The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Jesus, Of Nazareth"
"Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto Him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see" (John 1:45-46).
We do not know why Nathaniel reacted so aversely to Philip's affirmation of the Lord Jesus Christ as coming from Nazareth. Perhaps Nathaniel had an unpleasant experience, or knew a difficult person, or had heard unsavory reports of Nazareth. Whatever the case, he did not believe that "any good thing" could proceed from a place he held in the most ill repute.
Philip nevertheless beckoned, "Come and see." Thankfully, Nathaniel went and saw, discovering and confessing through personal discourse with the Lord Jesus that He was indeed "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel" (John 1:49). A vital spiritual truth lies before us in this wonderful account of skepticism transformed into faith. We all have "Nazareths" in terms of circumstance, situation, conditions, and even people that seem impossible to herald of "any good thing." Past experience and present trepidation may tell us that no possibility exists of our Lord approaching from where it seems He could not come. Born again believers in the Lord Jesus, however, know that nothing could be further from the truth.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).
"All things" include our particular Nazareths, from which it seems only trial and trouble originate. Scripture records the people of God discovering His presence, purpose, and providence in venues where it seems He could not be. The cross most bears witness to this challenging truth. Human perceptions cannot begin to perceive "any good thing" proceeding from the horror of Calvary. Faith perceives otherwise:
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8;32).
Every good thing comes from the "Nazareth" of the cross. Thus, we may rightly expect that if the worst thing that ever happened in human history made possible the best thing that ever happened in our personal history - salvation - the Lord Jesus can and will come to us in all things if we will heed the Holy Spirit's invitation to "Come and see." We choose to trust that He proceeds not only from pleasant prospects, but also from those those which portend of the unpleasant and even painful. In our present lifetime, He even specializes in revealing His glory and wonder in that which greatly challenges us. "A very present help in trouble" declared the Psalmist of God's grace discovered in challenges, a measure never affirmed in Scripture of pleasant and happy times (Psalm 46:1; emphasis added).
Come and see. The Spirit of God and the Word of God beckon the eyes of our hearts to see the Lord Jesus approaching us from where it seems He could not originate. He can and does, and let us make it personal and pertinent: what "Nazareth" in our present experience raises the question, "Can any good thing come?" May it also raise in our hearts the faith that confesses, "Oh yes it can. Yes, He can."
"Who art Thou, Lord? And He said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth."
(Acts 22:8)
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."(Romans 8:35-37)
Weekly Memory Verse
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
(I Corinthians 13:12)
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