There’s an old saying of somebody coming from “the wrong side of the tracks”, or, in other words, the wrong part of town, the bad, or poorer, or rougher part of town. Parents didn’t want their children making friends with “those people”, and they certainly didn’t want them ending up marrying “one of them”! Sometimes a whole village is looked down upon as being that type of community. A more affluent village will look down their noses at a poorer, more working class community, and scoff at the residents. They are less educated, dress in less stylish attire, drive older vehicles, etc. In our Gospel reading for today, we read of such a scorning, and how one person’s opinion and attitude was immediately changed.
As our Scripture passage opens, Jesus has just invited a young man named Philip, to come and join Him. Philip had been present when John the Baptist had baptized Jesus, and had heard him call Jesus the Lamb of God. The first thing that Philip did after Jesus called him, was to go and tell his good friend Nathaniel, and invite him to come too. Philip knew he had met someone very special, someone he believed to be the Messiah that was spoken of in the Scriptures, and he didn’t want to keep that news a secret (vs. 45). If he found something wonderful, he wanted to share that with his good friend. Philip goes and finds his good friend Nathaniel, and tells him that he has found the One he believes to be the Messiah that the prophets had foretold, Jesus of Nazareth.
However, as soon as Nathaniel hears the word “Nazareth”, he scoffs at the idea (vs. 46). Nothing good can come from Nazareth! Nazareth was a community that many in the province of Galilee looked down upon. It did not have the benefit of being along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, so there were no fishing businesses and the benefits to the economy that they brought. Nazareth was looked down upon as a small, rural, nothing village. Some historical scholars also believe that a Roman military garrison might have been there. If so, that would also contribute to reasons people would have disliked the place, as the Jews hated the Romans. This was more than just school or sports team rivalries, and Nathaniel held the popular belief that nothing good could possibly come from that village. Sometimes we, too, make rash judgments. We sit as judges of everyone and everything around us, jumping to conclusions about people without knowing their whole story.
What was Philip’s response? Did he try and argue with him? Did he just shrug his shoulders and say that it was okay, if he wasn’t interested that was fine? No, he urged his friend to come and see. He didn’t argue and make Nathaniel angry. He also didn’t just let Nathaniel off the hook, since he knew this was of eternal significance. Philip gave his friend a simple invitation, “Come and see.” He knew that Jesus would shatter Nathaniel’s false judgment. Fortunately, Nathaniel did take up Philip’s offer, and came to see who Jesus was! We, too, should never give up in urging our friends to come and meet Jesus.
When Jesus met Nathaniel, the first thing He pointed out was that he was a man without any deceit (vs. 47). He was someone without any duplicitous motives, who was willing to examine for himself the claims being made about Jesus. Nathaniel had an honest, seeking heart, and Jesus saw and took note of that. He knew about Nathaniel before the two ever met (vs. 47 - 48). Jesus pointed out to him that He had seen him when he was under a fig tree. When available, many Jews in Old Testament times would pray and meditate under fig trees. He was probably referring to a specific time that Nathaniel understood. Perhaps he had actually been praying about the promised Messiah, which could explain his sudden confession of the deity of Jesus and His Messiahship (vs. 49). Jesus had knowledge of this event that was not available to men. His display of supernatural knowledge, along with Philip’s witness, removed Nathaniel’s doubts. For Nathaniel, here was One who could not be described merely in human terms.
Jesus knows all about us, as well, knowing what we are really like. We can try to fool others, put a fake mask on to disguise our true character, but we cannot fool Jesus. He knows what is in our hearts. Jesus liked what He saw in Nathaniel.
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