"You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel. "
John 1:49
CHECKING IT OUT
Read It: John 1:47-51
As I indicated yesterday, Nathanael had the heart attitude of a true disciple. ciple. When Philip went to tell Nathanael about Jesus, Nathanael said, "I don't buy it." But he was willing to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. He decided to see for himself. You can teach someone like that. Jesus saw him coming and announced that here was an Israelite with a pure and honest heart. Nathanael was taken aback. How could someone one from a nowhere place like Nazareth know him that well? Jesus flashed a little omniscience and told Nathanael that He had seen him under the fig tree. That was enough for my man Nate. Jesus knew him, and that was all he needed to know By the way, disciple, Jesus knows you too. And if He knows you, it really doesn't matter who else knows you. He knows you in private under the fig tree, and He knows you in public. He knows you. So Nathanael confessed his faith in Christ, calling up a couple of those biblical names for Jesus that he would have known so well from his Bible study. He was laying these exalted titles on Jesus, and Jesus was accepting ing them because they were true. Nathanael exhibited the best traits of a disciple here: an open, honest, searching heart, a willingness to believe the evidence, a readiness to learn.
At verse 50 it started getting good. Jesus told Nathanael that if he thought that brief flash of divine omniscience was something, he had better ter stick around, because he hadn't seen anything yet. Notice that Jesus referred to Genesis 28, the account of Jacob's ladder, der, to explain to Nathanael what was in store for him. That ladder connected nected heaven and earth, bringing God's angels down to earth to reveal God's plan to bless Jacob. And I believe on the way back up, those angels took Jacob's needs back to heaven to lay them before the throne of God. Think about that one for a minute, and you might start shouting, because this is for you too. If you will take God at His Word the way Nathanael did, He will show you things that will blow you away. Think About It You don't have to know all the answers to be Jesus' disciple. You don't even have to know all the questions! All you need is an open and honest heart before Him.
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