It sure didn’t take much to transform Nathanael’s snarky cynicism into full-blown hero-worship, did it? When he first heard that Jesus was from Nazareth, he immediately assumed the worst. But when Jesus proved that He had miraculous powers of knowledge, Nathanael instantly agreed that He must be the long-awaited Messiah. To say Nathanael was without guile, incapable of deception, was putting it mildly – he just didn’t have a filter either on what he said or thought.

But why was Nathanael so easily convinced? Perhaps because he and the rest of the disciples weren’t really expecting all that much of their Messiah. All they really wanted Him to be was a great military leader like David had been, perhaps with a little of the supernatural strength of Samson thrown in. They just wanted Jesus to lead His people to victory in a battle with the Romans, giving them the independence they longed for. Of course, if Jesus could throw in some bread from heaven and some healing miracles, or perhaps the miraculous ability to gather military intelligence from afar, so much the better. But their expectations were completely worldly, material in nature. And when, as He went to the cross, Jesus made it clear He wasn’t going to meet those expectations, all His disciples left Him as quickly as they had joined His cause.

Now, we know Jesus had a much greater blessing in mind for all of us. He says in verse 51 that He Himself was the way to Heaven, the fulfillment of the vision that Jacob saw in the vision you’ll study in Sunday School tomorrow (Genesis 28:10-22). Moreover, He says that He is the Son of Man, the figure of cosmic power and glory that Daniel saw in his vision (see Daniel 7:13-14). In short, Jesus was much more than Nathanael expected, much more than a human king. He was the Savior of the world, who shed His blood so that all who trust in Him might be forgiven and freed from the power of sin and death.

So, what do we seek from Jesus? If we just want more of the physical blessings this world has to offer, we are headed for disappointment. But if we are willing to surrender our desires in the service of our Heavenly King, if we want a closer relationship with God Himself, we can rest assured that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

John 1:43-51 (ESV)

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”