An unexpected blessing!

John 1:45-50

King James Version

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.

46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48 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.

49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

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.

Today, my family and I were going through our daily activities when the mail arrived. There was a card in the mail from a dear loved one. What a blessing! I definitely was not expecting this. An unexpected blessing is always a welcome change. It's like a cool drink of water in a desert place!

It made me think of another unexpected blessing.

Nathanael was a good man. A respected man. One who apparently was well versed in the law and the scriptures. He also was a man of keen insight and quick wit.  

How do we know this? 

When his dear friend Philip came to him (you always go to your closest friends and loved ones first when you have good news, right?) claiming to have found the Messiah, Philip told him the Messiah's name: Jesus of Nazareth. 

Immediately, Philip searches his memory of the scriptures and thinks, "Messiah? From Nazareth?" His scriptural quip is basically saying, "Please show me any scripture for the Messiah coming out of Nazareth. I'd love to see this!" 

You can almost hear the wry tone of voice!

Rather than engage in a scriptural debate, Philip simply says, "Come and See!"

How many more people could be won to the Lord if, rather than engaging them in trying to win the debate with them, we'd simply say, "come and see this Jesus I'm talking about!" 

Look at what he's done in my life! Look at how he works in our church! Look at his healings! See his deliverance! Feel his love! Yes, people can argue scripture, but they cannot argue your testimony, 

If we can get them into the presence of Jesus, and they can "Taste and see" how good he is, then they'll be open to hearing more about the scriptures. 

So, Nathanael follows Philip to where Jesus was. Truly, Nathanael was skeptical, but he couldn't help but feel some of the hopeful excitement and optimism that Philip most definitely had. You can almost see Philip, much like a young boy, dragging Nathanael behind him to meet Jesus! 

Then, Jesus does the most amazing thing. He didn't introduce himself to Nathanael. There was no formal, "Hello, I'm Jesus. And who are you?" 

Rather, Jesus speaks to Nathanael and says, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!" It's as if Nathanael were an honored guest and Jesus was announcing him to the world. In fact, what Jesus actually said about him was, "INSIDE of Nathanael, there is NO subtlety, NO Deceit, and NO trickery of any kind!"

WOW!

How many men and women do you know that could have that statement said about them? 

May we all strive for that! No manipulation and no decoys. In other words, as it says in Matthew 5:37, "Let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

Nathanael is so taken back he asks Jesus, "how do you know me?" He's shocked. Jesus has talked to him as if he's a lifelong friend. He's confused.

But Jesus doesn't let him remain confused. Just as with us, he only allows our confusion to last for so long before he speaks his word into our confusion and rolls back the fog with his light. 

"Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee."

We're not told how far Philip and Nathanael had to go to see Jesus, but evidently, it was not from a nearby place that they traveled. Nathanael searched his mind and tried to remember seeing Jesus and his men pass by him while he relaxed under the fig tree. He knew that, even though he knew no one else, he did know Philip. He would've remembered seeing Philip and this small band passing by him. 

The implications of Jesus's words hit Nathanael like a ton of bricks. Jesus had not physically been there! YET, he had seen Nathanael there. He had known Nathanaels's character without knowing him physically! ONLY GOD COULD DO THIS!

He fell to his knees and cried out to Jesus, "Rabbi, thou art the son of God. Thou art the King of Israel!"

By calling Jesus Rabbi, he was offering to submit himself totally to Jesus. By calling Jesus the son of God and the King of Israel, he was recognizing Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! 

How many people today are willing to do that? 

Notice Jesus's response though: 

"Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these."

I didn't have to even do a miracle. All I had to do was reveal that I foreknew you and you believe? Hold on, baby! You ain't seen nothing yet!

Remember, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:" (John 6:44a)?

Here is a perfect example. Nathanael had no idea who Jesus was. This was before Jesus was famous. Yet, before Jesus was even a thought in Nathanael's mind and before Nathanael could submit himself to Jesus, Jesus was already watching and calling Nathanael. 

Just like Israel of old, we don't choose God. God chooses us. We don't just arbitrarily decide one day to look into the things of God and find him. God begins little by little, day by day, to call out to our souls. 

And if we respond to his calling, what a wonderfully unexpected blessing we receive!