NATHANAEL #2
John 1:43-51
By David J. Riggs
Intro.
A. In this lesson we continue our study regarding Nathanael.
B. In our last lesson we saw Philip coming to Nathanael and
stating that he had found the Messiah. John 1:45
1. We talked about how great this discovery was.
2. We also mentioned that this discovery must be made through
the Scriptures.
C. We also saw how Nathanael was skeptical. John 1:46
1. We emphasized how true believers should have a healthy
skepticism.
2. If we believe everything we hear, we will become gullible
and will accept error.
3. In matters of faith and practice we need to test everything
by the Scriptures.
D. Let us continue our study, beginning with verse 47 of John 1.
I. AN ISRAELITE INDEED.
A. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of Him - John 1:47.
1. Thus, Jesus is saying that Nathanael is the kind of person
he ought to be.
a. Here is a spiritually minded man, a child of God; one
who loves God and is seeking to serve God, and is
ready to believe the truth.
b. Here is a man who is not just a child of God in name
only.
c. Consider Rom. 2:28-29 where Paul talked about people
who were Jews in the flesh but were not Jews in the
spirit.
d. John the baptist said that God could raise up sons to
Abraham from stones if He so desired. Matt. 3:8-9
2. Jesus said of Nathanael that he was an Israelite indeed in
whom was no guile or deceit.
a. Jesus looked at him and said, "Here is a man who is true
and wholesome, a man who is a child of God indeed, in
whom there is no hypocrisy."
b. Jesus looked at other people and said, "You
hypocrites." Matt. 23:27-28
(1) Jesus could see through their hypocrisy, but He
could also see, as in the case of Nathanael, honesty
and sincerity.
c. Just as there were a lot of hypocrites back then, there
are a lot of hypocrites today.
d. Andrea Miller, in her book, The Single Woman, wrote
an interesting confession that describes a modern-day
hypocrite. She said that she realized she was, in reality
living several lives. One was that of a young executive
in a company, wearing, professional clothes that made her
look like a business woman. In the evenings, and on the
weekends, she redid her hair and dressed to acquire the
"swinging singles" look. She would go to the singles'
bars, and do the things the swinging singles did.
However, when she would write home to her parents
she took on another personality. To them, she was still
that good little girl, being nice, and working hard.
(Adapted from The Single Woman by Andrea Miller)
II. NATHANAEL'S RESPONSE.
A. Nathanael's response is very interesting. John 1:48a
1. Nathanael said, "How do you know me?" "How do you
know this about me?"
2. Nathanael gave an interesting response.
a. Most of us would be inclined to respond to a
compliment about us: "Behold a person in whom there
is no guile, who is completely sincere and honest," I
appreciate your thoughts, but I'm not sure that I'm
worthy of that kind of commendation; I really don't feel
like that's a true assessment of me; I have so many
faults."
b. But, Nathanael didn't reply in that fashion. He said,
"How do you know this about me?" "I've never met
you, how do you know my inward being?"
3. Nathanael in effect was saying, "That's right." Jesus has
made an assessment of his character, and he knew it to be
the truth.
a. We make the point that when we are sincerely and
deeply committed to serving God, we will know it.
Rom. 8:16
b. We can flip the coin over. When we are not committed
to God, we know it.
(1) We know when we are not being faithful, when we
are not the kind of person we should be.
(2) It doesn't take some special revelation, as a light
from heaven knocking us to the ground, for us to
know our standing before God.
(3) We might be able to hide our true character from
others, but we can't hide it from God and from
ourselves.
(4) Nathanael knew what kind of person he was.
III. JESUS' RESPONSE TO NATHANAEL'S QUESTION. John 1:48
A. What was Nathanael doing under the fig tree?
1. Fig trees have a lot of foliage and often form a canopy that
reaches to the ground. One can go under that canopy and be
hidden from others.
2. Whatever Nathanael was doing under the fig tree, it was in
association with the kind of character he had.
3. Evidently, Nathanael was either meditating or praying under
a fig tree. He was privately communing with God, and Jesus
knew it.
B. Based upon that statement that Jesus made, Nathanael
immediately said - John 1:49.
1. He was convinced that this Jesus could not have known that
he was under the fig tree unless He was divine, and that's
what convinced him.
2. Converts are made in the same fashion today. One must hear
the testimony, and either believe it or not believe it.
a. If one believes it in the true sense, he acts upon it; if
he doesn't believe it, he don't respond, and God judges
accordingly.
C. Nathanael was an easy convert, to say the least.
1. Nathanael was a skeptic, but as soon as he saw the evidence,
he immediately made his confession.
2. On the basis of just one statement "I saw you under the fig
tree," he was converted.
3. I wish we could make converts that easily.
4. Often, we work and work and work with people and still
they won't respond.
a. Many people today are like those rulers who would not
confess Christ. John 12:42-43
5. Truly, we need more people like Nathanael.
a. On the basis of the evidence, he immediately gave
reverential praise to the Son of God.
D. The great confession that Nathanael made, is the one that all
of us must make - that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the
living God. Rom. 10:9-10
1. Let us remember our confession every day, and continue to
act upon it. 1 Tim. 6:12-14; Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23
IV. JESUS IS THE LADDER BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH.
A. Jesus said to Him - John 1:50.
1. All Jesus did was mention what Nathanael was doing in
private, but think of all the great miracles that he would
see - healing the blind, causing the mute to speak, healing
scores of people with various diseases, calming of the
storm, raising the dead, and so forth.
2. Those miracles had a profound effect upon those disciples.
Mark 4:35-41
B. And, all of those miracles would point to what Jesus said in
John 1:51
1. This is an allusion to the time in Gen. 28 when Jacob fell
asleep and he saw a vision of a ladder which reached from
earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it.
2. One of the things God said on that occasion was, "And in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."
a. This was referring to the coming of the Messiah, the
Christ, in which heaven would have its access to man.
3. Jesus said, "You will see angels ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man."
a. Jesus, as the ladder, becomes the mediator between
heaven and earth.
b. In Jesus, we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand. Rom. 5:1-2
4. Thus, there is great and wonderful glory which comes in
association with Jesus Christ.
a. Those early disciples would come to see this through the
eye of faith, and we have come to see the same.
5. Jesus used the term "Son of Man" on this occasion.
a. There are about 80 times that Jesus referred to Himself
as the "Son of man."
(1) This was one of those terms used of the Messiah.
Dan. 7:13-14
b. The term "Son of Man" refers to the human side of the
Messiah.
(1) Jesus being both the "Son of God" and the "Son of
man" better qualifies Him as our mediator and High
Priest. Heb. 2:17-18
Concl.
A. As Jesus knew everything about Nathanael, He knows us.
1. He knows what kind of person we really are.
2. He knows where we are, what we are saying and doing at all
times.
B. When we believe and confess what Nathanael believed and
confessed (that Jesus Christ is the Son of God), heaven will be
opened to us.
1. Through Christ, we now have access into heaven by prayer,
and in the end, we will have a glorious entrance into heaven
itself.
C. Let us remember our confession every day and continue to act
upon it.