Tag / nathanael

by In Light Of The Cross

A Divine Affirmation for an Ordinary guy

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” John 1:47 NKJV

We don’t hear much about Nathanael before or after this story. Nathanael does not go on to be a world renowned preacher. If he wrote anything it was never published in the Cannon. There is no record of him parting the waters, or calling fire down from heaven. By all accounts he was just an ordinary guy, but wow, what an awesome affirmation he received from God. Before Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus already knew him by name and publicly recognized his integrity. I am more than happy to just remain a common ordinary guy, so long as I can hear Jesus one day say about me what He said about Nathanel. Such an affirmation coming from God means way more to me than all the worldly accomplishments and fame this world can give. 

Nathanael is not the only “ordinary guy” that God knew by name and held in high esteem. In Exodus 31:1-6 God calls out Bezalel and Aholiab by name as the “construction workers” he wanted working on the temple. He even said they were filled with His Spirit, so God not only fills priests and pastors with His Spirit, He fills people in all walks of life.  In Nehemiah 3:1-32 Nehemiah calls out several construction workers by name, who made repairs in rebuilding Jerusalem. A few weeks ago, Florida, where I live was hit by two hurricanes. Linemen came from all over the country, and even some from Canada to help restore electricity to our communities. All our churches were praying for these linemen. In Revelation 1:20 we see how Jesus holds His ministers in His hands, but I realized that God also knew these linemen by name and held them in His hands as well. 

The world may have some kind of hierarchy, but we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross and in the presence of God. God does not esteem us according to our fame or worldly status. We may be just ordinary folk to the world, but still be precious in the eyes and in the hands of God. I would gladly trade all the praise and esteem this world has to give just to hear Jesus say about me, “Behold, a man indeed, in whom is no deceit!”  By God’s grace, no matter what our positions or worldly titles may be, no matter how common or ordinary we may appear, we may all hear Jesus tell us, 

“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21 NKJV

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 1; John Sees What is Right With The Church

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 

 1:27       He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 

I have already noticed something different about the book of John. The other gospels record the strife between the disciples as to who is the greatest. John does not record this strife. John speaks about John the Baptist leading people to Jesus and not to himself. In John 3:30 John records John the Baptist saying, “He must increase, I must decrease.”  I think John is focusing on what is right with the church instead of what is wrong.  He is giving us some good role models. Former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, once said, “Nothing is wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” I choose to believe that there is nothing wrong with the church that cannot be cured by what is right with the church. Of course, Jesus is what is right with the church, but let’s look at what else is right with the church.

1:40 One of the two which heard John [speak], and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 

 1:41       He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 

 1:42       And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. 

 1:43       The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 

 1:44       Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

 1:45       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. 

 1:46       And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 

 1:47       Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 

 1:48       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. 

 1:49       Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.  

 1:50       Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 

We have Andrew who is working hard and quietly behind the scenes to bring people to Jesus. In the other Gospels we never heard him mentioned by name, like we did James and John in the fracas as to who was the greatest. We never heard him making outrageous boasts like Peter made. About the only other time we hear of him, is when he found a boy with a sack lunch that saved the multitude from hunger. Andrew seems to work best one on one and without much fanfare. I would say he is what is right with the church.

Next we have Nathanael. Nathaniel seems to be a man of prayer. Jesus says Nathanael is an Israelite who has no guile! Wow! I pray Jesus can say that about me! That would be awesome. I do not know of a higher compliment that Jesus ever gave to anyone, and he gave it to a man the other three gospel do not even mention, and is only mentioned six times in the book of John, five of those times are in this brief story above. This tells me there are people in our church today who have no guile. We may not notice them because they are not drawing attention to themselves. They are quietly praying and bringing people to Jesus instead of arguing over who is the greatest.