Jesus Talked With Nathanael

Philip had run to his closest friend and told him about Jesus. In response to his friend's understandable skepticism, Philip merely said, Come and see for yourself.

Notice that when he came into view, Jesus saw Nathanael, He saw his heart, and said “Here’s a real Israelite.” That must have been humbling for Nathanael, because he had kind of implied Jesus wasn’t, since Jesus was from Nazareth.

Then Jesus said, “In him is no deceit,” or “no guile.” Jesus was saying Nathanael was honest and up front, he had integrity. This must have made Nathanael pretty uncomfortable! How could Jesus understand him like that?

Then Jesus told him,

"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." (John 1:48)

What Nathanael said next is remarkable

"Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!" (John 1:49)

That was the most dramatic thing any of these men had said yet about Jesus. How did such a skeptic turn into a believer, just like that? What could possibly have happened in Nathanael’s heart?

The fig tree was the common place for prayer, especially for young rabbinic students. And in Nathanael’s day, the rabbis taught that every time one prayed they were to pray for the coming of the Messiah. So what was Nathanael doing when Philip came to find him? Nathanael put two and two together in his mind. Only Messiah would have seen him praying for Messiah.

Nathanael’s response of faith must have pleased Jesus, because He gave further revelation – that’s what happens when you and I respond to God in believing faith, He opens our eyes to even deeper insight,

"Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man." (John 1:50-51)

This is the first time the term “Son of Man” comes up, and is rich with meaning. We will study more what this phrase means as we get deeper into the blended gospels.

Jesus was talking about Jacob’s dream as he was running away from his brother, falling asleep alone in the desert. Jacob saw the angels going up and down from earth to God and he knew God would be with him. The actual staircase was hidden in plain view! How many people must have read about Jacob’s dream over the centuries and never even thought about the significance of that staircase.

The staircase was Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, connecting God with people.

God uses witnesses to bring people to Jesus

The natural overflow of discovering Jesus for these men was to bring others to Him. So how strong is that natural overflow in your life and mine right now? Which is stronger, self-consciousness, lack of confidence, and wanting people to like you; or a sense of excitement to introduce people to Jesus?

When you and I love God the most, we will point people to Him, and not to ourselves, regardless of the circumstances. How well do you and I do that? How well do we point people to Jesus by urging them to pray and look to the Bible for answers, instead of to ourselves for answers? Who will you ask to “come and see” Jesus this week?

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment by clicking on the word "comments" below, and join the conversation

The First Five Disciples Begin To Follow Jesus

The next day John the Baptist was still preaching repentance and baptizing people, preparing them to follow Messiah. Jesus again came to where John was teaching, so John spoke to the two disciples who were standing near him, intent on what he had to say. Andrew and John heard the Baptist announce once again that Jesus was the Lamb of God.

When John pointed Jesus out to them, there was no question but that they would follow Him.

Do you think their hearts pounded when Jesus turned around and saw them? Pay attention to that. With each person who came to Jesus, Jesus looked at that person and read their heart. As Jesus saw them He said “what do you seek?”

Those are the first words Jesus says in John’s gospel, maybe the first words He spoke as He began his public ministry.

“What are you looking for in life? What are you looking for from Me?”

Think of Who Jesus was and what these two men must have been thinking and wondering about. John and Andrew wanted to be near Jesus and spend time with Him. They wanted to know Him.

So Jesus invited them to come and spend time with Him. They spent an entire afternoon and evening with Jesus, and they fell in love with Him. No doubt the Lord told them something about His mission, revealed their own hearts to them and answered their questions. They were so fascinated they could hardly tear themselves away.

Others can tell you about Jesus, and about God, but you will only really get to know Him by spending time with Him yourself.
* How close am I willing to get to Jesus and how long am I willing to stay with Him?
* Does He ever get a whole day from me, let alone my whole life?

It seems as though both Andrew and John got the same idea of racing to get their brothers,
--> but Andrew was the first to find his brother Simon.
--> Andrew was the first to announce, “We have found the Messiah,” and bring his brother to Jesus.
--> In fact, all throughout the gospels, Andrew was bringing people to Jesus – the boy with the loaves and the fish, and later some Greeks who were looking for the Messiah.

When Simon arrived it says Jesus looked at him. The meaning of that word is to look intently, like looking at a work of art. Then Jesus told Simon he would be Peter, a rock, solid, dependable and true. I think Peter must have hung on to that three years later during the events surrounding Jesus’ trial.

The day after that Jesus decided to go up to Galilee where all these men had their fishing businesses, and He found Philip. Philip was from Andrew and Peter’s home town, Bethsaida, a small fishing village, so probably they all knew each other.

Philip had the same response as Andrew and John, he fell in love with Jesus and went to find his good friend Nathanael. In the other gospels Nathanael is referred to as Bartholomew, “Bar” means “son of,” so he was Nathanael, son of Tolmai, and he and Philip were inseparable friends, always grouped together on later missionary expeditions.

Nathanael was a student of the scriptures, so Philip told him about finding the one Moses and the prophets had written about. But when Philip said Jesus was from Nazareth, right away Nathanael was skeptical. Nazareth was considered only a grade above Samaria, full of Gentiles and the worship of pagan deities. What prejudices are revealed by your and my attitudes?

Did you notice how Philip didn’t argue? He just said what Jesus had said before, “Come and see.” To Nathanael’s credit, he did.

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment by clicking on the word "comments" below, and join the conversation