NATHANAELS CONVERSION
John 1:43-51
Morning Meditation 4/6/14
"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 Nathaniel, 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 Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathaniel 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. Nathaniel 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."
There was a great difference between the manner of the conversion of Nathaniel and that of Saul. The inward change was the same. Let's notice how it came about--
FIRST, HE HEARD
Verse 45 of our text says: "Philip findeth Nathaniel, 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."
He received the information from one, who had first met Christ, and had experienced the joy of discovering that Jesus was the promised one. Philip's Gospel was not an it, but a HIM--Him in whom the hope of Israel lay; Him who answers all the predictions of Moses and the prophets, and meets all the needs of a human soul and a perishing world. This is the way the gospel comes. People must hear, and after hearing, they must make a decision. If they believe the account of the gospel they are saved. If they reject the gospel they are lost. Next--
SECOND, THE QUESTION
This question is found in verse 46 of our text, "And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see."
Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was brought up in Nazareth, that He might be called a Nazarene (Matt. 2:23). "Nazareth was an insignificant and, perhaps, and infamous town. How could the greatest of all prophets come from such an unlikely place? The whole country of Galilee was had in contempt with the Jews; but Nazareth was so mean a place, that it seems it was even despised by its neighbors, by the Galileans themselves; for Nathanael was a Galilean, that said these words. It was so miserable a place that he could hardly think that any sort of good thing, even any worldly good thing, could come from thence; and it was so wicked, as appears from their murderous designs upon our Lord, that he thought no good man could arise from hence; and still less, any prophet, any person of great note; and still least of all, that that good thing, or person, the Messiah, should spring from it: so that his objection, and prejudice, proceeded not only upon the oracle in Micah 5:2, which points out Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah; but upon the wickedness, and meanness, and obscurity of Nazareth." --John Gill
HE PROVED
John 1:47-48, "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's response to this statement of Jesus was, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel." Jesus manifests His omniscience and Nathanael picked up on it immediately. He said, "thou art the Son of God." It is one thing to claim to be the Messiah it is quite another to prove it. Jesus proved it by manifesting his Omniscience. Next--
HE BELIEVED
John 1:50, "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."
The evidence of our Lord's Messiahship was so proven in His display of Omniscience that Nathanael believed. And that is what one has to do to be saved. Nathanael confessed openly his faith when he said, "thou art the Son of God."
Many learned men today argue against the truth that Jesus is the virgin born Son of God. They do not believe that He was more than a good man. He is the Son of God and God the Son. He is God manifest in the flesh. He invites all to believe.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
