The Apostles: Nathaniel

Now that we’ve had a brief introduction to Nathaniel, there are still a couple of points I’d like to make. When Philip came to him saying, “We have found HIM of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, JESUS of Nazareth, the SON of Joseph.” (John 1:45) He gave Nathaniel several bits of information. One point is that JESUS was the SON of Joseph. Joseph was a common enough name, but Philip didn’t specify which Joseph. It makes me wonder if maybe Joseph was known to Philip and Nathaniel. If that was the case, did they know Joseph had a son? Did they already know HIS name was JESUS? It’s interesting to think about, but who really knows? Philip also reminds his friend that this same JESUS was from Nazareth. Nathaniel immediately makes his famous statement, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46) There has been a lot of speculation about this statement. Some believe that Nathaniel harbored some bad feelings about that Galilean town. Perhaps, they say, that Nazareth had a bad reputation among the Jews. We’re told that Judean Jews did not hold Galilean Jews in very high regard. Maybe that was part of the reason for the question. For me, I believe it is a response to Philip’s statement that JESUS had been the one who was written about in the Law and Prophets. In that case, it seems, Nathaniel knew his MESSIANIC Scriptures well enough to know that nothing was ever associated with the MESSIAH and Nazareth. This tells me that Nathaniel and Philip both had a measure of education in GOD’s Word. And the fact that Philip said they had ‘FOUND’ HIM, tells me they had been hoping and searching for the MESSIAH to show up. The lesson for us then is, do we know enough of our Bible that we would know if someone was saying something untrue about JESUS? Could we defend the truth against a lie? If not, it is high time to get busy and spend much more time with the Scriptures. If you are not sure about who JESUS is then take Philip’s advice and, “Come and see!”

Russell Ashby

The Apostles: Nathanael Son of Talmai (Bartholomew)

There is very little known about most of the Apostles chosen by JESUS. However, we are given insight into a few of them. As with Andrew, Peter, John, and Philip, Nathanael is one of the first few recorded disciples of JESUS. That says something about this man. He is a willing follower of JESUS. There are many people in the New Testament that we know nothing about other than the fact that they were believers and fellow workers in CHRIST’S Kingdom. Most of us will barely be remembered outside of our family and our congregations, but we are known by JESUS. That is enough. There are a few things that are revealed to us about Nathanael. In John’s Gospel he is mentioned as a friend of Philip. The name Nathanael comes from the Hebrew meaning ‘GOD has given.’ In that sense, Nathanael’s name reflects the idea of Grace. By grace, GOD gave Nathanael the gift of Apostleship. By grace, HE gave him the gift of a Divine purpose in the spreading of the WORD of CHRIST in the early days of the Church. By grace GOD allows his name to go down in the history of the Bible. By grace, Nathanael is redeemed. And by grace, we can still find this man in Scripture and learn from him. There is an almost universal assumption that the Bartholomew of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is the same man as our Nathanael from the book of John. Why? Nathanael is mentioned as the first-person Philip goes to in order to share his belief that, ““We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45) Bartholomew is always paired with Philip in the other Gospels in their lists of the Apostles. We know it’s common for a person to be identified with his father, thus Nathanael’s two names. (Bar meaning ‘son of’) There is more I want to write about this man, but for now please remember, every true believer in JESUS the SON of GOD is a valuable part of the body of CHRIST. HE knows your name.

Russell Ashby