The Book of John - 12
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction - As we close out chapter 1, we are told of Nathanael’s encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nathanael is believed by many to be the man Bartholomew.
This is evidenced by two main thoughts.
Bartholomew is never mentioned by John.
Bartholomew appears in Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18 and Luke 6:14 in the list of the apostles.
Bartholomew is listed coupled with Philip.
Lastly, if you look at the construction of the name Bar-tholomew (Tholomai/Tolomai- family name?), it would seem to indicate that this is the family name of Nathanael. Much the same we we saw for Simon Barjona.
Nonetheless, we have this very significant account given to us.
Nathanael represents for you and I a plain trustworthy man.
The Lord Jesus Christ exclaims of him in verse 47, “...Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”
The word guile used here is a little bit different than the word lie, but it is related to lying. It means to trick or to decoy.
And so the sense is that the Lord is stating that Nathanael says what he means and means what he says.
Somewhat like Simon Peter, we see that Nathanael did not pretend concerning his thoughts when Philip approached him about Jesus of Nazareth.
Having no guile is a quality that ought to be characteristic of a Christian.
Albert Barnes said it this way, “He is really what he professes to be - a Jew, a descendant of the patriarch Jacob, fearing and serving God. He makes no profession which he does not live up to.”
The Lord is not stating that Nathanael is right in his belief, or that he is without sin, but rather that Nathanael is plain and truthful.
We are to not live a life of decoys or trickery, but we are to be Christians of character.
Just recently this was really brought home to me in the verse in Proverbs 11:1 “1 A false balance is abomination to the Lord: But a just weight is his delight.”
Two verses later it states, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”
The Bible tells us in verse 45, “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.”
I find it very interesting how it is that Philip present the Lord Jesus Christ to Nathanael. He points Nathanael to an Old Testament passage. His declaration is different than Andrew’s presentation was to Simon. (John 1:41)
It just reminds me of how fluid and different are the ways in which we deal with people when telling them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philip obviously knew Nathanael and dealt with him based upon what he knew about Nathanael.
Nathanael’s first response was one of skepticism.
But he was truthful in his response. He said what he believed.
v46 “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
John Philips comments on this perception of the day and states, “Because of its proximity to gentile cities and its mixture of gentile population, its backwoods manners, general biblical illiteracy and lack of sophistication, and the coarseness of its dialect, the people of Judea held Galilee in low esteem.
One of the lessons that you and I can glean from this statement is that the world’s fads and opinions do not change truth.
The truth is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
The truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ did come from the town of Nazareth.
The truth was that there were prophets that came from that northern area contrary to popular opinion.
We constantly reinforce in Hampton Roads School of the Bible, that Christian need to know what they believe, but what they believe needs to be rooted in the Word of God.
There may be differences of opinion amongst men on interpretation, but that does not change truth.
And I would say that there are certainly subjects spelled out very plainly in God’s Word that are not up for debate.
God has given us His Word which is truth.
You see our Adversary the Devil is full of lies and the Father of it (John 8:44), but he is also full of guile or trickery. (Acts 13:10, II Corinthians 11:3)
Philip’s answer once again was one of instruction for us. His answer is simple and direct, “Come and see...”
Albert Barnes again states, “He [Philip] did not sit down to reason with him, or speculate about the possibility that a good thing could come from Nazareth; but he asked him to go and examine for himself, to see the Lord Jesus, to hear him converse, to lay aside his prejudice, and to judge from a fair and candid personal inquiry.”
When we come to verse 47, we once again are confronted with this blessed truth that the Lord saw Nathanael.
But something more significant is introduced to us as well, and that is the Lord had His eye on Nathanael before Philip found him.
It is hard for us sometimes to grasp that God doesn't just see the big picture, but His eyes are upon us.
We are introduced to the fact also that the Lord did not just see the outward appearance of Nathanael under the fig tree, but He knew what was in Philip as well.
We just began our two classes on Anthropology in HRSOTB.
There are three aspects presented at the very beginning of that study of doctrine concerning man that our wonderful.
We discover that God minds us.
Psalm 8:4 “4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
For me anyways it doesn’t make sense that God would mind me, but yet He does. That is precious. David was exclaiming the same thing. His question is one of amazement.
Secondly, God knows our frame.
Psalm 103:13-15 “13 Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass: As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.”
Our physical construction, which He has made by the way, He knows all about it. He knows our limitations, He knows our frailties.
But then we discover this in John 2.
God knows what is in us.
John 2:23-25 “23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
And so, as we put all of this together, we understand that God not only knows all about me, the internal and the external, but that He is mindful of me as well.
Now back in our text, we see the Lord’s declaration to Nathanael as He approaches.
v47 “Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
What do you think the Lord’s intent was by saying this to Nathanael and those around Him?
The phrase here seems to teach us many things.
First, we are thrust back to the roots of the Israelite people.
You’ll remember the Patriarch Jacob or as He is named by the Lord later Israel --- a prince with God.
Jacob was a man full of guile until the Lord broke him at Jabbok.
He tricked his brother, He tricked his father, He tricked his uncle.
Jacob was the trickster, he was the supplanter. And the Lord seems to be arousing this contrast by saying, Here is one that is of Israel and not Jacob.
Secondly, we see again the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Light.
Here Nathanael discovered that the Lord knew all about him.
This is what transpires when someone encounters the Lord.
There is no way to trick the Lord. We are exposed, we are shown who we are and our need.
This is the revealing power of the true Light.
Thirdly, we see that the Lord’s intentions are made manifest.
God is not in the business of tricking us. He reveals the truth to us and in Him is no variableness nor shadow of turning.
Fourth, I want you to see that God and His Word does the exposing work in the life of an individual.
The best thing you can do is expose them to God’s Word.
He discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart, and we quickly discover often that we are ill equipped to do so.
Notice with me in verse 48 Nathanael’s response.
“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.”
This is interesting, if it was you or I, we would present a false humility.
We would say, oh no I am not such a person as this. Nathanael did not do this, He wanted to know how it was that the Lord knew all about Him.
There is something inexplicable about the convicting power of God’s Spirit and His Word in our lives.
There is something inexplicable when God deals with us.
We see in full color the eyes of Nathanael understanding being opened.
The Lord Jesus Christ reveals His deity to Nathanael, who’s name by the way means “gift of God.”
The Lord tells him, v48 “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”
The fig tree is mentioned much in the Scriptures.
The fig tree was held in high regard and was a staple for the ancient Mediterranean world since earliest times.
They can reach heights of 10–20 ft.
The trees themselves can produce two sometimes three crops in a year.
Fruit could be found normally about ten months out of the year. There was the first ripe figs in June, the matured crop in August and oftentimes a small winter crop that remained until spring.
Interestingly enough it is the first named fruit tree mentioned in the OT (Genesis 3:7)
Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together...
It is described in Isaiah 28:4 as being eaten directly off of the tree. (You’ll remember how it is the Lord cursed the fig tree that had no fruit on it in Mark 11:12-14)
It is generally used as reference to peace, prosperity and God’s blessings. (Mic. 4:4; 1 Kgs. 4:25; Hag. 2:19; Zech. 3:10; 1 Macc. 14:12; cf. 2 Kgs. 18:31; Isa. 36:16; Joel 2:22)
Charles W. Hedrick, “Fig Tree,” ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 461.
Fig trees and other places as such, trees that provided shade and seclusion were used as places of contemplation and prayer.
It is not too far a stretch to think that Nathanael could have been very well contemplating the Scriptures and the story of Jacob and what we call Jacob’s ladder based on the Lord’s response in verses 50-51.
One Bible expositor said this, “It is evident that it was from something that had occurred under the fig-tree that Jesus judged of his character. What that was is not recorded. It is not improbable that Nathanael was accustomed to retire to the shade of a certain tree, perhaps in his garden or in a grove, for the purpose of meditation and prayer.”
We gather this whole assessment from the truth that our God does nothing arbitrarily.
There is purpose in all that He says and all that He does.
Nathanael recognized that this was something only the Son of God was capable of.
Nathanael we see was stricken by this, and declares his faith in the Lord.
Verse 49 tells us of this, “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”
Remember in this time period this was a statement that was claiming equality with God the Father.
To claim the father’s name, meant the authority, power and right of the family.
John Philips said this, “Nathanael had made what modern physicists would call the quantum leap. In one burst of revelation he had seen a man from Nazareth as God manifest in the flesh.”
At this the Lord acknowledges His faith.
“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.”
In a nutshell the Lord is telling this man, this is just the beginning. Go back to the Old Testament and look at the life of Jacob who would be Israel, go back and marvel at what He saw…
It is interesting how the world sees true Christians. They are fools. They are weak. They are deceived and constrained.
They will scoff at how it is we speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But we look at Jesus and see our Lord and our Savior. We look at Jesus and see that He is Immanuel God with us. We look at the Lord Jesus Christ and we behold Him and everything makes sense.
Nathanael will see greater things than these. Once he had received Jesus, he was now in a position for far greater revelation of God.