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The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
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•••••••••• John 1:43-51
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I love this exchange between Philip and Nathanael. I'm always tempted whenever this reading comes up to focus on Nathanael's response to Philip's invitation in which he asks: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
But today, I want to focus not on Nathanael's response to the invitation to faith that he received but rather on who is this man called Nathanael. And the ironic thing about this is that we know precious little about Nathanael. The only other place in the Scriptures where he is mentioned is in the last chapter of John's Gospel where Jesus meets the disciples after the resurrection on the shore after they have fished all night and feeds them. And in that chapter, the only mention of Nathanael is that he was present for that moment.
But in the first chapter of John, and here alone, we find a word about Nathanael's character. And the amazing thing about this is that the very one who speaks of Nathanael's character is the one whom it appears is just meeting Nathanael for the very first time. When at last Philip has invited Nathanael to come and see Jesus, to meet him, Jesus has a powerful greeting for Nathanael. Jesus addresses him as: "An Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"
What is so powerful about this? The translation we have before us does no favors for us as it is rather weak. What Jesus is saying is that there is no guile or trickery in this man. And there is an amazing contrast that is subtly presented here. Jesus is contrasting this Israelite to the chief Israelite, the Father of Israel, the man born as Jacob who was renamed by God as Israel, the father of the twelve sons from which the Twelve Tribes of Israel have their ancestral roots. And in the history of Israel, we would be hard pressed to find a greater trickster than Israel, Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham.
Remember the character of this patriarch. Jacob tricked his slightly older twin brother out of his birthright and the blessing of their father. If he were not such a trickster, today, when we speak of the three great patriarchs, we would speak of Abraham, Isaac and Esau. But Esau is long forgotten by Jews and Christians, replaced by Jacob. And we should not forget that Jacob also tricked his father-in-law multiple times, and became a wealthy man at the expense of Laban, the father of Jacob's wives. And then there is that whole matter of Jacob's preference of Joseph and Benjamin which led to bitter strife among the sons of Israel.
Jesus acknowledges Nathanael as one who has no Jacob in him, as one whose integrity is beyond reproach and unquestionable in its existence. And the effect is such that Nathanael is so shocked that he's almost speechless; almost. Nathanael manages to find words in which he asks Jesus: "How do you know me?"
Jesus replies: "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."
That was all that Nathanael needed to hear. Immediately, in that moment, any reservations that he had in receiving Philip's invitation to "Come and see" fade away and are no more.
You see, the issue isn't merely that Jesus saw Nathanael in those moments when Nathanael was under the tree. The truth of this moment is that Jesus, Eternal Word of God and God, knows this man fully. He has always known Nathanael, even before anyone knew Nathanael, even before Nathanael was in the womb and was born.
This reminds me of the Collect for Purity that is prayed right after the Invocation with which the Mass begins.
Almighty God, to you all hearts are
open, all desires known, and from you
no secrets are hid: Cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we
may perfectly love you, and worthily
magnify your holy Name; through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
When we remember Nathanael's experience with Jesus in the context of this prayer, there is something remarkable for us to cling to and embrace. In a very real sense, we are Nathanael. In the wider context of the universal fellowship of all who have been invited to come and see Jesus, there is precious little about us that is known. But there is one who knows everything. Our God knows us fully. Nothing about us is hidden from God. Thus, as Jesus is God among us, Jesus knows it all when it comes to us, even what we cannot see and what we wish no one else to see. Jesus is not blind to anything. He knows us fully and perfectly.
That should humble us beyond words. I say that because if we are honest with ourselves, we know that one who knows us fully is probably not referring to us as beyond reproach, no matter how hard we try to convince others that we are what Jesus says of Nathanael. And yet the wonder of it all is that Jesus does not laugh at us and say: "You're not fooling me; I know you!" Rather Jesus loves us in spite of our blemishes and our shortcomings, and longs to be in relationship with us, to claim us as his own and to have us be with him forever.
And how do we respond to such grace? How did Nathanael respond? He walks with Jesus as a disciple. And if we assume, as has been done throughout the history of the Church, that Nathanael of John's Gospel is in fact Bartholomew of the other three Gospels and of the Acts of the Apostles, we find one who is so transformed by this grace of Jesus that he spends the remainder of his days inviting others to come and see Jesus, to experience grace themselves.
We have experienced the grace of Jesus. Have we invited others to come and share that experience? There are countless persons who need that invitation to grace. We regularly interact with persons who feel that if we truly knew them, we would know that even God, esecially God, would have nothing to do with them, and neither should we. But the wonder of the Gospel is always this: "There is nothing that we can do that will make God love us less! There is nothing in us that makes us undesireable to Jesus!"
We can tell others that truth "until we are blue," but it will never be believed until it is experienced it. That means at some point we too must inevitably say, "Come and see!" And if they are willing to accept, Jesus will take care of the rest and amaze those who draw near because of our invitation by showing that the love of God made known in Jesus is always eternal and unconditional, transforming and life-giving in ways that words can hardly describe. For to them also, Jesus says, "Before you were invited to come and meet me, I saw you, and knew you, and loved you already."
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Father Timothy Alleman
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