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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Eph 2:9 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, September 14, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:Jesus Calls Nathanael Bible Verse:John 1:45-51 (ESV) "Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.�” Nathanael responded, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?” Philip said, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are God’s Son. You are the king of Israel.” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these! I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” " Message:
Wednesday is our free day, and today we will look at the apostle whose name heads the “most likely to be left off when you are asked to name the 12 apostles” list: Nathanael.
Nathanael is mentioned only in the Gospel of John; in the Synoptic Gospels, Philip has a friend named Bartholomew who is called as an apostle. By the same token, John nevers speaks of anyone named Bartholomew, which has led scholars to conclude that they are the same person. But John, the least historical of the Gospels, does not name all twelve apostles. So although Nathanael is the fourth apostle named in John, and his calling is highlighted, John does not necessarily imply that he was the fourth apostle called.
Nathanael, we will learn later in his only other appearance (John 21:2), was a fisherman from Cana, in Galilee. His friend Philip comes to tell him the remarkable news of Jesus’ appearance. When he hears Jesus is from Nazareth, he is doubly skeptical. One might imagine a New Yorker being told that the Messiah is a man from Newark, New Jersey. Although there are many hints, nobody knows exactly whey Nathanael felt so negative towards Nazarenes. It was a backwater and rather a crude place, and there was certainly some worship of false gods there.
He goes to check it out, however, and his mind changes quickly. Jesus characterizes Nathanael as a genuine and honest Israelite, and tells him that he saw him sitting under a fig tree, where Nathanael had in fact been sitting. Today, we might suspect some sort of parlor trick, but apparently it was honest knowledge. Nathanael is convinced. But Jesus minimizes the miraculous nature of knowing about the fig tree; He promises Nathanael that he will see true religious miracles.
And that's about all we know, from the Bible. There is some symbolism involved. The fig tree will later be shown as a symbol for Judaism itself, and specifically the Judaism of the Pharisees. Nathanael’s name, in Hebrew, means “God has given.” So he does have some importance in the Gospel of John; he is representative of the good, devout Jew; he is the symbol of all the Israelites who have followed the Law and are now ready to accept Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law, to move out from underneath the fig tree.
This characterization is enhanced by Christ’s praise of him, “a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” which certainly raises him above most of the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees we enounter. Even such luminaries as Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea and Simon the Cyrene, while sympathetic to Christ, hide their sympathies to some degree. But there is no guile in Nathanael; he openly throws in his lot with Jesus immediately.
Later, non-Biblical sources contend that after the resurrection of Christ, Nathanael/Bartholomew traveled to India spreading the Gospel, and was flayed and beheaded by a minor king named “Astyages” in Armenia, directly to the east of modern-day Turkey.
Meditation : [Christ will keep me going when there seems nowhere to go.] Prayer : I pray that I may be blessed every step of my path this day by the great God of light. May your sun shine upon me; as the moon moves the tide, may your Spirit move my emotions with every grace and magic; may my heart sing with the voice of your angels and my hearth be warm; and may this and every blessed day You have given me be filled with joy... Amen |
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