When Nathanael doubted that anything good could come out of Nazareth, Philip’s response was simply, “Come and see” (John 1:46). The first answer given the first doubter is the only one necessary.

Nathanael’s question remains, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Have two thousand years of Christianity changed the world? Is the life of the young Nazarene carpenter really worth considering? The question still lingers. And the answer of Phillip still suffices.  Come and see.

Come and see the rock that has withstood the winds of time. The truth undaunted, grace unspotted, loyalty undeterred. Come and see the flame that tyrants and dictators have not extinguished. Come and see the passion that oppression has not squelched. Come and see the hospitals, the care centers, and houses of worship rising beside the crumbling ruins of humanism and atheism. Come and see what Christ has done.

Come and see the great drama threading through twenty centuries of history and art. Handel weeping as he composes The Messiah. Da Vinci sighing as he portrays the Last Supper.  Michelangelo stepping back from the rock-carved David and bidding the stone to speak. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see. Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman who were not satisfied with their own freedom from slavery, but reached back putting their lives on the line to introduce freedom to so many others. A local pastor with a silver tongue and a mandate from Heaven started a non-violent movement in Montgomery, Alabama, all because of a woman by the name of Rosa Parks who was denied her seat on a public bus, his name, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement reverberated all around the world. And yes, the first African American to become President of the United States of America as fruits of the movement by the name of Barack Obama. Come and see!

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see. Come and see the changed lives: the alcoholic now dry, the embittered now joyful, and the shamed now forgiven. Come and see the marriages rebuilt, the orphans embraced, the imprisoned inspired. Walk on death row and witness the prisoner condemned by man yet liberated by God.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see the pierced hand of God touch the most common heart, wipe the tear from the wrinkled face, and forgive the ugliest sin. Come and see. He avoids no seeker. He ignores no probe. He fears no search. Come and see.  Nathanael came. And Nathanael saw. And Nathanael discovered, “Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.”  COME AND SEE….