On July 26th, 1997, I conducted a marriage ceremony at the Cabinet View Country Club in Libby, Montana for Roger Johnston and Cindy Ostrem, both avid golfers. Roger and Cindy had a son, Ryggs, who, when he was 2 or 3 years old, received a plastic golf set for Christmas and his dedication to the sport began. By age 5 he was spending hours on the putting green with a real putter. Ryggs had amazing hand-eye coordination and athletic ability and a desire to win. He became proficient at a lot of sports, practicing countless hours every season. He especially excelled at basketball and golf. Ryggs has that rare combination of God-given ability coupled with determination, discipline, and drive.   After a successful career at Libby High School which included multiple state championships in golf, Ryggs went on to compile an impressive list of accomplishments at Arizona State University, including the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the year in 2022-23, excelling on the golf team while maintaining a 4.00 grade-point average. 

     This past December 1st, Ryggs Johnston at the age of 24 etched his name into the history books with his first professional victory, winning the prestigious Australian Open, finishing 18 under and becoming just the 11th American-born player to capture the Aussie Open, joining a list that includes Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson!  Going into the tournament Ryggs was ranked 954 on the Official World Golf Ranking list. His win moved him to 316th!  Johnston is the first winner of any professional tournament to come from Libby, a town of under 5,000 people, nestled at the base of the beautiful Cabinet Mountain Wilderness and bordering the Kootenai River in the northwest corner of Montana. 

     As amazing as the story of Ryggs Johnston is, it pales in comparison to the story of how the Creator of all things came to Earth to be born as a man in order to suffer and die and pay the penalty for sin so that we could believe and spend eternity with Him (Jn. 3:16).  He was born in very humble circumstances in the little village of Bethlehem and the news was first announced to lowly shepherds (Lk. 2:1-20).  Jesus grew up as a carpenter’s son in Nazareth, a small Jewish community in Galilee that was not considered a significant or great town. It had a low reputation in Israel, and many sophisticated Jews considered it to be unimportant, low-down and backwards.  Estimates of the population of Nazareth when Jesus grew up there range from 200 to 1600. (A recent archaeological investigation put the estimated population at 1,000). 

     As Jesus began His public ministry, He selected twelve men whom He would disciple and in just three years commission to take the Gospel to the far corners of the earth (Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). After selecting Andrew and his brother Simon (Peter), Jesus “found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me'”  (John 1:35-43).  Then “Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathaniel said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of ‘ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see‘ ” (vv. 45,46).  Nathaniel expressed skepticism about Jesus’ origin, as Nazareth was considered a small and insignificant town, implying something positive could not come from that place!  But Philip’s response is classic. He said to Philip, “Come and see,” encouraging Nathaniel to experience Jesus for Himself.  Nathaniel was surprised to learn that Jesus was from Nazareth and questioned whether a good person could come from such a humble place. His response reflected the low regard many Jews held for Nazareth at the time. Philip’s reply, “Come and see,” is an invitation to overcome preconceived notions and directly experience the truth about Jesus (Who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life”…Jn. 14:6). 

     Maybe some of you reading this struggle with who Jesus is, how He came to earth or where He grew up, or how He could actually be “God in the flesh” as the Bible says (Jn. 1:1-3,14,18). Well, “Come and see!”  Check it out. Get into God’s Word, the Bible, and read for yourself about who Jesus is and why He came. Read the book of John, which He wrote “that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah/ “anointed one”), the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30,31).  Jesus may have been born in humble circumstances and grown up in a town of low regard, but He was indeed God in the flesh, come to redeem us through offering Himself a sacrifice for sin–my sin and your sin–so that “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16b). Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (Jn. 5:24). “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life;  he who has not the Son of God does not have the life” (I Jn. 5:11,12). 

     Can any good thing come out of that little town of Nazareth in Galilee? “Come and See!”

Forever His,

Pastor Dave N