I am intrigued by the concept of the new show on ABC this Fall. I guess the connection of ABC and Disney keeps anyone from filing a lawsuit - doesn't this seem to be an un-animated version of The Incredibles? or is it just me?The Bible is filled with stories of ordinary people rising above their limitations and becoming extraordinary. I find comfort in knowing that God has always used the ordinary to complete his extraordinary work. It gives me hope in my ordinary life that there might be more.
This week we begin a series that will allow us to examine the very ordinary lives of some of the disciples and what we might learn from their ordinary lives.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." (Philip's hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.) Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!"
Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding."
But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself."
When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."
Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me."
Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"
Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.” John 1:43-51 (New international Version)
Nathanael reveals his ordinary nature. Lest you be confused by the name Nathanael. In the other gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Nathanael is listed as Bartholomew. This is not a discrepancy, but rather a changed in name reference. Much like some call me Pastor Frieden some call me Pastor Rodney. Nathanael was the son of Tolmai in Hebrew that would be Bar-Tolmai or Bartholomew or properly Nathanael Bar-Tolmai or Nathanael, son of Tolmai. We actually know very little about Nathanael. We know that he was from Cana in Galilee (John 21:2) and that he was friends with Phillip. Throughout scripture, Nathanael will always be paired with Phillip. Andrew goes to get his brother and Phillip goes to get his closest friend (like a brother)?
They might have worked together (perhaps they were fisherman as well) at the least they had studied together as the reference to the prophet’s writings reveals there common interest and studies.
I find it curious what Phillip does not say at this point. He doesn’t say, “I found a man who has a wonderful plan for your life. Or I found a man who can fix all your problems!” He makes no appeal on how Jesus would improve his life instead he appeals to his friend as one who is seeking – I have found the one who fulfills scripture – I have found the one who will bring meaning to our search – I have found the divine – the Messiah!
It is also a curiosity that the one that scripture calls Bar-Tolmai is introduced to the Messiah in a proper manner. Jesus is referred to as Y’shua Bar-Joseph from Nazareth. As if to say, “You’ll never believe it but that guy Jesus, you know the son of Joseph, the carpenter, the one from Nazareth. He is the Messiah?!”
It is in that moment that Nathanael reveals the very nature of man, our ordinary nature, our ability to come down rather than rise up, in that moment we can see ourselves so deeply reflected in his response, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
He could have responded by saying, “But Phillip, I am confused, we both know that the prophets foretold of the one coming from Bethlehem, How can Jesus be the one?”
Instead it is his bias, his prejudice that initially blinds him. His heart is revealed in his words.
Contempt for Nazareth, there was much Jewish contempt for Nazareth as it contained a Roman Army garrison, but there were other reasons for contempt as well - Nathanael was from Cana and to him Nazareth was the wrong side of the tracks. Nazareth was the home of the unrefined, the uneducated, even the ugly.
The picture was as a plain as IU vs. Purdue; Lawrence Central vs Lawrence North; East Coast vs West Coast; Black vs White; Rich vs Poor; English Speaking vs Spanish Speaking; Thin vs Fat; Young vs Old; Tall vs Short; White Collar vs Blue Collar, Educated vs Uneducated; Home Owner vs Homeless.
Curiosity must have gotten the best of him on that day. For in that moment, Nathanael was not completely blinded by his prejudice and Phillip was not turned off by his friend’s response. Phillip invited Nathanael to learn more, “Come and See,” and Nathanael took the opportunity to investigate more. It was in that moment of investigation that God was able to use the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary as Nathanael very quickly discovered what it would take many of the other disciples years to learn – this was the Messiah! Early church records suggest that Nathanael took the gospel to Persia, India and Armenia and in the end he was martyred for his faith.
I find the story of Nathanael interesting because it reveals a fraility of life that we all deal with. A part of our human nature that at some point or another reduces each of us to being ordinary – PREJUDICE. It is so much a part of each of us, that we all understand the adage “Don’t judge a book by the cover” from our own experience.
People, the truth is we are all very ordinary, but God chose us anyway:
Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. I Corinthians 1:27a (The Living Translation)
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:27 (The Message)
Have you limited your ability to reach others with an invitation to meet the divine because of prejudice of race, social, religious, intellect, or appearance? Do not let what you see with your eyes limit your possibilities.
God has made you for so much more than what you can now see and for that I am thankful. I am thankful that God sees more in me than what I see reflected in the mirror.
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