If Andrew’s response to his time spent with Jesus was refreshing, Phillip’s reaction to his sudden encounter and call by Jesus is truly amazing! There does not seem to be any significant length of time between his calling and the decision to go in search of his friend Nathanael. His passionate words of conviction are surprising since we have no record of any basis on which he makes his confession other than the calling itself.
On the other hand what is it about that brief
encounter that compels Jesus to call Phillip that in turn lights a fire of
faith in the soul of this seemingly clueless fisherman? There must have been some life-changing power
and supernatural enablement to the personal call of Jesus to “Follow me”! I am led to believe that those two words
convince Phillip that Jesus is the Promised One—the Messiah of whom both Moses
and the prophets had written centuries before.
Perhaps he had previously heard of Jesus of Nazareth from John and
Andrew, the disciples of John the Baptist.
Possibly he picked up the information about Jesus’ father Joseph from
Jesus himself after the invitation to follow.
Either way it is an amazing leap of faith. The information about Jesus may have been
germane, but the calling from Jesus was transformational.
The call to follow Jesus is still
transformational. A call to preach has
impact on my lifestyle. Theology can
expand my mind. Service can allow me to
impact lives. Cloistering can elicit
discipline and devotion in me. But all
those things are not what I am called to follow. I am called to follow a person—not any system
or discipline. My call is to know the
singular and unmatched Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the Promised Messiah, and
the Son of Man (Joseph). When that
calling in internalized, only then is my life truly transformed. Only then have
I passed from darkness into the Light.
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