43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Message: Good from Nazareth
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: For the first time in the book of John and in John's writing we now have the work of Jesus. Up to this point there has been an introductory statement showing Jesus as the Word, the Light, that He was in the beginning at creation and is God. And the Word became flesh. Jesus, in the beginning, became flesh, and dwelt among us or lived on this earth. No one has seen God, but Jesus is here to explain Him. John, in his writing, has established that John the Baptist, in coming as a forerunner to introduce people to Jesus, namely the Jewish people, is only about Jesus. John did not come as the Christ or a prophet or Elijah, but he came as a witness of Jesus Christ and to preach repentance for the forgiveness of people's sins and baptize them. Jesus is the Lamb of God who forgives sin. In the temple, forgiveness occurred annually on the day of atonement, but now forgiveness is through the Lamb of God who will atone for sin, once for all.
This is Jesus. He is God. He comes to earth to dwell with us and in Him there is forgiveness so we can all be right with God and we are to follow Him all of our days.
Before this, Andrew and possibly John, the writer, followed Jesus but now Jesus says to Philip, "Follow me." And Philip locates Nathaniel to tell him about Jesus, the one that the Moses and the Law of Prophets wrote about. Let's "come and see."
Jesus is headed to Galilee where He will do much of His ministry. Nathaniel remarks, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was an insignificant and despised town. And so Jesus coming from Nazareth sparked wonder as people wondered what good come come from that town. Yet, Jesus being despised is something mentioned in Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 53:1-3) and among the people of the day who will be witnesses of Jesus.
Also, it is through Nathanael is the same person as Bartholomew and one of Jesus' twelve disciples.
Summary: Come and see Jesus and follow, something good to come from Nazareth.
Promise: From Tabletalk, "We must measure greatness and success according to God’s standards, not the standards of this world."
Prayer: O God, thank you for rising me up this morning and giving me understanding of Your Word. I think of my son Derek and his friend Cameron this morning arriving in Philadelphia after being re-routed on a plan and now on a train to New York. Thank you for keeping him safe on this journey. And thank you for calling me to Follow You. I pray Cameron and Derek will follow you as well all the days of their lives. May people see the significance of following You. Thank you for the message of Your Gospel and helping me understand it. Give me a thirst for speaking truth and sharing truth with others. Help me to learn how to start conversations and be bold for You. I want to be like Andrew and Philip and tell people about You. Give me wings to fly.
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