1. In this conversation what did Jesus say or do?
2. In this conversation what did the words or actions of Jesus explain to us about the Father?

1a. Jesus spoke a blessing right off the bat to Nathanael even though He surely knew Nathanael’s comment about nothing good coming from Nazareth.
1b. I picture Jesus sitting around talking and Nate coming up, “Now here’s a honest man!” He says. Nate has just been brought to the Ultimate Judge of all Judges, the Righteous Judge, who Moses wrote about in the LAW, and His first words to Nate are not condemnation. If you heard that you were about to meet the ONE that Moses and the Prophets fortold, wouldn’t you be nervous or skeptical?
1c. Jesus told him that He saw him before Philip came. Only Jesus and Nate know what was going on right then, but it was definitely more than what John wrote here. Jesus didn’t embarrass Nate or correct him or flatter him. It almost seems like an inside joke like “I know what you did” or something, and the effect was a great confession. Jesus knows just the right thing to say.
1d. In a humble way, Jesus says “you guys are going to see more than just this. You are going to see heaven open up and the messengers of God go to and fro on me.”
2a. He didn’t have a bunch of pent up rage against Nathanael, He didn’t show up with condemnation and judgement. He didn’t hold a grudge or take personally Nate’s Nazareth comment.
2b. Jesus does another “call it like I see it” on Nate. Nate might not have felt at all like he was honest or true or even an Israelite. His reply to Jesus may have not been b/c Jesus knew about how honest he was, but b/c Jesus knew how tricky (kniving sp?) Nathan was, and Jesus showed him such mercy. Like if Jesus said to the alcoholic, “here is a true family man, who cares very deeply for his family.” That might not be where his addiction takes him, but apart from his great weakness, that is where his heart is. Maybe Nate was wishing he was honest, and Jesus sees that in spite of his actions.
2c. Jesus saw Nathan, where he was, what he was doing, what he was thinking, how he was feeling, and treated it all with great care. Jesus is not in a rush to condemn or humiliate us publicly. It is not his goal to shame us. He would rather show us great things.
2d. Jesus gets called “Son of God” and “the King of Israel” but doesn’t call Himself those things. He isn’t so concerned with the words we call Him by. (I’m thinking of Jehovah’s witnesses that harp on calling God Jehovah and nothing else)
2e. The angels of God come and go on Jesus. He is the way for things to come from the Father, and He is the way to go back to the Father. Jesus is the path to the Father, and He is the Place where God comes to Earth.
In Jacob’s dream he said “God was in this place and I didn’t know it.” Nate sees Jesus in this situation and realizes that this is the place where God is: Jesus.

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