The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 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. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
(John 1:43-51)
Every now and then, a Bible story you've read a thousand times comes to life for the first time. Call it what you will, but I believe it's simply inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When it happens, it's always just what I need to hear, at just the right time.
In reading about Nathanael this morning, the reality of what happened hit me. If you can put yourself in Nathanael's shoes. You've heard all your life that the Messiah's coming.. And to make things more confusing, during that time a LOT of people claimed to be the Messiah. So when Nathanael heard Philip say he'd "found the Messiah", he probably rolled his eyes and thought "Oh brother!". And to top things off, Philip tells Nathanael where Jesus is from.. from Nazareth! That would be like someone telling me the Messiah is here, and he's from Two Egg Florida! I'd likely say the same kind of thing Nate said "Can anything good from Two Egg?"..
Another thing I noticed about this story- When Nate met Jesus for the first time, he was blown away by the fact Jesus saw him under the fig tree. It dawned on me that if Jesus knew where Nate was standing when Philip called for him, then he had to know what he said.. In other words, Jesus knew Nate didn't have a very high opinion about Nazarenes. If Jesus knew that, instead of saying "Behold an Israelite in whom is no deceit", Jesus could have said "So you don't like people from Nazareth?".. But instead Jesus basically says "Behold, here's a guy who really speaks his mind". Someone with "no deceit" doesn't pull punches, he says what he means and means what he says. Jesus actually compliments Nate instead of chastising him.
I believe the moral to this story is simply this- Jesus sees us right where we are. He knows if we're under a fig tree, or if we're under a cloud of depression. What's cool is- he loves us either way. He doesn't berate for our misconceptions or condemn us for our weaknesses. The Bible says He doesn't deal with us according to our sins. Instead he sees us where we are, wants us to "come and see" His goodness, and longs to show us the depth and beauty of His great love.
