John selects for us to know certain things Jesus said with the “truly truly” preface which in the God’s Word translation comes out to “I can guarantee this truth:” Jesus used this phrase selectively and John selects certain ones of these to make his point so that we might believe Jesus. It is a personal and revealing review to read these and collect them together in one place. I wish to end this time of musings in the book of John by looking at these specific guarantees straight out of the mouth of Jesus. I shall look at these using script analysis, to understand the person of Jesus. Who is he speaking to for what purpose?
WHO: To Nathanael
- a friend of Philip’s brought to meet
Jesus - from Bethsaida and was following John the Baptist
- questioned if anything good could come out of Nazareth (a popular attitude apparently)
- yet was willing to ‘come and see’ so was seeking truth and Messiah
- Jesus said he was ‘without guile”
- recognized Jesus as Son of God and King of Israel
- later referred to as Nathanael of Cana
- a disciple some believe to be same person as Bartholomew
- saw Jesus after resurrection at Sea of Tiberias
WHY: a personal promise as to what following Him will mean.
1:51 Jesus said to Nathanael, “I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God’s angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man”
Observational thoughts: For Jesus to say this to Nathanael, Jesus knew his heart. One who was truly seeking and longing to know God. He saw his hearts desire- and promised he would see the sky open and see angels and even better seeing them minister to the one and only Messiah.
How about you and I? My desires no longer seem to run on the surface as they did when I was a child. Now they run deep and are often hidden from my own daily awareness but yes, I too long to see my Messiah, and I rejoice in knowing that someday I shall.
- What personal promise have I received from Jesus?
- What does following Him mean?
When I turned my life over to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I asked Him to “please be gentle with me”. Those were the words of my heart. While I have experienced many changes typical to life, He has indeed been gentle through the hardest times. I am so grateful for this. Yet I wonder why I fear Him so? Perhaps it is knowing that who He is, like with Abraham hidden in a cleft of the rock so the sight of the Father’s back would not destroy him, I still have a hard time comprehending the vastness and greatness of the Father encapsulated in the human body of the Lord Jesus Christ- for us humans. A love so grand and fearsome and so gentle all at once!
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Musings 