Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
If you’ve ever served on a TEAM, whether a sports team, a business team, a volunteer team, a military team, a ministry team… you’ve learned choosing team members is critical to the ‘team dynamics’ and ‘team work’, right? It can be a wonderful experience, or a very painful, dysfunctional experience, do you agree? I wonder what memories come to your mind when you think of ‘team’?
In these days we’re on a 40 day journey toward Easter with Jesus. Yesterday I left you standing with Jesus and three guys who were going to eventually be part of His ‘team’ of 12 disciples. They didn’t know that yet, as they were just meeting each other, but I think Jesus knew. The three guys were named John, Andrew and his brother Peter. All three were fishermen by trade and lived in the towns near Lake Galilee which they fished. They had been friends a long time, but were just meeting Jesus. John, one of these three guys, ended up writing the fourth Gospel of the New Testament which bears his name, and he’s telling us the story, so join me in John 1:43… “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 Nathaniel 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.”
I’m including a map so you can see the area John is describing. The Jordan river flows south from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea. That’s the river in which John the Baptist was baptizing people. What John referred to as ‘the Galilee’ was the region around and to the west of Lake Galilee. People there were often referred to as Galileans. The region down near Jerusalem was referred to as Judea. Between Judea and Galilee was another region called Samaria and the people who lived there were called Samaritans. The Samaritans were disliked by both the Jews who lived in Galilee and Judea. The reason traces back 700 years to when the ferocious kingdom of Assyria conquered the nation of Israel from just north of Jerusalem all the way up to and including modern day Lebanon. The Assyrians then settled this entire region with people from other nations they had conquered. As they intermarried they became a ‘mixed breed’ in every way. Ethnically, racially, linguistically, religiously.
So for Jesus to go from down south near the Jordan river, probably not far from Jericho, where He met John, Andrew and Peter, up to the Galilee, they likely did as all Jews did… Jesus and his three new Jewish friends, walked around Samaria, so as to not have any contact with Samaritans. At least not yet! As you may know, so many things would change with Jesus over the three years these men were together.
John doesn’t tell us how or why Jesus encountered Philip, nor what caused Philip and Nathaniel to have such a good friendship that Philip did as Andrew had done, and quickly went to find a friend to bring to Jesus. But did you notice Philip doesn’t say anything about John the Baptist, but rather Philip identifies Jesus as coming from Nazareth and being the son of Joseph? Hometowns then were even more important than they are in our day, and family line was also extremely important. With one sentence Philip had given Nathaniel such a picture of who this Jesus was, that Nathaniel asked a powerful question, and probably with an attitude: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46) Do you hear prejudice, maybe some resentment or bitterness? Nazareth had a rough Roman soldier division based there. Roman soldiers were hated and in many cases they deserved the reputation of angry, offensive, vicious men who often had little education but big egos that caused people to hide from them in fear.
Philip’s answer to his friend Nathaniel was simple and yet very powerful. It’s the very same invitation millions of followers of Jesus are giving to their friends as Easter approaches in 2022, all around the world. Three simple words: “Come and see”! So, Nathaniel followed Philip, trusting their friends, to see who this new guy Jesus was and why Philip would speak so highly of Him? Jesus responded to Nathaniel in a similar way to how He had met Peter. John records the encounter this way: “When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching He said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Now that’s quite a statement. Jesus seems to be indicating that Nathaniel is untouched by the mixed race problem of the Samaritans and that he is a man of integrity. Very nice comments but of course Nathaniel’s brow furrowed. “How do you know me?’ Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Then Nathaniel declared, ‘ Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” (John 1:48,49)
Now perhaps it’s your brow that is furrowed my friends. Nathaniel has made an outrageous statement, especially since only a few moments ago he wondered if anything good could come from Nazareth. It seems that in a few words Jesus proved that He had some miraculous or at last mystical power. Evidently Nathaniel had been sitting under a fig tree, perhaps having a snack in the shade, when his friend Philip had approached Nathaniel, told him about Jesus and invited him to come and see this Jesus. Nathaniel had gone with Philip so he knew Philip had NOT told Jesus where Philip had found him, or what they had said to each other. Yet with Jesus’ simple statement, Nathaniel concluded Jesus had some supernatural power that He could see things far out of sight, and know things without being told. Those were impressive, but frightening possibilities for any person. I find it fascinating Nathaniel didn’t argue with or interrogate Jesus, rather he complimented him with such extravagant words, that I suppose he was expecting Jesus to quickly deny the compliments. But Jesus didn’t!!
In fact Jesus affirmed those outrageous Nathaniel statements by saying “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” I think Jesus paused right there, looking deeply into Nathaniel’s eyes, and then Philip. A penetrating look that they likely both felt Jesus was looking deep into their soul. If John, Peter and Andrew were with them, I suspect Jesus did the same with each man. A piercing, challenging, but loving look. He didn’t need to say anything, His look said it all. ‘What do you think about the words Nathaniel spoke? Why do you think I didn’t deny it and what do you think of the words I just spoke?’ These normal guys were having a life changing encounter with the Son of God, even though He looked like just a normal guy from Nazareth. And then Jesus almost knocked them over with these words: “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)
Look at them… eyes wide open, rubbing their chins, perhaps their mouths dropped open. As good Jewish men who knew the stories of their ancestors well, into their minds came the story of their common ancestor Jacob, who when running away from his brother Esau, stopped for the night at a place along the road and was so tired he used a rock for his pillow. That night he had a dream. Heaven was open and a ladder stretched from heaven to where Jacob was, and God was standing in heaven speaking to him about the Covenant promise God had given to Abraham and was now passing on to Jacob. Angels were ascending and descending on that ladder. It was a life changing night for Jacob, and in the morning Jacob named that place “Bethel”, the house of God! You’ll find that story in Genesis 28.
Nathaniel, Philip, Andrew, Peter and John had just heard their new friend Jesus say that this very same experience would be theirs if they spent time with Jesus!!! Now they had no idea what Jesus could possibly mean. As we travel with Jesus and these men to Easter, over these 40 days, we’ll discover what Jesus meant, and how it changed their lives. So let’s pause right there with them, aghast, stunned, imagining what it could mean for you and me, if we spent time, maybe the rest of our lives, with Jesus!? I’ve found an old song, probably recorded 50 years ago, that seems to fits so well right here…
Today’s Scripture is John 1:43-51.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email
WhatsApp