Stephen
Terry, Director
Witnesses
of Christ as the Messiah
Commentary
for the October 26, 2024, Sabbath School Lesson
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
"Nazareth! Can anything good
come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip. John 1:45-46, NIV
I remember that, as a child, the
popular activity with me and my peers was to ridicule religion. Do not get me
wrong. We attended church, but for most of us, our parents did not. Since they
did not respect religion, it seemed natural for us to carry
on the tradition along with our friends. While our parents were more
enamored of drinking parties as a weekend activity, we always had neighbors who
were volunteering to take us to church. Doubtless, they had tremendous patience
for children who showed little respect for holy things, because I remember we attended
weekly. While our parents made sure we were fed and clothed, and I would not be
here today but for their providing what they could, alcohol often competed for
family necessities. This meant that rare treats offered by those taking us to
church and at church events were inducements to keep us coming. However, that
did not suppress the sassy nature common to pre-teen and earliteen children
that manifested itself as disrespect and profane responses to kindness from
adults. We were trying to understand this thing called life while pretending we
already had a firm grasp on that understanding.
It was not until I became a
midteen that this changed. I raised my hand in response to an altar call given
by the adult leader at a Nazarene teen meeting at a church member's house. He
led me through the sinner's prayer in the den of the house while the rest of
the children partied. At first, I yearned to be partying with my friends, but
as I recited that prayer, something happened to me. I could feel the change. My
disrespect of religion melted away and was replaced with a hunger deep within my
being to learn all I could about Jesus. Naturally, the preeminent source for
that is the Bible, so I began studying it. I would devour the Sunday School
Lesson each week, but it left me with questions, questions the Sunday School
teacher could not answer. As I was well known for my disrespect prior to this.
He may have thought this was simply more of the same. I came across several
different Bible study courses through the mail and tried different ones, but I
quickly saw that their interpretations were fanciful and lost interest.
Eventually, through what I consider
miraculous circumstances which would require more time and space than I have in
this short commentary, I found my way to the Voice of Prophecy Bible
Correspondence Course out of Los Angeles, California. Much of what I studied
harmonized with the Bible very well, and I completed several courses. I do not
know if they considered me some kind of prodigy but they were soon sending me
as many as four lessons at a time which I completed
and quickly returned. I began asking questions about what I was learning at
Sunday School and at the teen meetings. I was not aware that very few shared
the hunger to grow spiritually that I felt. I was soon banned from the teen
meetings by the adult leader. The pastor of the Nazarene church seemed more
willing to help me. He promised to address my questions in his sermons. Each
week after church, I would ask him when he was going to answer some of my
questions. His answer every week was, "Next week." After several weeks of this,
I began to recognize the dissimulation, and discouraged, I stopped attending.
The main difficulty was the
Sabbath versus Sunday question. I could not resolve the spiritual dissonance
over this issue. If Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, why did everyone function
as though Sunday, the first day of the week, was Sabbath? I almost gave up on
church completely at that point. Until then, I had been walking over a mile to
church each Sunday since my parents had no desire to drive me, and I was not
old enough to drive myself. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a church
of Sabbath worshipers was only two blocks from our house. I resolved to attend
the following Saturday. When I attended, they welcomed my questions and gifted
me a copy of Uriah Smith's commentary, "Daniel and the Revelation." I devoured
that book and even wrote a book review for my high school English class.
Eventually, after several miraculous incidents and the
kindness of loving Adventist Christians, I was baptized into the church in El
Paso, Texas where I was stationed in the Army. I have spent over half a century
learning since then. I obtained a degree from Walla Walla College with majors
in both Theology and Biblical Languages. I learned textual criticism of the
ancient texts under Doctor Sakae Kubo, and his Greek lexicon has a revered
place in my biblical languages library.
I pastored for a brief spell
after college until my wife's illness made it necessary to resign and care for
her. It is an assumption that those who major in Theology are destined to be
pastors, and some might see this as a derailing of my calling. However, my
gifts are more intellectual than pastoral. While I mean no offense to those who
have chosen to be pastors, it is not my calling. Looking back over the past
thirty years, my calling has been confirmed to operate this global ministry
with a purpose to encourage others to question their faith and dig deeper than
just what their denomination is telling them. This is needful even for Seventh-day
Adventists. Much of what the denomination believes, and practices is solid and
biblically based, but not everything. This is true for every denomination, and
when one begins prying around those things that are taken for granted to be
true, it can create hostility just as I experienced in the Nazarene Church over
the Sabbath questions I asked. It is a sad fact that we are far too often the
Pharisees that Jesus warned about, and when it is pointed out to us, the hairs
on our neck rise up, and we are tempted to say and do unkind things as the
youth leader said to me very early on in my Christian pilgrimage. Like the
disciples, we want to protect Jesus from those who do not think like us, but
that is exactly the opposite of what Jesus wants. When Nathanael challenged
Philip's portrayal of Jesus as the Messiah. Philip did not bristle or walk away
in a huff. He simply said, "Come, and see!" He allowed Nathanael to determine
what is truth for himself. When he met Jesus and Jesus opened his heart to
Nathanael, Nathanael did the same to Jesus, finding what he desired and was
seeking.
We argue about many things in
our churches, yes, even in Adventism. We argue over ordaining women. We argue
about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. Even though we recognize the
biblical Sabbath, we even argue over how to keep the Sabbath special. We argue
about music. Sadly, we also argue about politics. The danger with all the
arguing for any denomination is that we get so wound up proving we are right,
and our brothers and sisters are wrong that we forget our purpose is the same
as Philip's. We are to invite others to come and see Jesus. Even in the church
are those who have not met him and struggle with issues of faith and commitment
to a relationship with him. Approximately 60 years ago, it was not church
doctrine that changed my life. It was a simple encounter on my knees in that
den with Jesus. Through the decades, I discovered a profound truth that if we
get that right, if we enter into a relationship with
Jesus, everything will fall into place as it was meant to. This does not mean
life will become perfect. It does not mean there will not be suffering and
setbacks. This is the way of the world we live in. The Bible tells us why this
is so.
My first wife suffered for years
with progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Death was a respite from her suffering.
Despite that, she had peace through the suffering as she looked forward to a
better future through Jesus. My current wife suffers from horrendous migraines
that no medication can completely resolve, but she also looks forward to a time
when she will be free of all of that. I also must deal with chronic illness and
pain, but amid the suffering, I know from personal experience, it is possible
to find peace through Jesus. It is a sad message of despair the world offers
sufferers, and who does not suffer to one degree or another. Because of this, I
know my own suffering is nothing special. Without that relationship with Jesus,
those conditions can bring us to alcohol and drugs, and when those fail us, as
they will, to the ultimate refuge of despair where we are
tempted to end our own life and bring an end to the suffering. But our
lives do not have to be like that. It is still possible to accept Philip's
invitation to come, and see Jesus. I'm
glad I did.