Tuesday 3 Jan 2023

January 3: John 1:43-51

Key Verse: John 1:46
‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.

Devotion:
These days around Jesus’ baptism mark the beginning of His ministry to so many people and the fulfilling of the scriptures – and yet so many people chose to not believe, and many still choose to not believe. Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree doing whatever he used to do when Philip came up to him and said about finding the Messiah emphasizing it was Jesus of Nazareth.

Whether Nathanael was bias or because of how he was brought up, he did not want to believe any Nazarite could be good, let alone be the Messiah! It only took a few words with Jesus for him to become a believer… he must have know the scriptures and known what the Messiah would be capable of. For Jesus to acknowledge him despite the words he had said about Jesus, must have made all the difference!

What did Jesus do? He invited Philip to come and follow Him, to join in the teachings and learning and to be a disciple. What did Philip do? He did what a disciple should do and approached someone else with the truth to get them to come and discover Jesus for himself.

Our task as disciples of Christ is not to go round converting the whole world because if we think we can do that, we have made a very bold and invalid assumption to start with. Philip was correct in telling Nathanael the truth and inviting him to come and meet with Jesus for himself. It is Jesus who does the converting!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you would make a good disciple?

Will you invite someone to meet with Jesus?