The Messiah’s Secret – The Calling of Nathanael
Visual Aid. A garden with flowers.
When we see a garden in full bloom in summer, it’s hard to think that things lie hidden in the undergrowth.
It’s not until winter comes and the plants die back we can see what lies there.
(Removing the rubbish to reveal wind blown: plastic bottles, bags and other bits of plastic.)
Not all that has blown in the garden is rubbish there might be something there that we have lost. In the picture a silver cross and chain lost in the garden during the summer.In our reading Nathanael did not think anything good could come out of Nazareth certainly not God’s promised Messiah. He soon was to find Jesus something very precious to him. Later he would learn that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Some times we have to stand still and sift through our beliefs and remove some things that we have heard from other people and taken on board. We also may find again something in scripture that we might have lost.
Readings: Revelation 5: 1-10. John 1: 43 end.
The other week I was sifting out old CD’s to throw away when I looked at a CD with a name on it Simon Altaf and date Feb 2007. I thought I’ll check what’s it’s about before I bin it. I was glad I did look at the CD, it was Simon Mohammed Altaf’s testimony, Jesus had called him to follow him.
He began by sharing his background, he grew up in Pakistan his family were Sony Muslims. and he was a committed Muslim. He said he had prayed every day for ten years that Allah would speak to him, but he heard nothing. He believed that there was a God and he wanted to know him.
Mohammed said he became disillusioned with his religion and went on a Muslim website and began to talk to other Muslims. One day by accident, he read the heading of a blog, ‘Why I became a Christian,’ by a fundamentalist Muslim. After reading it he got in touch with him asking him all kinds of questions, he started comparing the Koran with the Bible. He found out that Abraham had two sons, 2 heirs Ishmael and Isaac only Isaac was the son of the promise to Abraham. “But Abram said, O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said,”Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.” (Ishmael) And behold, the word of the Lord came to him,”This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.” Genesis 15: 2-4.
“And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” Genesis 17: 18, 19. RSV Bible.
Simon had not been taught about Isaac, he did not know about him until he read the Bible.
He studied both the Koran and the Bible for a period of time, but it was while he was at work he heard Jesus’ voice saying to him, ‘Follow me’ immediately in his thoughts he said, what about my family? Again he heard the voice say to him ‘Follow me,’ and so he did. It was at great cost to him, later his marriage was annulled under Muslim law, he lost everything of importance to him, but he could not deny Jesus.
In our reading Philip after being found by Jesus was asked to ‘Follow him.” He realised that Jesus was the one who Moses had referred to in scripture, Deut 18: 15 “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren him shall you heed.”
Philip then went and witnessed to Nathanael that Jesus was the one spoken of by Moses. Nathanael was cynical in his response, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Perhaps he thought that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.
Philip said to Nathanael, ”Come and see,” so together they went to find Jesus, they found him and as they walked towards him, Jesus said to Nathanael, “An Israelite indeed, in whom there is nothing false.” Jesus discerned that Nathanael was honest, and open to seek the truth, a Godly man. Mohammed Altaf was open to seek the truth and there are many more people like him who are open to seek the truth. He became known as Simon Altaf.
Nathanael replied, “How do you know me?” Jesus said that he had seen him before Philip called him sitting under the fig tree. Jesus had seen him not in the flesh but in the eye of his Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus searching for the people who would become his disciples. Jesus and the Holy Spirit is searching today for people who are open to hear the good news.
Jesus looking for the lost in the garden of the world.
On Tuesday afternoon at open door a young woman came in full of trouble, I tried to help her by giving her what she asked for some food. I asked if I could pray with her and she was happy for me to do so. My continuing prayer is that she will come to know Jesus and as a result make a fresh start.
Nathanaels response, he declared that Jesus the Rabbi was the Son of God! and the King of Israel.
Simon Altaf could identify the three in one God.
Simon said that Jesus is God and as the Son of God he had the nature of God, and the Holy Spirit. Simon said that the Hebrew word for God is Yahweh. The Muslim’s name for God is Allah and they are not the same God. Allah is an impersonal god, transcendent meaning: superior and beyond reach, whereas Israel’s and the Christian’s God is a personal God, Yahweh, the true God.
Nathanael had discerned for himself that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah from the scripture ‘Sitting under the fig tree’ which was the expectation of the peace and security with the coming of the Messiah and his kingdom. Zechariah 3: 10 “In that day, says the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree.”
The day speaks of Jesus return, bringing in his kingdom, a place that is described as full of peace and tranquillity, hence the term ‘sitting with your neighbour under the fig tree.’
On the evening of the day of his resurrection when he appeared to his disciples in the house at Jerusalem, Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you!” The kingdom in their midst, the peace of the Kingdom of God. John 20: 19.
But what spoke to me in Revelation 5 Jesus was being lifted up into a place of honour in his meekness and majesty receiving blessings from God. And we can relate it to his parable of the wedding feast, were he made the point on arrival not to sit down on the top table, in case someone more important came, but instead to seek the lowest place and so you might be lifted up and asked to sit on the top table. Luke 14: 7-11
All heaven was rejoicing as Jesus was the one who would open the scroll., “Worthy is the lamb who had been slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.”Rev 5: 12. The scroll that contains the information of the events leading up to his return to the earth and being identified by his suffering bearing the marks in his resurrected body of the lamb that was slain for forgiveness of all that stands between us and our Father God. All the rubbish that has separated us from our creator God is completely removed, all is forgiven.
We in our humanity saw no beauty before we knew him as our Saviour and Lord, but in knowing him, we see the beauty of his holiness, the greatness of his victory over the devil and his minions and his eternal reign over all things in heaven and on the earth.
No other is worthy of our praise, in awe with reverence, we see the lamb in great humility being adored, revered, worshipped and glorified.