#10 (The 12 Disciples
Series)
"NATHANIEL – THE GOOD GUY!"
TEXT: John
1:43-51
INTRO:
Nathaniel (also called “Bartholomew” -- means “Son of
Tholmai” -- possibly from a group called the “Tholmaens” who gave much attention to the
study of ancient Scriptures ... Nathaniel literally means, “Gift of
God.” He was the one guy
in the group that even before becoming a disciple of Jesus was known as a good,
moral, honest, and a decent man. He
was the good guy in the group, much like the hard working, good moral man of
today who genuinely cares about others but has never become a Christian. Such people are often rare since most
humans have a sneaky side to them.
ILLUS: The
Baltimore Orioles of 1894-96 was the best baseball team up to that time, and
also the craftiest. One of their
favorite tricks was to plant a few extra balls in strategic spots in the tall
outfield grass. Then any balls hit
into that area where it looked like
the other team might make an extra base were miraculously held to singles, they
would simply pick up the planted ball near them and quickly throw it in. They finally got caught during one game
when an opposing batter drove a ball to left-center field near one of the hidden
balls. The left fielder picked up
the hidden ball and threw it in, the center fielder however didn't notice his
team mate had done this while he chased the real ball and thus he too threw in a
ball. The umpire saw two balls come
flying in to second base, called time and awarded the game to the other team,
their deceit was exposed. – Source
Unknown
Nathaniel would lever have played on
such a team, he was a paradigm of virtue though he was not yet a follower of
Jesus. Nate was an idealist, a man
of high moral character and values, but he still needed
Christ!
Even the nicest people need the Lord
Jesus Christ, and Jesus seeks out this good guy, for even the best of humanity
is lost without Christ!
PROP.
SENT: Nathaniel teaches
us that even the finest example of humanity still needs to come to Jesus Christ
to find forgiveness of their sins and receive eternal life! All the good deeds in the world cannot
save you, only Jesus can do this!
I. PICKING A FRIEND Jn.
1:43-45
A. Character 1:43-45a
1. Seven of the disciples were
fishermen from Galilee. (mentioned
in John 21)
a. They probably knew each other prior
to becoming Jesus’ followers.
b. Thus they probably already had
established friendships with each other!
2. Notice how important it was for
each of them to lead their friends to Jesus once they became
followers.
a. Andrew brings Peter to
Jesus.
b. Philip goes and finds Nathaniel and
brings him to Jesus right after he himself became a
follower.
c. Philip was concerned over what
might happen to their friendship if he followed Jesus but his friend Nathaniel
didn't, losing his friend would have been painful to
him.
3. Nathaniel was the kind of friend
every parent would dream of having for their kids!
a. From Jesus’ own statement about
Nathaniel even before he accepted Christ we find a man who is an honest,
virtuous, man – notice Jesus’ appraisal of him: John 1:47 “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he
said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing
false."”
b. He was a positive role model for
others his age, a well respected young man!
c. He was a searcher of truth as is
evidenced by Philip's statement of Jesus being the fulfillment of the ancient
Scriptures, the writings of Moses, something Philip knew that Nathaniel studied
a great deal.
d. Nathaniel was a religious man, he was a good man, a man who truly wanted
to know God and was anxious for the promised Messiah to come, but Nathaniel
was also a lost man without Christ in his life!
e. He was probably an idealist, as is
evidenced by his comment on Jesus coming from
f. In his mind the holy Messiah
wouldn't come from some ungodly wicked city like Nazareth, it was his idealism
that showed here more than prejudice!
The Scriptures had spoken of
g. Nathaniel was a guy you could count
on, his word was absolute and he was not swayed by public opinion.
4. Philip had done well to pick such a
friend, this might also explain the lack of any negative stories recorded about
Nathaniel anywhere in the Bible!
5. Such a friend could only have been
a positive influence on Philip's life and the others from
6. Though not a believer he knew his
Bible very well.
a. He was a ready made Christian
except he hadn't gotten saved yet!!!
b. With all this good character he
still needed Jesus, and Jesus had his eye on Nate!
B. Care! Jn.
1:45b
1. As mentioned earlier, Philip cared
a great deal about their friendship.
He did not want to be a follower of Jesus without sharing this with his
friend Nathaniel.
a. As soon as Philip found Jesus as
Lord his thoughts turned to his friend’s need of Jesus, boy what an example for
Christians today!!
b. He immediately set out to find
Nathaniel and share the good news with him!
2. Interestingly enough, Philip knows
exactly how to reach his friend Nate, he knew he was a student of the Old
Testament so he tells him he has found the one that Moses and all the prophets
had spoken about.
a. He identifies Jesus the Messiah to
Nathaniel as “Jesus of
b. Philip must not have known as much
about the Scripture as Nathaniel, if so he would have known this designation for
Jesus would arouse some serious questions in Nathaniel's mind; all Philip knew
was that his friend needed to know Jesus like he now
did!
c. He cared about their friendship and
certainly knew that by following Jesus this friendship could be lost if
Nathaniel too didn't also know the Lord.
d. Rather than just abandon the
friendship he attempted to save it by bringing his buddy to
Christ!
3. Have
you cared enough about those you call friends to bring them to
Jesus?
ILLUS: Like my
wife Bevie Jo, when she finds a great bargain she can't wait to call some of her
friends to share the good news as well as the savings! We guys do this also with new cars (or
sports cars – or in my case, Harley Davidson motorcycles!) or when we bag that
deer! It is natural to want to
share with friends our good news and good experiences, and so should it be with
the best news and experience! – Source
II. PERFORMANCE OF FAITH
Jn. 1:46-49
A. Confused! Jn.
1:46
1. Philip's description of Jesus as
the Messiah threw a well learned man like Nathaniel for a
loop!
a. “Jesus of
b. “Son of
Joseph?” – Many rumors had flown around in Jewish circles concerning
Joseph and Mary and the birth of Jesus, His mom was pregnant before being
married – hardly the expectation for the coming Messiah’s
birth!
2. This may well have raised some
confusion in Nathaniel's mind, it didn't fit the idealistic thoughts he had
about the Messiah's coming or what he thought he understood from Scripture. He must not have known about Jesus'
birth in
a. Philip however does not argue with
his friend, after all they are friends.
Instead he insists that Nathaniel should come with him and see Jesus for
himself.
b. Rather than fight with him or start
an argument Philip knew the best approach with a friend is to simply invite him
to come and see Jesus, Jesus would take care of the questions and
doubts!
3. This is still a great
approach, too many Christians like to argue and fight with unsaved people,
rarely does this approach win the lost – they are won when they witness the
presence of Jesus and the see the Holy Spirit at work, God is better at
defending Himself than we are at defending Him!
a. Philip's method here is a wonderful
example of evangelism, he does not try to answer every possible question,
instead he gets his friend to experience Jesus
directly!
b. He offers to go with him to see
Jesus, he doesn't just send Nathaniel to Jesus, he goes with him, this would
help Nathaniel perhaps not feel so uncomfortable, after all a good friend
wouldn't take him someplace that was bad!
c. Their existing
relationship of trust paved the way!
4. Nathaniel's stumbling over Jesus'
boyhood town and earthly family will disappear when he meets
Jesus!
ILLUS: Nathaniel's
sight was marred by the outward and obvious things ... but all encounters with
Jesus will change that: Like a man
who was shown a red glass bottle and asked what was inside it. He guessed, "Wine, Brandy, Whiskey?" and
was quite surprised when he was told it was milk! What he didn't know was that it was the
glass bottle that was red, not the liquid inside. Once poured out he could see clearly it
was milk and the bottle red! So
many do this with Jesus, they see only Jesus' humanity, his struggle with
hunger, being tired, suffering, weeping, and the man from Joseph's home, from
Nazareth -- and miss that He was Also God!
Only when they see Him "poured
out" on
B. Contact!
Jn.
1:47-48
1. Even as Nathaniel was approaching
Jesus, Jesus states, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing
false!”
a. This is quite a statement coming
from God’s son!!
b. This certainly affirms the efforts
that Nathaniel had spent a lifetime practicing, being a man of
integrity!
c. However, Jesus' statement caught
Nathaniel off guard, in his mind came the immediate question: "how does Jesus
know what I am like ... how could He possibly make such a statement without ever
knowing me?"
2. Indeed, Nathaniel comes right out
and asks Jesus, "How do you know me?"
1:48
a. This was after all their first
meeting.
b. Philip had only just gotten saved
himself, no time to fill Jesus in on Nate.
c. Nathaniel probably had not run
around much, how could Jesus possibly know him?
3. Jesus' response must have sent
shivers down his spine: "I saw you while you were still under the
fig tree before Philip called you!"
1:48b
a. "Big deal" you say -- yet this
flabbergasted Nathaniel!
WHY?
b. Because it revealed that Jesus was
God! Very pious Jews like
Nathaniel practiced a very curious habit; they would pray and study the
Scriptures under a fig tree which was the symbol of
c. Thus it was very clear to Nathaniel
what Jesus had just said; only as God could Jesus had seen Nathaniel under that fig
tree! Only an Omniscient
God could do this or know this, and to have known he was there BEFORE
Philip had called him!
C. Confession Jn. 1:49
1. Nathaniel’s response recorded here
may also indicate that Jesus shared even more than just having seen him under
the tree, it may imply that perhaps Jesus had even shared with Nathaniel some of
the things he may have said in his prayers privately under that tree or
something along that lines -- this would certainly account for the dramatic
reaction by Nathaniel: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of
Israel!"
a. This is certainly a different
response than what Philip had told Nathaniel, Philip’s description of Jesus was
as the Son of Joseph, Jesus of
b. Jesus revealed enough so that
Nathaniel knew without a doubt that Jesus had to have been God and not just a
good guesser on the fig tree thing!
2. Nathaniel was face to face with
GOD!
a. His whole life he had read and
prayed for the coming Messiah.
b. He had lived his good moral life in
hopes of pleasing God, now he stood face to face with
Him!
c. His only interest now was pleasing
Jesus, no amount of accomplishments and accolades from friends was adequate now,
only the desire to have Jesus pleased with him!
ILLUS: Like the
young man who had studied violin under a world-renowned master. The time came for this young man to have
his first performance. After each
piece he played the crowds roared with approval, the cheers were loud and long,
yet the young man didn't seem to be overly moved by the audiences' great
response. Even after the last selection, with shouts from the audience louder
than ever he stood there only watching, not overly happy ... he seemed to be
staring into the upper balcony.
Finally an elderly gentleman in that balcony began to smile and nodding
with approval, and immediately the young man on stage relaxed and began beaming
with excitement. You see, the man
in the balcony was his master teacher, and thus the applause of the audience had
meant nothing to him until he first knew that his master had approved, only then
could he enjoy the audience’s response.
No matter how much people bragged on the goody two shoes life of
Nathaniel, he had lived his life only to finally know that the Master approved
... NOW he was face to face with that Master and so he confesses Jesus as
Lord! – Source
Unknown
3. Nathaniel now joins the ranks of
the 12 disciples, he found the one that Moses and the prophets had said would
come. He didn’t use his good moral
reputation to be a big shot, he only wished to be with Jesus and serve
Him.
III. PROMISE OF FUTURE! Jn.
1:50-51
A. Commission Jn.
1:50
1. Jesus wants Nathaniel to know that
this confession of faith was only a beginning.
a. It was the conclusion to all that
Nathaniel had hoped for in life, but this wasn't an end of a long search it was
the beginning of greater work for Nathaniel, hence: "You shall see
greater things than that!"
b. While Nathaniel had been
overwhelmed by Jesus' omniscience, much more would be witnessed by Nathaniel as
he walked with Jesus in the near future.
c. The evidence of Jesus being the
Messiah would only grow, not diminish!
2. These were marching orders for
Nathaniel, “There's work to be done son.” Revelation is nice, but without
resolution it is only information.
a. Finding Jesus
isn't the end of our search, it is the beginning of our
work.
b. While our future is guaranteed many
lost people have none, this means a great commission to win the lost, and
Nathaniel took this call seriously!
3. We all have a great commission to
fulfill if we are Jesus' disciples, it is NOT a matter of waiting for something
to happen, we have a message to tell and a Messiah to bring people
to!
ILLUS: Some time
ago, psychologist William Moulton Marston asked 3,000 people this question: "What have you to live for?" He was shocked to find out that 94%
replied “nothing,” they were just "enduring the moment" hoping something will
happen, they were all just waiting for something to come along! Too many Christians are like this, they
keep waiting for something to happen, at work, at home, even in Church,
instead of making things happen!
The only thing Jesus asks us to wait for is His coming, and we are to WORK until He comes! – Source
Unknown
B. Consummation Jn.
1:51
1. Jesus now adds the same message to
the rest of guys, the word “you” in verse
51 is plural, not singular -- meaning this statement is given to
Nathaniel and the rest of the disciples gathered with
him.
a. The meaning of the metaphor Jesus
used here is simple, JESUS is the ladder to heaven, and it is Jesus who makes
the way possible.
b. He is promising the disciples that
they will all see more and more clearly the reality of Jesus as the only
way to heaven, they will witness in Jesus' ministry with them a clear sense of
Jesus as the way to God.
2. This will consummate in the final
days with their entrance to heaven along with all those who believe on Jesus,
again the point here is that there is work to be done in the
present!
a. Nathaniel the good guy now
becomes Nathaniel the great guy!
b. All his good works were nothing now
that he found Jesus, now He could really be "good!"
CONCLUSION: While Nathaniel was already a good,
decent, honest man, he still was lost without Jesus! Once he met Jesus he knew that all his
good works were not enough, only the Messiah could save him and others. What do you trust in to get you into
heaven? There's only one sure way
in ... Jesus!