Philip findeth Nathanael, 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 Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Note: Scholars are "practically certain" that Nathanael is the same person as the apostle Bartholomew. For more information, read https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-christ/chapter-16.
Jesus Christ miraculously knew that before Philip came to tell Nathanael about Christ, Nathanael had been under a fig tree. "It was the fig-tree of his own garden,... [see Zechariah 3:10] and not at the corners of the streets, or to be seen of men, [where Nathanael] was in the honesty of his heart praying to God. Unseen as he thought by any eye, he was seen by Him to whose coming every true Israelite looked" (http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/1-48.htm). From this account, I know that Jesus knows the innermost thoughts and desires of my heart. Only he understands my exact circumstances, and knows how I feel. Nathanael asked, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael was from Cana of Galilee; the Galileans and Nazarenes generally viewed each other with contempt. "The question is asked by an inhabitant of a neighbouring village who looks upon the familiar town with something of local jealousy and scorn" (http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/1-46.htm). Yet, Nathanael's bias towards Nazareth did not prevent him from acknowledging, worshiping, and following Christ, the Galilean. Jesus' first words to Nathanael were, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." Nathanael was a true Christian, a seeker of the consolation of Israel. He was without guile, or "cunning deceit" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guile). My goal is to be like Nathanael, so that even when Jesus knows the innermost thoughts and intents of my heart, he can call me a member of the House of Israel indeed, in whom there is no guile.
0 Comments
|
Archives
October 2022
Categories
All
For anyone interested, I have a professional blog titled The Instructional Designer's Toolkit where I share tools and inspiration for instructional designers and e-learning developers.
|