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Advent Devotional for Tuesday, November 28
Jesus is calling followers. He is seeking; he is being sought. Andrew and Peter follow; and then, we are told, Jesus “found Philip.” Philip, in turn, “found Nathanael.” Discipleship begins with Jesus seeking and people sharing.
Nathanael, who is not one of the twelve and who is otherwise unknown (John 21:2), is sitting under a fig tree. To him, Philip’s account of Jesus is unconvincing. How does he know Jesus is the one about whom Moses wrote? Nathanael ridicules this poor confession and along with it the hometown of Jesus himself. But then, remarkably, he stands up and follows. Apparently he does not really believe his disbelief.
Jesus, perhaps miraculously, recognizes the guileless heart of Nathanael and tells him about seeing him under the fig tree. Nathanael perceives the divine in Jesus and his vision. He confesses a good confession: “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Like all confessions, it may be true, but it is not enough. Jesus now ridicules Nathanael’s confession. You believe because of that? “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Encounters with Jesus, with God, resist the telling. No miracle fully portrays Jesus; no confession fully names him. The data of our relationship with God does not give adequate account of either us or God or the relationship. We cannot satisfactorily explain why or even what we believe. Nevertheless, in the presence of Jesus we think that the borders between heaven and earth are opened, that angels are running loose in the world, that fig trees can be sacred sites, that we can be disciples, and that we with our poor words can speak good confessions. And so, we tell our stories.
Eternal God, who calls us into service, who leads us into new paths, give us today guileless hearts with which to follow and honest words with which to speak. Amen.
Lewis Donelson
The Ruth A. Campbell Professor of New Testament Studies
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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