Nathanael

Nathanael is an interesting character. Not as well known as a few of the other disciples, he shows up only twice = and then only in John’s gospel. Nathanael is named once at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and once again as a witness to the resurrected Christ. It is –however - believed that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. Bartholomew is named among the list of disciples in each of the synoptic gospels, and once again in the beginning of the book of Acts. Nathanael/Bartholomew is better known in the Eastern orthodox churches and not so much in our Western church. Even though we know very little about him, Nathanael is an interesting character. When his friend, Philip found him and told him the exciting news that they had found the one about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, - his name is Jesus and he is from Nazareth – Nathanael was not the least bit impressed and his response was less than enthusiastic. Can anything good come from Nazareth?... Nathanael asked the sarcastic and rhetorical question because you see –according to one writer -. Nazareth was a dump. It didn’t feature in any Old Testament prophecies. No one famous had ever come from Nazareth - no great families hailed from there. It wasn’t the seat of any power – had no great schools, colleges, universities. It was a backwater town – where there was nothing. Nazareth was nowhere. And nowhere and no one ever said that the Messiah would come from a place like that. So how could anything good come from a place like Nazareth?... Philip and the others must be mistaken…. Or so Nathanael thought. Meet Nathanael the skeptic; the naysayer; Nathanael who was unable to think out of the box or consider that God just might have a different plan in mind. And where was Nathanael when Jesus first saw him?.. – but under a fig tree. In Hebrew thought and in Scripture = the fig tree is always a place of safety, comfort, ease - a place out of the hot sun, protected by the shade that the fig tree provides. It’s kind of like retirement – or a sabbatical – or a long weekend. You just sit under that fig tree safe and secure from all alarms – and do absolutely nothing, but relax and let your mind wander. Meet the Nathanael who Philip had to find, the Nathanael who sits far enough away so that no one bothers him, who keeps his distance so that he doesn’t have to be involved. But no matter how comfortable it is to sit under that fig tree. And no matter how distant we try to keep ourselves. And no matter the skeptic and the naysayer, or the limited vision that lives within each of us --- there is a restlessness in the human spirit that is never completely fulfilled or satisfied – no matter how hard we try. There is within every human spirit a longing and a yearning for more. There is within every human spirit a need to belong, a need to accomplish, a need to matter to someone or something, a need perhaps have your life make a statement, to feel like we’ve made a difference, left a legacy…in each of us there is a need to be relevant in our own time. Perhaps St. Augustine said it best: Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. That is what Jesus sensed in Nathanael. Looking all comfortable and aloof and doing his best to remain detached and skeptical, Jesus saw Nathanael’s restless and searching spirit…a man who wanted to know more, wanted to grow more, wanted to be and belong to more than what he was as he sat under the fig tree. It doesn’t matter how long and hard we try to pack our lives full with stuff – the reality is we are alone inside – no one – no one ever knows our true hearts, our thinking, what makes us tick, our core. No one can truly know us except God. God knows our sitting down and rising up; he knows our thoughts and our words before we speak them. God discerns our thoughts from far away and it is God alone who is acquainted with all our ways. There is no where we can go, to escape God – not to the farthest parts of the earth, not in heaven or Sheol – God will be there. God hems us in on all sides, and lays his hand upon each of us. God hems us in, behind and before, he is our past and our present and our future - and lays his hand upon every person. Only God knows us completely – from the moment of conception, to our growing up and our growing old – God knows every day – even before those days existed. God’s knowledge, God’s thoughts, his ways and his works are beyond our imagining. When we try to count up all these things about God, they are more than the sands – and when we come to our end – God and you and God and me – we will still be together. But Nathanael– would have never known the joy of being completely known by our Lord – Would have never been able to shed the old self to boldly proclaim that Jesus was the Son of God, never become who God wanted him to become - if it hadn’t been for Philip’s simple invitation --- Come and See.