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