Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law,
and the prophets: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and
see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true
one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus
said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”
Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” But Jesus
replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater
things than that.
Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of Man.”
Reflect.
When he first meets Jesus, Nathaniel judges him dismissively, judging him based on his
hometown. rather than rejecting him for his prejudice, Jesus sees him and welcomes him,
offering us a model for living.
The digital world invites us to make snap judgments – voting things up or down based on
outward appearances or 140 characters. It lets us isolate ourselves in echo chambers where
everyone agrees with us and no one challenges our prejudices and judgments. But Jesus
calls us to encounter and love beyond our comfortable boundaries in real life, not just through
digital means. We go out to the margins to meet the poor, the lonely, the mentally ill, the
addicted, the outcast, the people who disagree with us. We listen to their stories and see them
as Jesus sees them – with love, as our brothers and sisters. And then we reach out, in
word and deed, to meet their needs – for food and shelter, for care, for companionship, for
understanding.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022