Nathanael meets Jesus

NATHANAEL MEETS JESUS

Who is the most significant person you have ever met? The late Queen? Your future marriage partner? What difference did it make? Were you a changed person as a result?

Read John 1: 43-51

In verse 45 we read that after meeting Jesus, Philip found Nathanael (from Cana - see John 21:2) and said, ‘I’ve just got to tell you: I have met Jesus. He’s from Nazareth.’ No doubt he would have said a lot more about the encounter with Jesus, but Nathanael was prejudiced and cut him short, saying ‘Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?’ It’s a bit like saying ‘Jesus of Attercliffe’ or ‘Jesus of Barnsley.’ It doesn’t have the same ring as ‘Jesus of Cambridge’ or ‘Jesus of Bath Spa’ might have.

But Philip is not to be deflected; no theological discussion, just an invitation: ‘Come and see.’ He is so thrilled to have met Jesus, he can’t keep it to himself. I went to a church in the South of France and was greeted by a man who shook my hand and said, ‘I must tell you, Jesus has healed me.’ He went on to tell me more detail of the encounter with his Saviour/Healer. What a great faith-lifter at the start of a worship service!

In verse 47 Jesus sums up Nathanael’s character: ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false’ (NIV) ‘Here is a genuine son of Israel - a man of complete integrity’ (NLT). I ask myself: would Jesus be able to say that about me?

(NB Nathanael means ‘gift of God’. Isn’t it great to have God in your name? But even greater to have God in your heart.)

Compare Jacob, whose name means ‘deceiver,’ as you read Genesis 27: 1-40 and especially verse 36. ‘Esau said (to his father) “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times; he took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.”’

What does Jesus say as he looks at you and me?

Nathanael is shocked that Jesus knows him and asks ‘How do you know me?’ ‘I saw you.’ Jesus sees me, He sees you, and He knows our character, pluses and minuses! I like the definition of character that says: ‘Character is what you are when you’re on your own, when no-one is looking.’ The 19th century American essayist and abolitionist Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote :

Sow a thought, reap an action; Sow an action, reap a habit; Sow a habit, reap a character; Sow a character, reap a destiny.

TIME with the BIBLE - 7

Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Lead us not into temptation’ - so deal with that wrong thought: put an elastic band on your wrist, and pull it sharply when need arises. You can’t stop birds flying over your head, but you can stop them nesting in your hair.

Verse 48 makes reference to Nathanael under the fig-tree. Read Micah 4: 2, 4 for an explanation. He was under the fig-tree to read the Scriptures, to meditate, to find peace. And so he says to himself: ‘Here’s a man who understands my dreams, who knows my prayers, who has seen my longing for the Messiah to come. I didn’t expect Nazareth to be the place he would come from. But this must be the Son of God, God’s promised anointed one. I’m sorry I was so prejudiced.’

Verse 51 refers back to the Old Testament account of Jacob (re-named Israel) who had seen the golden ladder leading up to heaven (read Genesis 28: 12-13). It’s as if Jesus says to Nathanael: ‘I can do more than read your heart. I can be for you and for everyone the Way, the ladder that leads to heaven.’

AND SO Meeting Jesus Means Change. Nathanael was a changed man. He responded : ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel.’ You and I are being invited to respond to the call: ‘Come and see.’

Verse 50 Nathanael is told: ‘You will see greater things.’ And he did: read John 21: 1-2.

A. Ask yourself: i) What change have you noticed since you met Jesus? or
ii) What change would you have to make if you were fully to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour?
B. How will your life change this week, because you have been studying your Bible?

One Christmas there was a store offering fireproof icicles for sale. A passing vicar commented ‘What? I’ve been preaching to them for most of my life.’

We pray in the words of a lovely old chorus:
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wondrous compassion and purity. Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine, Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

Photo by Palden Gyamtso on Unsplash