NATHANAEL #1

John 1:43-51

By David J. Riggs

Intro.
   A. In the first chapter of the book John it is revealed that the  
      Word (the great, eternal One) became flesh and dwelt among men.
   B. When we read further in the book of John, we see that this     
      great eternal One testified of Himself as to who He was.
      1. There were people who heard Him and saw what He did,
         who also bore witness regarding Him.
      2. One such witness in the book of John is a disciple, and     
         later an apostle, named Nathanael.
      3. In a two-part study, we want to examine what's revealed
         regarding Nathanael as shown in John 1:43-51.

I. LET'S EXAMINE THIS MAN, NATHANAEL, VERY CLOSELY.
   A. His name "Nathanael" means "God is giver" or "gift of God."
      1. In Hebrew names, if you see "el" at the end, as in          
         Nathanael, it means "God" in every case.
      2. Israel means "strives God" or "God strives."
   B. Nathanael is the Hebrew word, but the Greek word is
      "Theodore."
      1. "Theodore" is the same word "God is giver" or "gift of
         God."
      2. In a very special way, Nathanael will live up to his name.
   C. It is thought by all scholars that Nathanael also had the name
      "Bartholomew" and he is so listed, after Philip, in the lists  
      of the twelve given in the gospels. Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19;
      Luke 6:14-16

II. JESUS COMMENDS NATHANAEL. John 1:47-50
   A. Can you imagine standing there that day and have Jesus saying
      something good about you?
      1. Won't it be wonderful when we stand before Jesus face-to-
         face and have Him say something good about us.
         a. All of us earnestly desire Jesus say to us in that great
            day. Matt. 25:21
         b. In that day, Jesus' commendation will be all that
            matters.
   B. When the Lord was on the earth, He not only commended certain
      individuals, but He often rebuked people.
      1. When they were not doing right, or not having the right kind
         of thoughts, Jesus rebuked them.
         a. However, He also took time to commend those people
            who were doing the right things.
      2. As preachers and teachers of the word, we find ourselves
         needing balance in that kind of thing.
         a. We are commanded to rebuke and, of course, this is by
            far the hardest to do. 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 2:15; 1 Tim.
            5:20
         b. It is easy to commend, and that's why many people
            today want to commend only.
            (1) Even when we commend, we must be careful not to
                use flattery. Job 32:21-22

III. A FEW GOOD MEN.
   A. When Jesus was on earth, He was looking for, as the Marines
      would say, "a few good men."
   B. The expression "a few good men" comes from a time when three
      military recruiters were given opportunity to address high      
      school seniors. Each recruiter, representing the Army, Navy,   
      and Marines, was given fifteen minutes to speak. The Army and   
      Navy recruiters got carried away, so when it came time for the 
      Marine to speak, he had just two minutes. He walked to the     
      podium and said, "the marines are looking for a few good men. I
      doubt whether any of you in this room could hack it in the     
      Marines, but if there are a few good men here, I want to see   
      you in the dining hall when we are dismissed." He then took his
      seat.
      1. Later, when he arrived in the dining hall, he was greeted by
         a large number of students who were interested in becoming
         Marines.
      2. Likewise, Jesus appeals to the heroic dimension in every
         heart, and is looking for "a few good men." Let us deny
         ourselves, willingly take up our crosses, and follow Him. 
   C. In that day, Jesus wanted a very special kind of man to be His
      own ordained apostle.
      1. His choice was very serious to him. Before he made his
         choice, He prayed all night. Luke 4:12-16
   D. Nathanael becomes one of those special men that Jesus chose.
      1. Jesus was looking for Nathanael, but Nathanael wasn't
         looking for Him.
         a. Nathanael was just minding his own business, so to
            speak, and one day Philip comes and taps him on the
            shoulder and says, "Guess what we have found!" John
            1:45
         b. Philip, along with Andrew and Peter before him, had
            made the greatest discovery of all.
         c. For centuries, the Jew had looked forward, with great
            anticipation, to this great One, the Messiah, who would
            come, and God chose that particular time in history to
            bring the Word, His only begotten Son, into the world.
            (1) Even the Samaritans were looking for the Christ.
                John 4:25
         d. You can imagine the excitement of those men who made
            this discovery that Jesus was the Messiah.
         e. About 500 years ago, Columbus discovered America.
            Lewis and Clark discovered the immense acreage of the
            Northwest territory. Consider the discovery of
            electricity. Consider the many discoveries which have
            been made in the medical world. 
            (1) We sent men to the moon, and they discovered that
                the moon is not made of cheese after all, and there
                is really no "man in the moon."
         f. However, there is no other discovery in history that, in
            anyway, compares with the one announced in our text.
         g. Philip and Nathanael made the greatest discovery of all.
            They discovered the Christ. This is the greatest
            discovery that anyone can make.
      2. We see Philip is appealing to Scripture. John 1:45.
         a. Moses and the prophets wrote of the coming Messiah,
            and Philip refers to those O.T. Scriptures and identifies
            Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of them.
         b. This is what Paul did, and is what we must do. Acts
            17:1-3
            (1) To help people discover Jesus, we can't take them
                by the hand and go across to the holy land and walk
                in the places where Jesus walked.
            (2) They can't find Jesus that way. They can only find
                Jesus in the Scriptures - the O.T. Scriptures and the
                N.T. Scriptures.
            (3) Our children's Bible classes are for the purpose of
                teaching our children to discover Jesus Christ.
            (4) They find Jesus the way that we did - by studying
                the Scriptures. We study the O.T. We study the
                N.T. with the purpose of helping people to discover
                Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. That's what
                Philip did and that's what we need to do.
            (5) Hopefully, through our preaching, people will
                discover Jesus Christ, and who He is, and what He
                wants us to do, and what He wants us to be.
            (6) That we might become better acquainted with our
                Lord who died for us.
      3. And so Philip says (vs. 45), and it is Jesus of Nazareth.
         a. Thus, Philip is saying, "I know who He is." God's
            Messiah is Jesus, and he is from the town of Nazareth.
   E. Consider Nathanael's reply. John 1:46
      1. There are two ways to look at this.
         a. Nathanael may have had in mind the kind of thing that
            we often do today. In many communities, they have a
            rival town. This is typical of human behavior.
            (1) People would say, "the last place on earth I would
                like to raise a family would be Nazareth."
            (2) It may be that this is Nathanael's reply.
         b. Since Nathanael was a god-fearing man and knew what
            the Scriptures taught, he may be asking, "The Messiah
            from Nazareth?"
            (1) In other words, "I don't recall any passages of
                Scripture that connected the Messiah with
                Nazareth.
            (2) Can "the good thing" or  "any good thing" with
                regard to God and His ways come from Nazareth?
                Bethlehem was said to be the place of His birth, but
                I don't know anything about Nazareth
            (3) I don't know which one of those vantage points
                that Nathanael was approaching this matter from,
                but the fact still remains that he was skeptical.
      2. Nathanael's skepticism did not discourage Philip. And it
         certainly did not make Jesus unhappy with him, or cause
         Jesus to rebuke him.
         a. Thus, it not wrong to be skeptical.
            (1) We know there are certain skeptics in the sense that
                they don't believe anything - except what they want
                to believe.
            (2) And, on the other extreme, there are people who
                believe everything. They believe everything they
                hear, whether they read it in the newspaper or
                books, or hear it in the news media.
         b. Somewhere in between is a good healthy skepticism. We
            are believers, but we don't believe everything we hear.
         c. People are skeptical about TV evangelists. It would be
            good if they were also skeptical about the preachers or
            pastors in their own local congregations.
            (1) In the book The Day America Told the Truth, by
                James Patterson and Peter Kim, it is reported that
                when a national survey asked respondents to rank
                various professions for their honesty and integrity,
                TV evangelists came out almost at the very bottom,
                below lawyers, politicians, car salesmen, and even
                prostitutes. Out of the seventy-three occupations
                compared in the integrity rating, only two ended up
                lower on the scale than TV evangelists: organized
                crime bosses and drug dealers.
      3. If we believe everything we hear, we become gullible, and
         will accept some things we should not. 1 John 4:1
         a. We are taught to have a healthy dose of skepticism lest
            we be lead away by the cunning craftiness of man. Eph.
            4:14; Col. 2:8
         b. The only thing we should believe, in matters which
            concern the soul, is that which comes from God - the
            word of God. Matt. 21:23-27
            (1) In other words, if it truly comes from God, let us
                believe it and follow it. 
            (2) On the other hand, if it comes from any other
                source, let us reject it.

Concl.
   A. Notice that Philip invites Nathanael to "Come an see." And
      Nathanael did that very thing.
      1. Let us take the time to look and see.
      2. If we will not listen, if we will not investigate, there is 
         no hope for us. Luke 8:15
      3. We admire Nathanael who did "go and see," and who later
         became a great disciple of Christ.
   B. We will continue our studying regarding Nathanael in our next
      lesson.