NEW BEGINNINGS: PART 2
Last Sunday, we reviewed how six of Jesus’ disciples responded to His call to follow Him. Peter, Andrew, James and John got their priorities straight and put Jesus first in their lives. Matthew and Simon the Zealot were two people who would have hated each other before they came to Christ. But once they accepted Jesus’ call, they came to understand that His Love is more than sufficient to overcome the hate of this world. And so, we saw how these six men of the world began to follow Jesus. In doing so, each of them had a new beginning in Christ.
This morning, we’ll consider the “new beginning” of another disciple—one whose name is not as well-publicized as some of the other more notable disciples. In John’s Gospel, his name is given as “Nathanael” which in Hebrew means “God has given.” In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Nathanael is also referred to as Bartholomew which means “son of Talmai.” Nathanael hailed from the Town of Cana where Jesus performed His first miracle in turning the water to wine. He was a good friend of Philip, who introduced Nathanael to Jesus.[1] Nathanael’s first reaction upon hearing about Jesus is quite interesting. Upon being informed of the town from which Jesus came, he quoted what was probably a local proverb[2] when he commented wryly, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” To which, Philip quickly replied: “Come and see.” John 1:45-46 (NET1) To Nathanael’s credit, he did come and see. What he found would change his perspective on life forever and give him a new beginning in his walk with God.
Of all the dialogues between Jesus and His disciples when He first called each one, Nathanael’s is one of the most well developed. It is certainly the most interesting. It not only tells us of Nathanael’s “new beginning,” but also points to the “new beginning” that was given to another man who lived about 1,700 years before Nathanael was even born. Let’s listen in on the conversation that ensued when Philip first brought Nathanael to Jesus. John’s Gospel tells us: 47 “As they approached, Jesus said, ‘Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.’ 48 ‘How do you know about me?’ Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, ‘I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.’ 49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!’ 50 Jesus asked him, ‘Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.’ 51 Then He said, ‘I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between Heaven and earth.’” John 1:47-51 (NLT2)
People often think of Peter as being the first disciple to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God.[3] But Nathanael may have well beaten him to the punch. Here, it tells us that, as soon as Jesus addressed him, Nathanael declared Jesus to be: “The Son of God—the King of Israel!’ Jesus must have said something extremely powerful to Nathanael for him to immediately make such a declaration. What was it that shook Nathanael so that he turned 180⁰ from saying that anyone from Nazareth must have a suspect reputation to proclaiming Jesus’ own deity? Well, let’s examine those words that I just read because what Jesus said to Nathanael can also give you a whole new perspective on life as well.
Jesus started off by pointing to Nathanael and saying: “Here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” Or, as other translations put it: “Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit” (NASB, ESV); or even, “Here is an Israelite in whom is no guile.” (KJV) The reference to “no deceit” or “no guile” means that Jesus could see into Nathanael’s heart. When He looked inside, Jesus found that he was not dishonest in any way—there wasn’t a trace of trickery or deception within Nathanael.[4] Then, Jesus tells him something that Nathanael thought was unknown to any other person on the face of the earth. It involved that part about the “fig tree.” Nathanael’s eyes must have lit up in amazement when Jesus told him: “I could see you under the fig tree.” We know none of the specifics of this. But, it is apparent that Nathanael had gone out somewhere far removed from the eyes of anyone else. For some reason, he needed to be completely alone. Something was weighing heavily upon his mind. We don’t know what it was. But evidently, Nathanael was contemplating making some important decision. It was one of those decisions in life that we have to make when we come to a cross-road. If you head in one direction and make an honest choice, it could cost you something. The cost might be embarrassment, a severe reprimand or some kind of financial loss, etc. And yet making that costly choice would be the right thing to do. Whereas a deceitful choice might temporarily avoid all those costly things—but you know that dishonest choice is clearly wrong and against God’s will. Nathanael may well have been facing something like that as he sat there under the privacy of the fig tree, far away from the eyes of the world.
Or, as he sat under the fig tree, maybe Nathanael was dealing with something completely different. He could have been struggling and wrestling with God. In other words, he could have been having a crisis of faith. The deceit that plagued him could have been self-deceit—the kind of self-deception that one has when they try to face life’s battles and trials on their own apart from God. And so, he sat under that tree in the shade of doubt. There, he may have prayed to God to strengthen his faith. Maybe you have prayed under that same fig tree from time to time. Perhaps, Nathanael had heard Jesus preach before and was struggling to accept His teachings. Nathanael may have been in that transitional state that theologian Arthur Brooks describes as being “between his old beliefs and the new ones that were attracting him.”[5] That could explain why he reacted to Philip’s invitation by belittling the reputation of anyone who hailed from Nazareth. And when he said “nothing good can come out of Nazareth,” he was manifesting the self-deceit that was separating him from God. But, when Nathanael decided to accept Philip’s advice to “come and see” for himself, Nathanael began to shed the self-deception that had resided in his heart and the shadow of doubt fell away .
Whatever Nathanael may have been dealing with under that fig tree, one thing is for sure: He was never out of Jesus’ sight. He could have been on the other side of the planet, but God never lost sight of him. Whatever course of conduct Nathanael decided upon regarding whatever issue it was that confronted him—clearly, he made the honest and right choice. Because Jesus knew that, He looked upon Nathanael and declared him to be “a man of complete integrity”. . . “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael knew that no one could have possibly known what transpired under the fig tree except God. No one else had access to his heart as he wrestled there under that tree. Nathanael knew this and it amazed him. That’s why he submitted to Jesus and boldly stated: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
But as perceptive as Nathanael was in making that declaration, Jesus still wanted him to know that much more would be revealed to him during his journey as a disciple. Jesus chose His words carefully. It is not an accident that He called Nathanael a “genuine son of Israel.” Now let’s be clear on this: We’re not talking about the Nation of Israel here. Rather, this refers to the man named Israel. And, until we see how this man named “Israel” fits into what Jesus had to say, we can’t understand the nature of the “new beginning” Jesus was offering to Nathanael. So, who was this “Israel” person Jesus was referring to? Well, he was one of the original fathers of the Jewish people. He was born 17 centuries before Nathanael came to be. In the Old Testament, the man “Israel” was none other than . . . Jacob. And that’s where all of this gets really interesting!
You see, unlike Nathanael, Jacob could hardly be considered “a man of complete integrity.” In fact, as a young man, Jacob was a trickster—a deceiver. Or, as one Bible commentary describes him: “[Jacob] was a con artist, a liar, and a manipulator. In fact, the name Jacob not only means ‘deceiver,’ but more literally it means ‘grabber’”[6]—as in someone who greedily and deceitfully grabs the belongings of others. Jacob’s greatest deception started when he cheated his brother, Esau. As Isaac’s eldest son, Esau was entitled to receive his father’s blessing. In ancient times, this blessing was very important because it affected each son’s inheritance as well as their prospects for future prosperity. But Jacob, with the assistance of his mother, Rebekah, literally “pulled the wool over” Isaac’s eyes when Jacob disguised himself as Esau and stole his blessing away. It was many years later that Jacob had a confrontation with God at a time when Jacob was searching for a different kind of “blessing”—one that would turn his life away from a path of deceit and deception and give him a “new beginning.”
That “new beginning” is described in Genesis 32 as follows: 24 [One night when Jacob was all alone on the banks of the Jabbok River,] “a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26 Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ 27 ‘What is your name?’ the man asked. He replied, ‘Jacob.’ 28 ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob,’ the man told him. ‘From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.’” Genesis 32:24-28 (NLT2)
Now here’s the thing about this wrestling match: At first, Jacob thought that he was wrestling a mere man, but that was not the case. The “man” revealed His true identity when He told Jacob, “You have fought with God. . .” And, indeed, that was the case. So, what did Jacob’s new God-given name of “Israel” mean? Literally, “Israel” means “God fights.”[7] So, what is the lesson that we gain from the wrestling match? By renaming Jacob as “Israel,” it stood as a reminder to the Israelites back then (and to us as God’s people today). It was a reminder that only when we fully engage with God can we ever be equipped to contend with our worldly trials and contests—whatever form they may take. But to receive God’s benefits in this way, we must “be crippled” in our own self-sufficiency—just as Jacob was crippled when God ended the conflict by pulling Jacob’s hip out of socket.[8] In other words, we must submit to God’s sovereignty and stop depending on ourselves alone if we ever want to be successful in battling the trials of life. And so, the bottom line is this: We need to stop struggling with God and simply allow Him to give us His blessing. That means asking God into our lives and let God fight our struggles for us. Furthermore, we don’t want to lose the significance of God giving Jacob a new name—for as Warren Wiersbe points out: “In the Bible, receiving a new name signifies making a new beginning, and this was Jacob's opportunity to make a fresh start in life.”[9]
Now how did Jesus hammer this point home to Nathanael? He’d certainly gotten his attention with His comments about the fig tree and Nathanael’s integrity. Yet, Jesus’ reference to an “Israelite” may not have triggered an instant connection in Nathanael’s mind with the patriarch Jacob. But when Jesus mentioned the “stairway” leading to Heaven, Nathanael would have definitely thought about Jacob. Remember what Jesus told him? Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, you will all see Heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, THE ONE WHO IS THE STAIRWAY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH.” John 1:51 (NLT2) So, what did Jesus mean by that? Well, He was referring to what is commonly known as “Jacob’s Ladder.”
If you asked someone today what “Jacob’s Ladder” is about you might get all kinds of secular responses. A movie goer might tell you that it was the title of a 1990 movie starring Tim Robbins. A book worm would say it’s the title of a book. A botanist would tell you it’s the name of a flower. A physics professor would explain it as being an electrical device.[10] But none of those would have been the explanation that Nathanael would have given you. As a good Jew, Nathanael was well aware that “Jacob’s Ladder” referred to the experience that Jacob had in a very realistic dream.
The story appears in Genesis 28. Jacob had departed from Beersheba and stopped along the way to rest for the night. He fell asleep and it was then that God sent him a dream. The Scriptures tell us: 12 “He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to Heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. 13 And there was the LORD standing beside him. ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac,’ He said. ‘I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. 14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. 15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.’” Genesis 28:10-15 (TEV)
Here, God came to Jacob and reaffirmed the covenant He made with Abraham. In other words, God told Jacob, whom He would later rename “Israel,” that his descendants would one day have possession of the Promised Land—which would be known as the Nation of Israel. Furthermore, God promised that all the nations (not only Israel) would be blessed through Jacob. Of course, when Jesus came to this earth, He fulfilled this blessing because Jacob was the patriarch of the Tribe of Judah from which Jesus was descended. But the striking thing about Jacob’s dream was the ladder or stairway that reached down from Heaven and connected Man with God. This was in striking contrast to the Tower of Babel described in Genesis 11 whereby Man attempted to connect himself to Heaven through his own works.[11] In other words, Man had then tried to find his own salvation apart from God. Many still try to do that today, but it is utterly impossible. For much of his life, Jacob had made this very same mistake until he finally found his hip out of place from his wrestling match with God.
Nathanael understood all of this regarding Jacob’s dream. And like Jacob, he finally came to realize that, apart from God, we have no stairway by which we can gain access to Heaven. So, when Jesus identified Himself as “THE ONE WHO IS THE STAIRWAY BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH,” Nathanael knew that this “Son of Man”—Jesus Christ—was, and is, the only ladder that we have to connect us to God. John 1:51 (NLT2) One day Nathanael would hear Jesus explain this in a definitive manner when Jesus turned to him and the rest of the disciples and proclaimed: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NLT2)
Everything that transpired here in this passage from John’s Gospel regarding Nathanael’s calling is so encouraging to us today. We can be assured that, whatever we may be going through under our own fig trees, Jesus sees us and cares about us. When you get up from the shade of that tree and come to Jesus, He’ll give you a whole new perspective on life. He will teach you things that will guide you in your daily life and show you the way to eternal life as well. Jesus was teaching Nathanael that he didn’t need to sit alone under the fig tree any longer. He didn’t have to face life’s struggles alone anymore. Just as Jacob finally came to understand that he needed to stop fighting against God and start accepting His blessing, so too did Nathanael begin to realize that the only stairway to Heaven is provided by Jesus alone. That is something all of us need to understand. Instead of being self-sufficient, we need to be “Christ-sufficient.” Being “Christ-sufficient” means listening to what Jesus said to the Apostle Paul, and believing its truth, when Jesus told him: “My grace is sufficient for you.”[12]
When Nathanael declared that Jesus is the Son of God and the King in the line of David, it was very much like saying, “Jesus is Lord.”[13] And once he confessed that with his mouth and believed it in his heart, Nathanael had truly embarked on a new beginning. It is not enough to recite the popular saying that goes: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That is only true if you start that day by following Jesus Christ. Jacob did that once he stopped struggling with God and allowed God to come into his heart and bless him. Nathanael did that when he accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior—and then the son of Talmai became a true child of God. That’s the best new beginning anyone could ever have!
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
January 8, 2023
©2023 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] “Who was Nathanael in the Bible,” Gotquestions.com; Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
[2] NET Bible. John 1:46, First ed. Richardson, TX: Biblical Studies Press, 1996. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
[3] “And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:16)
[4] Exegetical Summary Series - Exegetical Summary of John 1-9, An.
[5] Russell Moore, “Read Like Nicodemus,” CT (Christianity Today), January/February 2023, p. 9.
[6] “What is the meaning of Jacob wrestling with God?” Gotquestions.com.
[7] NET Bible. Genesis 32:28, First ed. Richardson, TX: Biblical Studies Press, 1996. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Warren Wiersbe. Bible Exposition Commentary - Be Authentic (Genesis 25-20).
[10] “What is Jacob’s Ladder?” Gotquestions.org.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2nd Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
[13] Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NIV)
