Nathanael

I am a retired teacher. When I was teaching high school, it was my duty to attend meetings regarding the academic progress (or lack thereof) of many students. I tried to offer as accurate and unbiased an account as I could of each person considered, offering both the good and not so good points which had a bearing on the situation.

Let’s look at Nathanael, not from an academic point of view, but from the point of view of character. Nathanael, initially skeptical about our Lord, was certainly willing to meet him at Philip’s invitation. He soon dropped his prejudice concerning the quality of person coming from Nazareth. Nathanael shows that he knows who Jesus is, namely the Son of God, the King of Israel. Moreover, Nathanael made this declaration long before Peter made his at Caesarea in Philippi, and Nathanael takes this recognition one step further than did even Philip, who saw Jesus only as the son of Joseph and missed seeing Jesus’ divinity.

We hear little more about Nathanael and even less from him. What we have learned, however, is that he was an honest, discerning man of whom our Lord thought highly.

O Lord, help us to realize that Jesus thought highly of us as well, enough so that he was willing to die to keep us. Amen. — AEA