Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. John 1:43-51

Scripture is full of truths! We can learn so much by studying the Word of God. Verse 43 says, "The day following..." So what happened on the previous day? Verses 35-42 tells us.

Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

God is beginning to do a great work! He is gathering His people to follow Him. Now we see that He has called Philip to follow Him. Let's get a little background from Philip. Philip is from Bethsaida, a city of Andrew and Peter. This city is located just north east of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum which is where Peter eventually moved to. This is what Jesus said about Bethsaida...

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. Luke 10:13-14

So before we go any further. Jesus "findeth" Philip. It was not that Philip went looking for Jesus, but rather that Jesus "findeth" Philip! Now, we know a little bit about the city he was from. Their attitude in that city was one of non repentance.

Once Philip has been found by Jesus, what does he do? He goes and findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, we have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Let's stop there for a moment. Philip was "found" by Jesus. Philip went and found Nathanael to tell him about Jesus. There are times when Jesus seeks us out and there are times when other people bring us to Christ. God has wonderful ways of bringing His people to Himself. Now, let's look a little closer at what we have seen here. Philip is a "new" follower of Christ and it shows. First off he says, "we have found him!" No, it was the other way around. Jesus found him! Secondly, he calls Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Now, Nathanael knows what the OT Scripture says and he also knows that the prophets proclaimed the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Jesus was living in Nazareth as a young boy, but He was properly from Bethlehem as Scripture foretold. Next, he says He is the son of Joseph. In actuality, He was not the blood born child of Joseph. But in his zeal to share the news about Jesus, he excitedly, proclaims, "We have found Him!"

With this being said, Nathanael, who knows OT Scripture replies to Philip with, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" He knows that Nazareth is not the place to look for a Messiah. He also knows that Bethsaida has a certain attitude about it and it would be enough to make you wonder...
Does he feel the same about Bethsaida? Can there any good thing come from Bethsaida? He knows Philip and obviously has a friendship with him. He does not just ignore Philip. And to give credit to Philip, a new follower of Christ, he did not try to argue his point to Nathanael. He gives a simple statement. "Come and see." Let Nathanael see for himself that Jesus is who he says he is.

The next verse is equally amazing. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said, "behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Jesus tells Nathanael two truths here. He is an Israelite indeed. He is not just one outwardly, but is one inwardly as well. He truly desired to do the things that would please God. His heart was in the right place. Not for show like the Pharisees, but he had the attitude of humility, a good person that honestly tried to do what God would have him do. Jesus also said he was a man in whom is no guile. There was nothing false about him. What you see is what you get. A man who honestly desired to please God. He was humble and not self serving. He loved God and it showed towards others.

As we move on in Scripture let's see what happens. Nathanael now speaks to Jesus. Whence knowest thou me? Or to put it in today's language -- How is it that you know me? They had never met personally, how can Jesus make such a statement about him without meeting him face to face prior to now? And Jesus said, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." Now, don't make the mistake of thinking that Nathanael understood this to mean that Jesus saw Nathanael under a tree once before at a distance. No, not at all. The fig tree was a place where people would go to be alone with God. The Pharisees enjoyed being seen by the public saying their long prayers and receiving accolades for being so spiritual. Nathanael at some point in time had been under a fig tree praying to God, his alone time with God. And Jesus heard his prayer. He acknowledged that He had seen him under the tree! That is exciting to think about. When we are alone in our quiet time in prayer, God is listening to us! Praise God! Because of how Jesus responded, Nathanael understood what He said, and his response to Him was, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."

Jesus answered him and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. In other words, "you ain't seen nothing yet!" Jesus goes on to say, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

How many people reading this blog right now know what happens next in Scripture? We are now heading into chapter 2 and this is where Jesus is at the wedding and Mary asks Him to get the wine. This is the first recorded miracle by Jesus where He turns water into wine. It was just the beginning for the disciples. They were about to see many many more miracles and to learn some awesome truths about heaven, about God the Father, about the Holy Spirit, about the need to repent of their sins, about the need to go into all the world preaching the gospel to every creature.

Jesus moves quickly! And yet, we will sit here at this computer and spend hours upon hours reading and not doing a thing to bring people to Christ. What are we waiting for? People are dying each and every day, each and every hour, each and every minute. Get up! God calls you to something so much better than you are doing right now. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! May God bless you all this spring! Go make a difference!