Word of Salvation – Vol.26b No.08 – November 1980

 

The Calling Of Nathaniel

 

Sermon by Rev. W. F. Van Brussel, B.D. on John 1:45-51

Scripture Reading: Psalm 97; John 1:35-51

Psalter Hymnal: 159; 55:2,3; 140; 448; 376:4

 

The Gospels do not offer much detail about what happened when Jesus called His 12 disciples – except in 1 or 2 cases.  We could think of the way in which Matthew, the tax collector, was called, and how NATHANAEL became one of the twelve.  Let’s look at the latter one today.  Philip was the man who initially was used for this purpose.  Philip was so excited about his new Master that he had to talk to Nathanael about 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!

It has been said that Philip was an evangelist but he was a bit dumb.  He made 2 mistakes it is claimed: 1) He should not have said that Jesus came from Nazareth as Jesus was born in Bethlehem;  2) He should not have introduced Him as the Son of Joseph, for that was not true.  And thus we see how easy it is to blame people and to say that they are stupid.  For who said that Philip was wrong in what he said.  Was it not true that Jesus had spent just about 30 years in Nazareth?  And was Jesus not known at least at Nazareth as the Son of Joseph?  ‘Nothing wrong with that…!

If we want to say something about Philip, let us rather say: Boy, was that fellow enthusiastic about Jesus!  I wish I were like that!  Anyway, Jesus used this happy fellow as a witness and in response to that witness Nathanael came along and met Jesus face to face.  For a start, Nathanael had 1 or 2 problems upon hearing what Philip had said.  Nazareth?  What does that little town have to offer in connection with the Messiah?

Again people have thought up all sorts of stories.  They say: Nathanael came from Cana, a little spot not so far away from Nazareth.  And you know how people are; there was a bit of competition between those 2 places and Cana-people would look down upon the Nazareth-people and vice versa.  So, when Nathanael wondered: CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM NAZARETH? he just expressed that kind of competition.

Don’t expect any good from that silly town!  Would it not be a better comment to say: Nathanael could not work it out?  He had never found anything about the Messiah coming onto the scene via Nazareth.  All he knew was that BETHLEHEM was to be the place.  So, he wondered.  That was all!  And we say, well, no wonder that Nathanael wondered.  And Philip, well, he did not have an answer there, either.  But he was and remained enthusiastic enough to merrily go on and invite Nathanael to come along and see with his own eyes what Philip wanted him to see.  Philip, the so-called ‘dumb fellow’, expected that when Nathanael would meet Jesus in person, all his problems would vanish.  And the rest of the story shows how right he was!  When we read on, as from this point, we discover that the one thing mentioned here about how Nathanael became a disciple is even more thrilling than the other.  What a beautiful story of the work of God’s grace in this man, Nathanael!  Nathanael, although he had a few problems with Philip’s introduction, was willing enough to go along with Philip to meet Jesus.  And while the 2 men were approaching Him, Jesus said to those standing near Him: HERE IS A TRUE ISRAELITE IN WHOM THERE IS NOTHING FALSE.

Now to understand what Jesus had in mind here, it is necessary for us to remember a few details of the familiar stories of father Jacob.  You remember how Jacob had obtained the birthright of the first son plus the blessing of his father, Isaac, to go with that birthright.  He had deceived his blind, aged father and he had tricked his brother, Esau.  There was nothing beautiful about that and the direct result of it had been that he had to flee from his home and family and to spend quite a number of years in Haran.  It was only after many years, when Jacob was on his way back home, and after he had wrestled with God on the bank of the river Jabbok, that God had said to him: YOUR NAME WILL NO LONGER BE JACOB, BUT ISRAEL….!  When Jesus said: HERE IS A TRUE ISRAELITE and we read further in vs.51 what Jesus said about THE ANGELS OF GOD DESCENDING AND ASCENDING – which in turn reminds us of the story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel – we cannot help but believe that during this entire encounter with Nathanael, Jesus was thinking of that man, Jacob, and his life story.

NATHANAEL was an Israelite, first grade!  A real one, a genuine one.  Nothing false about him!   There were plenty of people in Jesus’ day, who would call themselves ISRAELITES, but in actual fact they were JACOBS rather than ISRAELS But here was a genuine one!

Jesus did not say this TO Nathanael.  He said it of him to others.  Yet, Nathanael must have heard it, for he asked first thing: HOW DO YOU KNOW ME?  Jesus answered this question in a way that took Nathanael completely by surprise.  If he had had any doubts, they were entirely gone now.  What was it that Jesus said and that meant so much to Nathanael?  He said: I SAW YOU WHILE YOU WERE STILL UNDER THE FIGTREE BEFORE PHILIP CALLED YOU!  What was so exciting about that, you may wonder?

There are 2 things that ought to be said here.  1) Jesus appeared to know him, although they had never met.  2) Jesus even knew what kind of person he was.

Jesus knew of something that had been a very precious experience for Nathanael Before Philip had come to him, Nathanael had been sitting under that fig tree.  It was the habit of some of the Jews that for their quiet time they would prefer to sit outside in the shade of their fig-tree.  Their homes were not spacious and if they wanted a bit of quiet, it was easier to find that outside than inside.  These fig-trees grew in such a way that, when they would sit underneath it, it would cover them quite well.  They were sitting in a kind of room and could have their private encounter with God without having to fear that they would be watched by others.  They would study their Bible and meditate on what they had read and pray.

For those who were of the true kind, such moments were most precious.  They would spend much thinking on the time when the Messiah was to come and how things then would become entirely different at last.

It seems that, when Philip came, Nathanael had just finished his quiet time under the fig tree where nobody, he reckoned, would have seen him.  But this Jesus of Nazareth, He indicated that He HAD seen him and that He was aware of what he had been doing there.  He knew that Nathanael was one of the few among Israel who would really look forward to the day when Messiah was to come.  And in that sense, Nathanael indeed was a genuine Israelite who would expect everything from God and from His Messiah and nothing from himself and his pious, spiritual exercises.

Upon this revelation, Nathanael knew Jesus, too.  And he declared: RABBI, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD: YOU ARE THE KING OF ISRAEL..!  What great discovery!  Listening to the commentators again, we notice that this grand profession of faith has been played down a great deal.  It is stated that Nathanael, of course, could not know as much as that.  He said it, but he did not really know what he was saying.  That was simply not possible at that stage.  Yes, that is what commentators say.  But why?  Why take away so much beauty from God’s work as it is on display here in this passage?

Has this not happened time and again, that people made fantastic, true statements about Christ, straight from the heart and that, later on, on different occasions and in different situations they would say something quite opposite?  Just remember that statement of Peter that we all know so well.  Who DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? Jesus asked.  And Peter answered: YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

Yet in the very same chapter we hear that Jesus rebuked him for what he said next.  Jesus said to him, at least in connection with what he had just said: OUT OF MY SIGHT, SATAN!  YOU ARE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO ME; YOU DO NOT HAVE IN MIND THE THINGS OF GOD, BUT THE THINGS OF MEN!

Does this mean now, that what Peter had confessed earlier has to be taken with a grain of salt?  That he did not know what he was talking about there and then?  Definitely not!  And so it is in John 1.  Let’s leave it there.  Let’s not spoil it with our needless comments.  What a beauty!  How wonderfully had God, in his grace, opened the heart of this man, Nathanael.  All problems were gone for him at that moment at least and he rejoiced in meeting his Messiah: RABBI, YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD; YOU ARE THE KING OF ISRAEL!  This Stranger, He knew him, He knew what only God could know; He knew what Nathanael had done in secret.  But then, He MUST be THE SON OF GOD!  There was no doubt in his mind.

He had had a few problems upon hearing the comments of Philip, but now, after Jesus had said this about him, he knew for sure that this Jesus, no matter whether He came from Nazareth or whether Joseph was His Father, was the One Israel had been hoping and praying for so long!

It goes without saying that Nathanael needed further instruction.  That’s why Jesus called him to His classes, Nathanael (another name for him was: Bartholomew) was to be one of the twelve disciples.  He still had lots and lots to learn.  But it was his privilege to start with this precious discovery right at his first encounter with the Rabbi.

He was a bit fast with his conclusions.  True, Jesus WAS the Son of God.  The whole Gospel of John was written for this very purpose that people would know that Jesus indeed was God, Jesus was the King of Israel, too.  Yet, there was a long way ahead of Him which He had to travel as the Servant of the LORD rather than as the King of heaven and earth.  Israel was not ready as yet to receive its King, either.  It needed a Saviour first.  And were they ready for that?  Were they ready to receive Him as their Saviour in the first place?  O yes, there were stacks of things Nathanael and all the others still had to learn.

Jesus indicated this, too, by saying what we read in vs 30: YOU BELIEVE BECAUSE I TOLD YOU I SAW YOU UNDER THE FIG-TREE.  You believe because it has become obvious to you that I know what God alone knows.  And that is good.  But you need more than that!  And you will get that, too.  YOU SHALL SEE GREATER THINGS THAN THAT.

Nathanael, before becoming more thrilled about Jesus as God and as King had to discover and receive Jesus as Saviour.  And this is again put in words that remind us firmly of the Jacob-stories, vs.51: Jesus THEN ADDED, I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, YOU SHALL SEE HEAVEN OPEN, AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ON THE SON OF MAN!

YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD, Nathanael had said.  And how right he was!  But Jesus was more than that, He was also THE SON OF MAN!  And it was only as such that He could become the Saviour of fallen man, by paying for him as a Man and by living a perfect life as a Man.

And what was going to be the result of that?  That through the Ministry of the Rabbi of Nazareth heaven was going to be a reality, an experience to those who would believe in Him, not so much as their King for a start, but as their only, God-given SAVIOUR.  Before Israel could ever be ready to rejoice in its King, Jesus, they must come to grips with their need of the SAVIOUR, Jesus, God who had become Man for that purpose.  That was to be the greater thing Nathanael, and together with him, all of us, must see.

And of course, Nathanael, who had been brought this far already by the grace of God that he had recognised the Son of God and the King of Israel in Jesus of Nazareth, he has seen the angels of God ascending and descending time and again, when he knew in actual situations during his lifetime that God was near, that there was real contact with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Nathanael, and all others who believe in Jesus Christ, discovered more and more how rich he was with this faith in Jesus.  All this communion with God, this being in touch with the God of heaven and earth, every day and in no matter what circumstances, is due to what Jesus has come to do for us here on earth.

We think once more of that dream that Jacob had at Bethel.  He was in great trouble, due to his lies and his wicked tricks.  But here was God, in His grace.  There was no reason why He should come to Jacob’s aid or rescue – but He did come all the same.  And so Jacob was able to travel on, further away from home, but in the meantime he could trust God for what He had shown him.  There was this contact, undeserved but very real indeed.  This is the condition every single disciple of Christ is in.

Are you a disciple of Christ?  Are you sure that Jesus has called you, too?  So come and follow Him.  If you do that, you know that you will need Him a great deal, as your Saviour in the first place.  You do a lot of things wrong, don’t you?  And so do I…!  But what a blessing, although we don’t deserve it, we may see the heavens open, and the angels of God descending, ascending on the Son of Man, for we believe in Him as THE WAY!  Don’t we?

Amen.