A little bible study for you today.

Sought after

In Jesus’ time, rabbis (religious teachers) held a respected place in society. Every Jewish mother would have wanted her son to be accepted as their student. Only those young men who excelled in their education would be able to approach a rabbi and seek permission to study with him.

Before a rabbi accepted the potential student, however, he would interrogate him thoroughly, testing this potential prodigy, reviewing how thorough his knowledge of Scripture was. But let’s look at what Jesus did.

Jesus gathered disciples who were fishermen and reviled Roman-collaborating tax collectors – not exactly the cream of the next generation! He didn’t wait for them to come to him, he went looking for them and called them to ‘follow me’ (v 43).

It was obvious that here was no ordinary rabbi – he not only knew Nathanael’s location, but his heart and soul (John vs 47,48). Scripture knowledge was one thing, but here was a rabbi with divine knowledge.

Aren’t you glad that Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost (see Luke 19:10)? You may not feel you are the brightest or the best or the most worthy, but the Good Shepherd has searched for you and found you.

James Davies (adapted from Daily Bread JM09)
Text
Who is Nathanael?
Nathanael is mentioned only here and in John 21:2, where he was with some of the other disciples on the beach when the resurrected Christ appeared to the m. It is odd that his name does not appear in any of the lists of the 12 apostles.

Some people think that he is the Bartholomew of the other Gospels, since Bartholomew is not so much a name as a patronymic, meaning ‘Son of Tolmai’. Moreover, Bartholomew is coupled with Philip in the lists of the apostles. But the identification cannot be proved.

Links with Jacob
In a hot and dry climate, a fig tree offered welcome shelter. Was Nathanael reading Genesis as he sat there? There are some striking echoes of the story of Jacob.

Jesus reveals to Nathanael that he will share the vision which Jacob had received at Bethel – a ladder from earth to heaven, with angels going up and down (see Genesis 28:10–17). That ladder is Jesus, who brings us to God.

Jacob had said that the place was awesome: ‘This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven’ (Genesis 28:17). Later in John’s Gospel we read that Jesus is the gate (see John 10:7).

In Genesis 32 we read how Jacob wrestled with God, after which he was a different person, and God changed his name to Israel . Jacob’s life was full of deceit. Nathanael was an Israelite in whom there was no deceit.

Jesus knows the heart
Jesus knew all about Nathanael before Nathanael met him. This convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God. When he realized that, it didn’t matter anymore where Jesus had come from.

John 2:24,25 tells us that it was not only Nathanael whose heart Jesus knew. He knows every one of us. We cannot deceive him.

Names of Jesus
Jesus is called by many different names in this chapter:

• The Word (v 1)

• The true light (v 9)

• The one and only Son who is himself God (v 18)

• The Lamb of God (v 29)

• The Son of God (v 34)

• Rabbi (v 38)

• The Messiah (v 41)

• The one Moses wrote about in the Law (v 45)

• The one about whom the prophets spoke (v 45)

• Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (v 45)

• The Son of Man (v 51)

John’s Gospel is different from the so-called ‘synoptic’ Gospels (Mat the w, Mark, Luke) in that he reveals from the start who Jesus is. In the other Gospels this is hinted at in the beginning but only becomes clear as the story unfolds.

The Son of Man
This is the name by which Jesus most frequently referred to himself. It is a translation of an Aramaic phrase, and means simply ‘I’.

It is taken from Daniel 7:13,14, where the original language is Aramaic, not Hebrew. Here we read that the Son of Man ‘was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.’

A note on Aramaic
Aramaic was the official language of the Persian Empire and became the dominant language of that huge empire, which in Daniel’s time included Palestine . It was the language spoken by Jesus and the disciples.

The Old Testament is mostly written in Hebrew, but there is Aramaic in parts of Ezra and Daniel. There are also a few isolated Aramaic words in other parts of the Old and New Testaments.


Being a disciple
‘Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me”’ (John 1:44, CEV).

Disciples knew their rabbis incredibly well. It was a disciple’s job to stick as close as humanly possible to his rabbi. To hear every word his rabbi spoke, to memorize his teaching, to watch what his rabbi did, so that he could imitate him. That is exactly what Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael did.

We cannot see, hear or touch Jesus in the same way as they could, so what does it mean for us to be disciples? How can we follow closely?

God, as always, is ahead of us. Remember what Jesus told his followers? ‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth … you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you’ (John 14:16,17).

A TV presenter wears an earpiece that enables them to hear the instructions of the producer or editor. It is a little like that with the Holy Spirit. Only he is much closer to us, living within us. And yet there are times when we don’t tune in, or when ‘interference’ prevents us hearing what he wants to say.

Invite the Spirit to speak to you now as you consider the following questions:

• How will you make time to ‘tune in’ to the Spirit this week?

• What could you do to remind yourself that you are following the Spirit before you walk through your front door, or the door of your work place, or pick up the phone, or begin a conversation?

• What prevents you from hearing the Lord? What are the sources of ‘interference’ for you? Ask the Lord to show you what they are and how you can overcome them.