Come and See: Jesus Christ Reveals Greater Things
What does it mean to truly know Jesus Christ?
We can learn about Him through the Bible, listen to sermons, and hear other Christians share their experiences of faith. Yet knowing facts about Jesus is not the same as personally trusting Him, acknowledging Him as our Saviour, and submitting to Him as our King.
In John 1:43–51, we meet two individuals, Philip and Nathanael, whose encounters with Jesus reveal something wonderful about the Christian faith. Philip invites Nathanael to come and see Jesus for himself. Nathanael initially struggles to believe, but his encounter with Jesus leads him to confess Him as the Son of God and the King of Israel.
Jesus then promises that His disciples will see even greater things.
This passage reminds us that Jesus is the Christ who knows us completely, invites us to follow Him, and opens the way for us to come to God.
1. Come and See: Faith Begins with an Invitation
When Jesus decided to go to Galilee, He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me" (John 1:43).
Philip responded by finding Nathanael and telling him:
"We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (John 1:45, ESV)
Philip understood that Jesus was the One promised in the Old Testament. The Law and the Prophets had pointed forward to the coming Messiah, and Philip believed he had found Him.
But Nathanael was not immediately convinced.
He replied, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46).
Nazareth was an insignificant town, and Nathanael struggled to understand how the promised Messiah could come from such an unimpressive place.
His reaction reminds us how easily our expectations can prevent us from recognizing God's work.
We sometimes assume that God must work through impressive people, influential leaders, or extraordinary circumstances. We may overlook someone because of their background or dismiss an opportunity because it does not look the way we expected.
Nathanael had formed an opinion about Nazareth before meeting Jesus.
Philip did not respond with a lengthy argument. Instead, he simply said:
"Come and see."
There is something beautiful about this invitation.
Philip did not claim to have every answer. He invited Nathanael to encounter Jesus personally.
The same principle applies to Christian witness today. We do not need to have an answer to every difficult question before we can share our faith. We can invite others to read the Bible, attend worship, join a Bible study, or hear how Christ has worked in our lives.
We can tell them how He has forgiven us, comforted us in suffering, changed our desires, and given us hope.
Our testimony does not replace God's Word, but it can encourage others to consider the truth of the gospel.
Ultimately, faith is not about persuading someone to accept our personal opinions. It is about pointing them toward Jesus Christ.
Philip's example also reminds us that witnessing can begin with the people closest to us. We do not always need to travel far or undertake a great mission. Sometimes, the first person we are called to invite is a family member, a friend, or a neighbour.
We may not know how that invitation will turn out. But we can faithfully point others toward Christ and trust God to work in their hearts.
We do not have to be extraordinary people to introduce others to Jesus. We simply need to know Him, follow Him, and be willing to say, "Come and see."
2. Jesus Knows Us Completely
When Nathanael approached Jesus, something unexpected happened.
Jesus said:
"Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" (John 1:47, ESV)
Nathanael was surprised.
He asked Jesus, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered that He had seen Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip called him.
The passage does not tell us exactly what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. It may have been a place where he spent time in prayer, meditation, or reflection. Whatever the circumstances, Jesus knew something about Nathanael that Nathanael had not expected Him to know.
Jesus' knowledge of Nathanael was not limited to what He could observe in an ordinary conversation.
This encounter reveals an important truth: Jesus knows us even before we fully know Him.
We often spend considerable effort managing how other people see us. We want them to see our strengths rather than our weaknesses, our successes rather than our failures, and our confidence rather than our fears.
Even among fellow Christians, we may hesitate to reveal our struggles. We can attend worship, sing hymns, and participate in church activities while quietly carrying anxiety, loneliness, bitterness, or shame.
Other people may not see what is happening inside us.
But Christ does.
He knows our thoughts, our motives, our fears, and our hidden struggles. Nothing about us is concealed from Him.
This truth can initially feel uncomfortable. We may wonder what Jesus sees when He looks into our hearts.
Yet the knowledge that Christ sees us completely is also a profound source of comfort.
We do not have to pretend before Him. We do not need to hide our sins or present ourselves as stronger than we really are.
Instead, we can come to Him honestly, confess our sins, and ask for His mercy.
The same Lord who knows us completely is the Lord who came to save sinners.
His knowledge is not merely the knowledge of a distant observer. He is our Saviour, who gave Himself for His people.
When we hear a sermon that seems to speak directly to a hidden struggle in our lives, we may be reminded that God's Word reaches into places that other people cannot see.
When we read Scripture and become aware of our pride, selfishness, or bitterness, we should not simply turn away in shame. We should bring these things before Christ and seek His forgiveness and transforming grace.
Jesus already knows us. We can therefore approach Him honestly.
Our hope does not depend on hiding our weaknesses from God. It depends on the mercy of the One who knows us and has given Himself to redeem us.
3. Confess Jesus as Your Saviour and King
After Jesus revealed His knowledge of Nathanael, Nathanael responded:
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49, ESV)
Nathanael's response marks a significant change.
He began by questioning whether anything good could come from Nazareth. Now he confesses Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel.
His words reflect the hope of the Old Testament, which looked forward to God's promised King and the fulfilment of His saving purposes.
Yet Nathanael was only beginning to understand the full significance of Jesus' identity.
Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus gradually reveals more about Himself. His disciples come to understand that He is not merely a teacher or a political deliverer. He is the eternal Son of God, the One who brings eternal life to those who believe in Him.
But confessing Jesus as King means more than acknowledging His identity.
It means recognizing His authority over our lives.
It is possible to know many things about Christianity without allowing Christ's Word to shape our daily decisions. We may know what the Bible teaches about forgiveness, but still refuse to forgive someone who has hurt us. We may understand the importance of prayer, but rarely bring our concerns before God. We may confess that Jesus is Lord while continuing to insist on doing things our own way.
Nathanael's confession challenges us to consider our own response to Jesus.
Do we simply know about Him, or do we trust Him?
Do we admire His teaching, or do we submit to His authority?
Do we seek His blessings while resisting His commands, or do we desire to follow Him wherever He leads?
To confess Jesus as our King is to acknowledge that our lives belong to Him.
Our priorities, relationships, work, family life, and use of time should increasingly reflect His Word. We learn to bring our decisions before Him and to trust His promises even when obedience is difficult.
We will not follow Him perfectly in this life. We still struggle with sin and need His forgiveness every day.
But the Christian life is marked by a growing dependence on Christ and a willingness to submit to His gracious rule.
The more we understand who Jesus is, the more we recognize that He deserves not merely our admiration but our worship and obedience.
4. Greater Things: Jesus Is the Way to God
Jesus then made a remarkable promise to Nathanael:
"You will see greater things than these." (John 1:50, ESV)
He continued:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (John 1:51, ESV)
To understand this promise, we need to look back to Genesis 28.
In that passage, Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Through this dream, God reveals His presence and confirms His promises to Jacob.
Now Jesus uses similar imagery, but the focus is no longer on a ladder.
It is on the Son of Man.
Jesus Himself is the One who connects heaven and earth. He is the true meeting place between God and humanity, the One through whom we have access to the Father.
This is a central message of John's Gospel.
Jesus does not merely teach us how to find God. He is the way by which we come to God.
Our relationship with God does not depend on our moral achievements, religious accomplishments, or efforts to make ourselves worthy of His presence.
It depends on Jesus Christ.
Sin has separated us from God, and we cannot overcome that separation by our own strength. We need a Mediator who can bring us back to Him.
Jesus accomplishes this through His life, death, and resurrection.
He is the beloved Son who came into the world to save sinners. Through His death on the cross, He offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. Through His resurrection, He conquered death and secured the hope of eternal life for His people.
The New Testament explains this access to God in Ephesians 2:18:
"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." (ESV)
Notice the emphasis: through Christ.
We do not approach God on the basis of our own righteousness. We approach Him through the finished work of Jesus.
This changes how we pray.
When we come before God, we do not need to wonder whether we have done enough to deserve His attention. We come in the name of Jesus, trusting His righteousness rather than our own.
This also changes how we respond to suffering.
When life becomes difficult and we feel distant from God, we can remember that our access to Him rests on Christ's saving work, not on the strength of our emotions.
And it changes how we worship.
We gather not because we have made ourselves worthy to enter God's presence, but because Christ has brought us near through His grace.
Jesus is not simply another religious teacher pointing toward heaven. He is the Son of God who opens the way to the Father.
Because of Christ, those who trust in Him can approach God with confidence, knowing that their hope rests in their Saviour and Mediator.
5. Come to Christ Again and Again
One of the most encouraging aspects of this passage is that the disciples' understanding of Jesus developed over time.
Nathanael's confession was genuine, but he had not yet seen everything Jesus would do. He was at the beginning of a journey of discipleship.
The same is true for us.
When we first believe in Jesus, we may understand only a portion of the riches of His grace. As we continue reading Scripture, listening to God's Word, praying, worshipping, and walking through the experiences of life, we discover more about His character and His saving work.
We see His holiness more clearly and become more aware of our own sin. At the same time, we come to appreciate the depth of His mercy and the sufficiency of His sacrifice.
We learn that His promises remain trustworthy even when our circumstances change.
We discover that He is faithful when we are weak, patient when we struggle, and gracious when we come to Him in repentance.
Growing in faith does not mean that we eventually outgrow our need for Christ.
Rather, we increasingly recognize how completely we depend on Him.
This is why we must continually return to God's Word.
The purpose of Bible reading is not merely to accumulate information. It is to know the God who has revealed Himself through His Son, to trust His promises, and to learn to live under His authority.
When we pray, we come through Christ.
When we worship, we come through Christ.
When we struggle with sin, we seek forgiveness through Christ.
When we face uncertainty, we place our hope in Christ.
And when we invite others to believe, we point them to Christ.
The Christian life is not built on our ability to maintain our own strength. It is built on the faithfulness of our Saviour.
The more clearly we see who Jesus is, the more deeply we learn to trust Him.
Conclusion: Will You Come and See?
John 1:43–51 begins with a simple invitation and ends with a remarkable promise.
Philip invites Nathanael to come and see Jesus. Nathanael encounters the Lord who knows him completely. He confesses Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel. Jesus then promises that His disciples will see greater things.
This passage invites us to consider our own response.
Perhaps we have been like Nathanael, forming opinions before we have truly considered who Jesus is.
Perhaps we know the Christian faith intellectually but have not fully surrendered our lives to Christ.
Perhaps we are carrying hidden struggles and need to remember that Jesus already knows us and invites us to come to Him in faith.
Or perhaps we have followed Christ for many years but need to rediscover the wonder of what He has done for us.
Wherever we find ourselves, the invitation remains the same: come and see.
Come to Christ through His Word.
Trust Him as your Saviour.
Confess Him as your King.
Rest in the knowledge that He knows you completely and has opened the way for you to approach the Father.
And then, like Philip, invite others to come and see Him too.
We do not have to know every answer. We do not have to be impressive or influential. We simply need to bear faithful witness to the Saviour who has called us to follow Him.
The greatest thing we can offer others is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ.
He is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the true meeting place between heaven and earth, and the only Mediator through whom we can come to the Father.
Come and see the Christ, for He has revealed greater things than we could ever accomplish for ourselves.
A Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for revealing Your Son, Jesus Christ, as our Saviour and King.
Forgive us for the times we have judged by outward appearances or relied on our own understanding. Help us to come to Christ through Your Word and to trust Him more deeply each day.
Thank You that Jesus knows us completely. Give us the courage to bring our sins, fears, and struggles before Him, trusting in His mercy and redeeming work.
Teach us to live under His gracious rule, to approach You with confidence through His mediation, and to find our hope in His promises.
Give us opportunities to invite others to come and see Jesus. May our words, actions, and lives point those around us toward the One who alone can bring them to You.
Help us to grow in our knowledge of Christ, to rest in His finished work, and to worship Him with grateful hearts.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
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