John 1:47-50 (ESV) Jesus saw Nathanael
coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there
is no deceit!” 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.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!” 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.”
A friend and I had some conversations
about Jesus. I could tell this was not his favorite topic, but, fortunately,
our friendship was strong enough that we could deal with the uncomfortable
topics as well as the easy ones and still look forward to our next time
together. One day in the midst of one of these talks I realized something. He
had decided he would not consider
believing in Jesus no matter how persuasive an argument I or anyone else
presented. I asked him, “What would it take for you to believe?”
He replied, “I cannot believe. There is
nothing you can say or do that would change that.”
He was correct in his statement. If he
had made the decision beforehand, he closed himself off to the possibility of
any other consideration. Yet, think of the implications. Suppose you were the
chief account of a multinational bank who started in your role in the late
1960s, but you still (in 2015) refuse to allow any of your staff to use
computers for any activities because you “do not trust them.” Instead, you
demand all your accountants all over the world to make hand written notations
and mail them to the head office. Think how inefficient and risk-prone your
methods would be. Your entire company would be at a competitive disadvantage
because you were unwilling to even consider the possibility that a computer
could improve your work.
Nathanael started off hardened toward
considering Jesus to be anything other than an ordinary man. He was not
inclined to believe. Note his response when Phillip invited him to check Jesus
out: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (vs 46) Yet it took just three
verses for Nathanael to become a believer. Jesus’ accurate foreknowledge of
Nathanael sitting under a tree was all it took for him to decide Jesus was the
Son of God. You might need more than that. Jesus even gives allowance for those
who need a little more: “You will see greater things than these.” The real
question is are you willing to consider who Jesus is. We have to be willing to
believe.
If you have not yet fully trusted
Christ, I sincerely ask you today to answer the question for yourself, “What
would it take for you to believe?” Be willing to ask for it and look for it. He
sure beats a pen and paper.