(John 1:47)
:Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!�
In our text verse of last week we saw that Nathanael had little confidence that this Jesus, whom Philip was talking about, had any real worth to him or his own situation. But, due to the prodding of Philip, Nathanael was convinced to go find out more about this Man which Philip assured him was the Messiah of prophecy.
We will, most often, find our own witnessing rebuffed by those we seek to lead to the Master. Our duty is to simply present the claims of Jesus. We do not attack the lost; we simply say, as did Philip, �Come and see.� We then add the medium of prayer for those to whom we have talked.
This prayer to the Spirit is the only weapon which we have, outside the Words of God in His preserved Scripture, to reach the lost. Our arguments will never convince one who is under the burden of a sin nature that the proper path is to accept Jesus. Such an idea is foreign to the thought process of an individual who has not has his spirit quickened to the things of God.
This quickening is possible only by the Holy Spirit as we pray, by name, for those we seek to win to the Savior.
In today�s text, notice first the gaze of the Savior. �Jesus saw...�
�Jesus saw...� That phrase illustrates the attitude of the Savior towards lost humanity.
Jesus is not surprised by the need for a person, even an outwardly �good� person, to have a spiritual rejuvenation in his heart. Jesus understands that all people are lost and on their way to an eternity of despair if they do not accept the salvation which He, alone, has come to offer. It was this realization, and this need, which prompted Him to come into this world with the express purpose of enduring the indignity and pain of the cross so that He might be the Savior of all who would call upon Him.
Jesus saw Nathanael as a person.
Quite often preachers will begin to deal with �demographic groups.� The natural tendency of the �professional� is to be professional. �If we can appeal to this group,� we tend to reason, �then we will begin to reach others.�
At one point in my life I worked as a telephone solicitor. (What were all those �boo� and �shame on you� that I just heard!?) We were taught to be pleased when someone �hung up� on us. �This is a numbers game. The more people you call, the more people you will be able to sell on our product. The �hang up� wasn�t going to buy; it was good to get him out of the way quickly.� We were taught this. People weren�t people; they were potential clients.
That may not be the reasoning of many pastors. But, the idea that �this is a numbers game� is part of their reasoning. Anything, it is reasoned, which will reach a larger number is a good thing because it will mean more clients, or �souls won to the Lord.�
There is some validity to that reasoning. But, too often we extrapolate that reasoning to an extreme which causes us to bypass the spiritual imperatives involved. We are not running a �business,� although we should be as competent as one who is running a business. We are operating on a spiritual battlefield. We are searching for the souls, one at a time, of humanity. To do this rightly we must employ spiritual principles in our outreach.
When we seek to make our churches so �user friendly� that they become nearly indistinguishable from the world about us, we are generally doing so at the expense of spreading the truth that God has called us from this world of sin and into a spiritual walk with Him. We ought to be different from the world. We are not of the world!
In that light we must remember that each person is unique. Each person needs prayer. Each person needs to be introduced, individually, to the Lord. Even in a great city wide crusade, when thousands may be responding at the same time, this is the way Jesus views these people. They are not a group. They are many unique individuals.
Jesus deals with the individual. So ought we to do so.
Jesus saw Nathanael as a picture. Nathanael was a picture of a man who needed salvation. Nathanael was a man who needed instruction in the walk of the faith. Nathanael was a man who would need to instruct others to walk in the light of spiritual realities.
Jesus didn�t see Nathanael as just another person coming down the road. He saw Nathanael as a special individual. Jesus saw Nathanael as a unique individual with special skills and weakness�. Jesus saw Nathanael was a man who was loved by the Savior. The same could be said of each of us. Jesus views each of us as �Nathanael�s� in this sense. We are all special to Him.
Nathanael needed salvation. That is the bedrock, the foundation, of the Christian experience. We need to see persons born into the kingdom of God. But, our work with that person does not end at that point of his conversion. We also need to teach, and train, the new Christian to walk in the new life to which he has come.
My two-year-old grandson is about to enter upon �potty training.� He sees no need for this. He has been living with diapers for all of his life. He is comfortable in that situation. But, if he is to grow as a person he will need to acquire this new skill.
The new Christian may be comfortable in his old habits and surroundings. The Spirit will guide him. But, the Spirit has also called us to take part of the responsibility of training this new convert in the things of God.
This new convert should also graduate to become a mentor to others who are embarking upon the walk with Christ. As he grows, so should his own up to his responsibility to impart to others that which he has received.
Jesus saw Nathanael as a possibility. Jesus knew what Nathanael could accomplish if he would be yield himself to the tutelage of the Master. Most of us have the mistaken idea that we are too unlearned, or unworthy, to do anything for Jesus. Jesus has offered to empower us to do more than we can do - when we yield ourselves to be vessels of His power.
Some of us are of the opinion that Jesus is quite lucky to have us �on board.� We are special and can do great things for Him; or so we seem to think. Folks, I ain�t special. You ain�t special. We ain�t special. He Who is special is the Lord of Glory who will energize our lives if we let Him do so. Until we are willing to submit ourselves to Him, we will accomplish nothing in the spiritual theater of operations.
Notice, also, the gait of the sinner. �...Nathanael coming to him...�
The ascent of Nathanael was not respected. Walking up the road toward Jesus did not mean that Nathanael was a follower of Jesus. This just meant that Nathanael was interested in seeing what
�all the shouting� was about.
Coming to church does not make one a Christian. The old joke goes that if coming to church made a man a Christian, then going to work on an assembly line would make one a refrigerator. It don�t work that way!
Don�t misunderstand. Going to church is a good thing. But that does not save. I have been to quite a few County/Western concerts. I worked for several years for a promotion company that put on shows throughout Illinois. I am not even close to being a musician. Those who have heard my efforts at vocalization during church services would heartily agree!
Going to church will not save a soul. It is the act of coming to Jesus, in faith believing, accepting His sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary as the complete means of ones salvation, this will save a person. Until a person has accepted Jesus as his Savior he is still a sinner - even if he enjoys the idea of sitting in a pew for an hour on Sunday mornings!
Still, notice that the avenue was not restricted. It was a public road upon which Nathanael was traveling as he came to meet the Savior. Anyone could walk that road. They could be good, bad, or even ugly, and still walk that road.
The same is true in respect to coming to the Savior. Anyone can come to Him. Race is not a factor. The only race consideration of Jesus if that of His love for the human race! Wealth is not a factor. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the Psalmist tells us. God is not impressed by the contents of our wallet. He is interested in the position of our hearts toward Him, not in our position among men. It is a truism that the poor in wealth are often the richest in spirit!
Also, the approach was not rejected. One night, during my pizza delivery phase, I pulled my truck up in front of a house to deliver their pizza. A policeman stopped behind me and said that I couldn�t part there. I said, �But, it�s two in the morning. There is no traffic. I�m only here for less than five minutes to make a delivery.�
He persisted that I wasn�t welcome to park on �his� street. Since this particular house had no driveway, I was forced to block another person�s drive while I delivered to my customer.
Was the policeman out of line? I believe so. Other delivery trucks could park in restricted areas for much longer - even blocking traffic. There was no traffic for me to block. If there had been traffic there were still well over two lanes for them to traverse. But, the policeman had the authority to block my access.
He also had the will to display that authority!
There are people like that. Some do it in church settings. One day I was sitting in a service when a rather disheveled young man came in and sat beside me. I didn�t have too look to notice him. My olfactory senses may not be the best; they didn�t have to be. He carried the odor of a man who had imbibed too much alcohol and had not showered for several days.
I was very proud of the people of this church. They welcomed this young man. He was invited to a �coffee� that the members were having after church. He was treated with complete respect.
That is the way we ought to behave. We have no right to stand between others and their opportunity to hear the Words of God and experience the joy of salvation.
A person in the world, before he comes to Jesus, will only understand the character of Jesus from those who claim to already know the Savior. What sort of display are you offering of your Savior? Is your Savior seen as a hateful Being Who attacks others; or as the Loving God Who calls all to repentance?
Finally, we notice the gift of salvation. �...and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!�
The prophecy was not belligerent.
We have a mistaken view of the word, �prophecy.� Although it can be the revealing of thing that is to come to pass, the true meaning of the word is to give forth the Words of God.
Note how Jesus spoke to Nathanael. Nathanael was complimented. In the verse just before our text verse we see that Nathanael had used a very derogatory reference to the people of the area from which he believed that Jesus had come.
Jesus did not respond with any rancor. Jesus was polite and direct.
We must remember that Jesus would have known what Nathanael had said. As we read further in this first chapter of John we see that Jesus knew where Nathanael had been sitting when Philip first approached him.
We can�t hide things from Jesus. He even knows what is in our hearts. My granddaughter has come up with a new ploy. Whenever she is disciplined, she will say, �But, I love you.� She somehow believes that this will make whatever it is that she has done be forgotten.
Jesus knows when you say things, but mean other things. Jesus knows the real motivations of your actions. When we go out to �witness� to someone with the heart purpose of showing our superiority, Jesus knows! When we downgrade others as less than ourselves, Jesus knows. When we feel that we are special in our own selves, Jesus knows.
We need to bring ourselves not just under subjection to Jesus, we need to bring ourselves under his banner of love to the world. If we are truly Christians we are followers of Him. So, let�s follow His path of love and care for those who need His salvation.
The presentation of Jesus was not begrudging. Jesus was happy to present Himself to Nathanael. Jesus did not berate Nathanael for his attitude. Jesus welcomed Nathanael with a display of His Own divinity and righteousness. Jesus displayed a love that told Nathanael that he was accepted as he was. Nathanael only needed to accept the Lordship of Jesus to make himself even better than he believed himself to be.
The pronouncement was not beyond reach. Jesus didn�t make it hard for Nathanael to follow Him. Jesus made it easy.
Jesus does the same for you, as well. Jesus doesn�t ask that you learn a liturgy of church dogma. Jesus doesn�t ask that you perform some superhuman feat of penance. Jesus doesn�t ask that you change your nature from sinner to saint without His assistance.
Jesus just asks that you accept, freely, the salvation He offers. He went to the cross to die in time so that you might live in eternity.
Accept Him as your Savior.
Do it today!