Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come
and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite,
a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and
I saw you.” Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the king of
Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’
But you will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens
opened, and the angels of God ascending and descendingupon the Son of Man.”

Reflect

“Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Our difficulty of exercising the love of God
and the love of neighbor inseparably may also result from a duplicity we experience
from within us. Jesus’ true disciple, like St. Bartholomew, exhibits no guile. Today
we celebrate the Feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles (cf. Mk.
3:16-19; Mt. 10:2-4; Lk. 6:14-16). In John’s Gospel, he is presented as Nathanael.
Today’s Gospel narrates the call of Nathanael. When Philip told him that they have
found the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, he
immediately registered his bias against the Nazoreans. He was inclined to believe
that nothing good could come from Nazareth. Nonetheless, he accepted Philip’s
invitation to come and see Jesus. Upon meeting him, Jesus recognized
him to be a true Israelite because he was not exhibiting guilefulness. Perhaps
the reason why he could not immediately let go of his bias against the
Nazoreans was that, as a person, he was leading a nondouble standard life.
However, the kind of duplicity he needed to let go was the dichotomy between a
principled life and one that shows compassion. As Christians, we are called to grow
in compassion while leading a principled life.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2024