October 31st

John 1. What an embarrasment of riches to comment on in John 1! At the end of this long chapter, when Nathaniel asked Jesus how he knew who he was, and Jesus says, 'I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you,' it likely means that Jesus knew that Philip was a serious student of the law of God, a serious seeker. Philip is flattered and impressed by Jesus' powers of observation and proclaims him the King of Israel on the spot, when others likely would have required a little more in way of evidence. Jesus responds by telling him, in effect, 'You ain't seen nothing yet!'--'You will see much greater things than this,' he says. But following Jesus means more than seeing and believing great things about him. In a few chapters, Jesus will be telling his apostles that those who believe in him will do the things that he has done; and even greater things than he has done! That, in my opinion, is plenty to chew on for one day! Are we prepared, willing, and expecting to do greater things than Jesus did? RS