Daily Lesson for January 11, 2018

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from John chapter 1 verses 46 through 51:

46Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’48Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’49Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ 50Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ 51And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

And the Scripture said that in those latter days young men would see visions.

Apparently that meant even young skeptics.

Nathanael is indeed a skeptic. Others from his little village of Bethsaida have gone out to see the prophet John in the wilderness. They heard John speak of this Jesus. They followed him to see where he was staying. Now, they seek others to come and follow also. “We have found him,” they say, “the one prophesied — Jesus of Nazareth.”

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asks.

“Come and see,” his friend says. 

And so it begins — not with an answer but with a question, with a doubt. He comes to Jesus with a lot of unanswered questions. He comes to Jesus not first as a believer but as a skeptic, a doubter. 

And there is Jesus wide open. “Here is a man in whom there is no guile.”  In other words, “Here is a man who is at least honest about his questions. I like honesty. I respect an honest doubter.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asks. 

“I saw you under the fig tree.”

We have heard of fig trees before. A fig tree was the third tree mentioned in the Garden. It is the Tree of Hiding. It was the tree from which Adam and Eve pulled leaves to hide themselves. 

Jesus has seen Nathanael hiding under the fig tree. He knows his skepticism is a form of hiding. He knows his sarcasm is a protest of his insecurity. Jesus knows that Nathanael is afraid also. Jesus knows that like his ancestors Adam and Eve Nathanael is afraid of being found out. Jesus knows Nathanael.

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asks. 

“Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?” Jesus asks. “You will see greater things than these.”

What Jesus sees in Nathanael he will open Nathanael’s eyes to see also. Jesus shall not be the only one who will see.  Nathanael will see. He will see these things and many more. 

Later in the story Jesus will open the blind man’s eyes. At Bethsaida he will take the blind man outside his village and open his eyes. “I see men walking around like trees,” the man will say (Mark 8:23-25).  And so, he will begin to come to see also. He will see himself and others for as they are and also, miraculously, then for what they ought to be. 

The blind sees.  The skeptic sees. Jesus opens the eyes of the blind man. Jesus opens Nathanael’s heart. 

And it all begins with a question: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

And an invitation: “Come and see.”