John 1:43-51 (NRSV)
Read John 1:43-51 on biblegateway.com
Verse 43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Verse 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Verse 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Verse 46Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Verse 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Verse 48Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Verse 49Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Verse 50Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." Verse 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."
Devotion
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
It is interesting that the one asking this is Nathaniel. Who is he to be judging what might be important or noteworthy? He himself is mentioned no other place in the Scriptures. The other Gospels speak of a Bartholomew and scholars suspect they are one and the same. But even Bartholomew quickly disappears.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Can anything good come from Nathaniel ... or Bartholomew? Can anything good come from people like you and me? You know -- as do I -- the verses “the good I would do I do not.”
Interesting that Jesus would come from Nazareth. And that Nathaniel, or Bartholomew, would, according to tradition, become a missionary in Egypt, Persia, India, and Armenia, and be martyred there. And that you and I would somehow become workers with them in the Kingdom of God.
How does that happen?
Prayer
Dearest Lord, we thank you for grace and favor, and for blessing those of us who are the least of these. Amen.