The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown. Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.” Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!””
Irene Snyder
Destiny City Church – Tacoma WA
Big View: Person of Peace
Small View: Preparation – Passing Relationships
Observation: I love the connection in these men, a true conversation and truth being spoken. Jesus is not swayed by actions, but only by what He knows and He speaks this truth to Nathanael…… “a true and genuine son of Israel” – a man of complete integrity! I wonder if this is just what Nathanael needed to hear and be reminded of this day. Wouldn’t that just be like Jesus to come in the midst of a tough day and speak truth over us and who we are.
Action: I am surrounded daily by people who need to hear an encouraging word of God knowing who they are. It’s a crazy hustle and bustle I live in, and so often I deal with self pity and my eyes are on myself and my own circumstances. My action plan is to take my eyes off me and place my eyes on and be on the look out for people of peace that are ready and waiting to be reminded of what God says about them…… His love poured out through me to them in an amazing connection.
Observation:What is grabbing my attention today is that Jesus finds Philip and says, “Come follow Me.” When Philip realizes that he has just met the promised Messiah, he tells his friend Nathanael about his experience and wants to introduce them. Isn’t this just the way it’s to be now? We meet Jesus, He says, “Come follow Me.” We get to share our Jesus story and introduce others to Him.
Response: Today is funny because my response came before I read this-I know, not really possible. I’ve met Jesus and already had the opportunity today to share my Jesus story and introduce Him to my niece.
I appreciate the way Philip responds when Nathanael has a less-than-enthusiastic response to his invitation. Instead of rattling off a list of rebuttals to Nathanael’s “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”, Philip simply invites Nathanael to see for himself. How many times have I felt the urge to try to reason away someone’s objections to Christianity rather than invite them to “Come see for themselves” what the Bible shows us about the character of Jesus?
comtenm. Surely this kind of thing is exactly why clients are giving their digi business to ATL agencies – because digi agencies still do things because they can, as opposed to if there’s any point in doing them.