Twelve
Ordinary Men: The Guileless One
Pastor Mathew Magera – 3/7/18 – Sermon 275
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Have you ever read a book
that was just so good that you hoped it would become real right around you?
Many people read books to escape reality and then fantasize about those
alternate realities becoming their own. Some dream about becoming part of the
Star Wars world or the Harry Potter world or other mystical, enchanting or
adventurous places. I imagine the moment Philip came to Nathanael to tell him
about Jesus Nathanael was reading. Fully immersed in the story, feeling the
reality of the characters and their circumstances, drifting off in the joy that
was overtaking him and suddenly and abruptly brought back into reality.
"Nathanael! Nathanael! We have found him!"
When Philip was found by
Jesus, the first person Philip told was his friend Nathanael. As we've explored
the disciples so far, Peter and Andrew appear together because they are
brothers. James and John appear together because they are brothers. Here, Philip
and Nathanael appear together but they are not brothers. They are just really
good friends. Their friendship was likely a more recent development as Philip
was raised in Bethsaida and Nathanael on the other hand was raised in Cana, the
same town where Jesus performed his first public miracle of turning water into
wine. Nathanael also appears by the name Bartholomew which is more like a last
name for him. Like Peter having the name Simon bar Jonah, or Simon, son of
Jonah. Bartholomew is simply Hebrew for Son of Tolmai. Otherwise, he is known
by Nathanael. John is the only Gospel writer who really talks about Nathanael
other than mentioning him as a disciple. We learn the most about him is in his
call story in John chapter 1.
If there is one thing that
we need to know about Nathanael is that he loves Scripture. He lives in it. He
thrives in it. Before I expand on that a bit, I want to explain something. One
of the most frequent questions I have gotten throughout this series is,
"where does all of this information come from?" It's a legitimate
question to ask too. If we are going to be biblical in our faith, we have to
realize that there is not that much information about the disciples in the
Bible other than a few small sections here and there. Things are going to get
much more interesting when we get down to the disciples that are even less
known or are otherwise not even mentioned other than when Jesus calls them. So,
how do can we glean so much information about them without as much as one or
two interactions with them? We have to remember that writing in this time
period was done very artistically. If you were a writer, you wrote in a way to
convey a story or you wrote in a way to share as much information as you could.
When you come across a small detail in the Bible, sometimes you wonder why it
is there in the first place. It might even seem out of place and this only
furthers your curiosity. It is likely not a mistake. It is likely not an error
or misinterpretation. It might just legitimately seem out of place. If it
catches our attention, just imagine how it would catch the attention of someone
who was reading it at that time. It's there for a reason. If a certain name is
mentioned in the Bible, it is because that name is important. If a certain
detail is included within someone's quote, it's likely that it is there to help
tell a story about a character. So, from this, how can we understand that
Nathanael loves Scripture? How can we determine that he is knows his Bible?
When Philip came to tell
Nathanael about Jesus, he uses the Scriptures as a way to convince Nathanael
that Jesus is the Messiah. “We have found the one whom Moses and the prophets
wrote.” He could have simply said he found the Messiah. If he did that,
however, it would tell us very little about Nathanael. Clearly, it was
important that the Old Testament be named. Philip could have appealed to other
areas. He could've said, "I found the one who has a plan for your
life." or "I found the one who will fix your marriage and your personal
problems and give meaning to your life." But he didn't say either of these
things. Philip didn't appeal to Nathanael on the basis of how Jesus might make
his life better but rather on the fact that he was the fulfillment of the
prophecies he had been reading about.
So, Philip tells Nathanael
about the Messiah and now Nathanael has many different choice of how to respond
to this news. Instead of responding in a more positive way, Nathanael almost
seems uninterested, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He could
have eluded to the fact that the Scriptures say the Messiah would come from
Bethlehem or Jerusalem. Instead of doing that, he associates Nazareth with
nothing good and as a result, Jesus could not come from there. Not only do the
Scriptures not saying anything about it, Nathanael was obviously offended at
even the mention that Jesus could come from such a place.
Just like us today,
Nathanael was prone to being just a little stereotypical. There were class
systems back in the day. Even Nathanael's hometown of Cana wasn't a great place
and probably got a lot of flak as a result of it. Nazareth was just another
dump town that was easy to make fun of and Nathanael is just doing what was
natural to him. Perhaps it was not that Nazareth was all that bad but it would
be equivalent of being that dark alley kind of community that you wouldn't want
to break down in. Nazareth was thus a target of ridicule and stereotypes and
even prejudice. It was a town that was unrefined and uneducated even to this
day. The only thing going for it is that it was situated nicely on a hillside.
Of all the faults of the
disciples thus far, we might not take Nathanael's very far. It's just too
natural for us to stereotype something or look down on something that we don't
have any experience with and to believe the rumors we hear. But, stereotypes
are ugly generalizations not based on any factual information. Stereotypes are
what put Jesus to the cross too. Nobody believed the savior of the world would
willingly be executed. We can be very guilty of this in the church even among
ourselves. We can look down on somebody because of age, looks, intelligence,
and by doing so we limit the power of God to bring forth life and good news. In
this case of Nathanael's call story, something good actually does come out of
Nazareth but Nathanael doesn’t realize it yet. This shows just how God can act,
bringing the savior of the world out of a lowly place.
Nathanael just could not
believe that the Messiah would come from such a tacky place. Full of evil, corrupt
and populated with sinful people. He had the tendency to be sinful in this way.
Fortunately, his prejudice was not strong enough to keep him from going with
Philip, and he does go along.
The first thing Jesus says
to him when he sees him is, "Behold an Israelite in whom there is no
deceit." Guile is another word that could be placed here, hence why we can
call him the guileless one. Next to hearing Jesus say, "Well done, good
and faithful servant" this is about the best thing we could ever hope for
Jesus to say to us. Israel was full of deceit. Israelites were not the sharpest
tools in the shed when it came to righteousness, as the Old Testament eludes
to. Jesus singled Nathanael out because he was not a hypocrite. His devotion
was sincere and real. He was righteous, flawed by sin as we all are, but
justified before God through his sincere faith.
One of the more difficult
parts about this interaction is trying to figure out how Jesus actually knows
this. Did Philip get a chance to talk about his friend before he's actually met
Nathanael? Did Jesus know his family? Had Jesus spent years stalking his
potential disciples before actually calling them into ministry? Nathanael was
just as shocked as we are. How could Jesus know anything about him?
Jesus responds that before
Philip called him, he had seen Nathanael under the fig tree. So, what's with
the fig tree now? Other than the fact that fig trees were particularly shady
and provided good fruit, there may be some significance. There are two
directions to go here. Fig trees were fairly abundant and would be a typical
tree you might rest under to get out of the hot sun. When workers went out to
the fields to work, it's likely they placed any items of theirs under fig trees
to keep them cool, including small children. Jesus saying that he saw Nathanael
under the fig tree could be some kind of divine omniscience saying that he knew
Nathanael since he was an infant. Another significance of the fig tree could
couple with Nathanael's love for Scripture. It's very possible that Nathanael's
studies were done outside under the shade of a fig tree. Jesus could also have
been telling Nathanael that he saw Nathanael when he was under the tree using
the Scriptures to look for him. If this is where he went to pray, if this is where
he went to study, if this is where he went to find Jesus, Jesus saw him there.
Of course, the verse itself doesn't really say which one of these might be the
right answer, but it at least gives us a reasoning on why Jesus might mention
the fig tree and why Nathanael, as a result, took that statement and turned it
into belief in Jesus. That was all it took for Nathanael and he instantly
became a believer.
Jesus was able to look past
Nathanael’s exterior and see his heart. Jesus is appealing to Nathanael's love
of Scripture. If Jesus knows this much about Nathanael and they hadn't even
met, then Jesus knew and could see right into his heart. This might cause
Nathanael to think of the story of David's calling back in the Old Testament
where the same criteria of looking at the heart is what led David to be anointed
for kingship. Where Nathanael needed the Scriptures to even get up and follow
Philip, now Jesus begins to use the Scriptures to show Nathanael who he really
is. On the other side of things, however, if Jesus knew Nathanael's heart, if
Jesus knew of Nathanael's love of Scripture, that means Jesus also knew of
Nathanael's sinful tendency to stereotype as well. It was a conviction of his
sin but at the same time a release as Nathanael was now in the presence of the
one who would take that sin away from him. And it was this combination of
conviction and affirmation that causes Nathanael to believe. Something good
indeed could come out of Nazareth and it was standing right in front of him
examining his heart from the inside out.
We'll see Jesus appeal to
Nathanael's love of Scripture once again here. Jesus asks Nathanael if he
believes just because he said he saw him under the fig tree. While Nathanael
may have seen many things in Scripture, in his studies, he was about to see
much, much more. Jesus says Nathanael will see the kingdom opened and angels
ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Now, what does this sound like?
Angels ascending and descending? If you know the story of Jacob's ladder in the
Old Testament, you might see how Jesus is again trying to tell Nathanael
something. Jesus is the ladder. Nathanael isn't just reading about something in
some scroll anymore, he is living it out now.
Before we finish, there is one
thing you may have noticed. We've talked about Nathanael's problem with stereotypes
but we never see Jesus address it directly, do we? Jesus never directly
convicts Nathanael of any wrongdoing. Instead, Jesus opens the Scriptures to
him. I can't tell you why Jesus appears to ignore the sin but I can say that by
Jesus appealing to Nathanael's love of Scripture, he is using it to encourage
him to continue in the Word and never abandon it because it is what has kept
him on the right path. Jesus commends his studies. If Jesus knows his heart, he
also knows his sin and he knows the best path for Nathanael to be removed from
that sin. He could do like what he did with the adulterous woman and say, go
and sin no more. However, it probably wouldn't help him. Nathanael knew the Scriptures.
He knew what was right and wrong already. What Nathanael needed to hear was
that everything he had been searching for in the OT was now right in front of
him. Nathanael needed to be convinced Jesus was the real deal. Something good
indeed came out of Nazareth. Maybe this would change his habit of stereotypes.
What does that say about us?
This tells us there is hope and encouragement found in God's Word. Even when we
struggle in our own sin, God's Word is there. Just as Jesus encouraged Nathanael
in this way, he does the same for us each time we open it and gladly receive
it. Jesus uses one example after another to show Nathanael that he is the Son
of God, the hope and salvation that he and the world have been expecting all
these years. The Bible tells us using one example after another that Jesus is
the Son of God, the hope and salvation that we have been praising all these
years.
There is no Biblical record
of Nathanael's life after the resurrection and birth of the early church. It is
said, however, that he traveled as far east as India with the Gospel message.
There is also no reliable record on how he died. One account says he was tied
up in a sack and thrown into the sea. Another says he was crucified. While the
method of his execution varies, all accounts say that he was killed because of
his faith, as we might expect. Nathanael was a faithful disciple of Jesus. He
was faithful to the end because he was faithful from the beginning. Everything
he got with Jesus and everything after the resurrection only fueled his faith
more.
Have you ever read a book
that was just so good that you hoped it would become real right around you?
This is what happened to Nathanael. His book was the Old Testament and the
prophecies within it. They came to life right around him and he became part of
that very story of forgiveness and salvation. We have also become a part of
that story and it surrounds us, lives within us and calls us to pass it on so
that future generations can take part just as we are right now. To God be the
glory, now and always. Amen.[1]