The Name Game

 

In the gospel reading for this past Sunday, John 1:43-51, Jesus called Phillip to follow him.  Phillip, in turn, found a friend – Nathaniel – and told him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote…”  When the two came to Jesus, the Lord said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’

We are accustomed to the “call stories” of Peter & Andrew and James & John.  Jesus is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and calls these fishers and calls them, saying, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”   The account in John of the summons of Phillip and Nathaniel are a bit less familiar to most of us.  I’ll talk about “call” and “response” in another post.  The thing that interests me in this moment is the number of titles for Jesus that this small reading contains.  In the nine verses of John 1:43-51 we have no less than five different titles referring to Jesus, not including his name.  Phillip calls him “(the one) about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.”  Nathaniel uses the terms “rabbi,” “Son of God,” and “King of Israel.”  Jesus himself makes reference to himself as “the Son of Man.”

That’s a pretty heavy menu of designations.  It is important to note that no one description takes in the entirety of who Jesus is or what it is that Jesus does.  But, these (and others) overlap and interlock and eventually they give us a complete picture of who Jesus is.  We can certainly add others: “Lord,” “Savior,” “Master,” “Redeemer,” “King of kings,” “Lord of lords.”  The list is practically endless.  Together these show the extraordinary nature of Jesus of Nazareth.  We might be more comfortable with some of these terms than with others.  But, somewhere in the roster of titles we find that one designation that describes our own touchstone with Christ.  It might be helpful for us to explore them all.

The peace of the Lord be with you.