Philips’ Invitation

Philip is included in the list of disciples in Matthew, Mark and Luke but other than that, they tell us nothing about him. It is in the Gospel of John that we are given the few scant details that we know about this obscure apostle. We first meet Philip in John 1:43-44: “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, ‘Follow me.’ Philip findeth Nathanel, and saith unto him, ‘We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanel said unto him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip saith unto him, ‘Come and see’ “ (John 1:43-46)

“Come and see.” A simple invitation but it turned Nathanael’s life around. After meeting Jesus and seeing for himself, he confessed Jesus in these words: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” (John 1:49) It all started with a simple invitation, “Come and see.”

You never know what an invitation can do. Invite a friend or a stranger to church. In so doing you may turn someone’s life around.

Claude