expect the Messiah or the King of Kings to come from. You expect them to come from Jerusalem or Bethlehem (which of course Jesus does, but Nathanael doesn’t know that). I think of how we would expect future kings and queens in this country to be born in palaces and castles, and if not Buckingham Palace, Windsor, or Sandringham, or Balmoral. You would be confused if the new king was born in Matlock. It just doesn’t seem to fit. 

So what is it that changes Nathanael’s mind about Jesus? Jesus calls out to Nathanael and declares that he is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Now to be clear, Nathanael isn’t won over to believing in Jesus because of some flattery. But what Jesus’ words reveal is that Jesus knew all about Nathanael before Nathanael even knew the name Jesus. This revelation drops the penny for Nathanael, and he joins Philip in believing and declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel. 

This is great. We love seeing people come to faith in Jesus, and that is what has happened to Nathanael. But then Jesus says to Nathanael. ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’^[8] It sounds like Jesus is saying to Nathanael, that’s great that you believe in me, but are you excited from just me knowing that you were sat under a fig tree and that you know who I am? That’s not to say that it isn’t exciting to know that Jesus knows us deeply and intimately. It is exciting. But Jesus says to Nathanael, I’m just getting started, just you wait, ‘You will see greater things than these.’^[9]Jesus hadn’t healed the blind or raised the dead to life, or anything else that miraculous. He simply knew Nathanael. Two things to say about this. First, it is powerful and life-changing to be known by God. Second, being known by God is just the start. Life with Jesus is filled with the amazing power and glory of God with us. And Jesus to Nathanael, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

At the start, I asked if you ever think that church is just about saying some words and prayers and singing some songs? The reason I asked that is because sometimes I think we can be like Nathanael. We are amazed at the first thing that God has done in our life, and so we say prayers and sing songs that declare who God is. However, we then stop there with our spiritual life. We come and know that Jesus is the Messiah, that he died and rose again to set us free from sin and bring us eternal life. But then the story ends there. 

Who here feels like that? That everything that happens on your journey of faith happened 2000 years ago on the cross? Some parts of it did, but the true joy and gift of God is that he has so much more that he is doing in our lives. There is so much more that God has for us and is waiting to reveal to us. Nathanael is awed at the first step, which isn’t even that grand, and Jesus turns to him and says, just you wait. You have no idea of the glory that I am going to show you. You have no concept of the grandeur of the heavens that I will show you. I am going to show you my glory and power like I showed Jacob in his dream. 

And just look at Jacob’s dream. In it, the heavens had opened, and angels were ascending and descending as God stood with Jacob. Just look at that! The heavens, the very place of God’s dwelling opens and descends down upon us. There is an ascending and descending as the space between heaven and earth disappears as heaven is brought down to us as God comes to us: Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. We pray every week, Lord let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as in heaven. We are joining with Jacob to dream and pray that God’s presence and kingdom would invade our world and our lives. Jacob’s dream sees and hopes for the full ushering of the heaven, of God to come and dwell amongst us in all his power and glory. This is Bethel, the house of God, the temple, the place where heaven invades earth and God comes to dwell amongst us in his fullness. We must not stop at the first step of God’s awe in our lives, as cool and amazing as it is. God has more for us, just you wait. ‘You will see greater things than these.’^[10] The Lord is in this place, we just might not know it, or at least fully realise it. 

So how do we respond to this call of Jesus? How do we seek out the greater things of the full presence of God’s kingdom come down among us? I say we look to the words of a young Samuel who simply said, ‘Here I am. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’^[11] It is as simple as that. We say, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ Speak to me, show me your glory. I am waiting and looking to say the greater things of you and your kingdom. 

Be expectant that God has more for you in your life, more of his presence and work that he wants to do in your life. Continue to celebrate the ways in which Jesus has been in your life so far and the way he is in it now. These are good things. But remember that our journey of faith is not static, otherwise it would be a place of faith. Rather our journey of faith, our call to follow the path of discipleship to Jesus is to seek him and his greater things for our lives. To seek more of his presence and overflow of his kingdom working in our lives, the full glory of heaven come down on earth among us. Let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Just you wait. ‘You will see greater things than these.’^[12]

Amen. 

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^[1] John 1:51 [NRSV]. 

^[2] John 1:50 [NRSV]. 

^[3] John 1:51 [NRSV]. 

^[4] Genesis 27:28-29 [NRSV]. 

^[5] Genesis 28:16-17 [NRSV].

^[6] John 1:46.

^[7] William Barclay, The Gospel of John, 3rd ed, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 107–8.

^[8] John 1:50 [NRSV].

^[9] John 1:50 [NRSV]. 

^[10] John 1:50 [NRSV]. 

^[11] 1 Samuel 3:4, 9.

^[12] John 1:50 [NRSV].