| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| NATE: "LORD, I'm here all alone. I wish You would show Yourself to me and remove all my doubts and fears. I want to be a true Israelite but sometimes I feel like a phoney." |
|
|
|
(later, Nate is introduced to Jesus)
|
|
|
 |
|
| JESUS: "I saw you under the fig tree. You ARE a true Israelite. And you're NOT a phoney." |
|
|
|
| READ: John 1:43-51 |
Nate, The SKEPTIC
Jesus wasn’t intimidated or upset by skeptics. A skeptic is merely a person with honest doubts. (What does upset Jesus is someone who pretends NOT to have doubts.)
Sometimes we make it harder for skeptics to have a relationship with God by the words we use in talking about God or the methods we use to introduce the subject.
Philip introduced Jesus, the Messiah, as being from Nazareth. Nathaniel knew that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem. Though referred to by Philip as the son of Joseph, it would have been more accurate to say He had no earthly father. It doesn’t really matter. Nathaniel's curiosity had been aroused. He had to see Jesus for himself.
Once face to face with the Master, “Nate” was a push-over. Earlier that day, he must have been meditating while he was sitting under the fig tree. Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit had “seen” him there and “heard” his thoughts and prayers. Nate didn’t think any one had seen him, much less heard him. But when Jesus said he had seen him and addressed him as “having no guile,” that did it for Nate.
Something in what Jesus said convinced him that Jesus was no ordinary man. That He was truly the Son of the Living God. Jesus had to chuckle at Nate being convinced so easily. Jesus said in essence, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Although there’s no account by the Gospel writers of seeing angels ascending and descending in the presence of Jesus, this prophecy was fulfilled in at least one way. In the Old Testament story of Jacob dreaming of angels going up and down a stairway or ladder, Jacob was convinced that “…surely the LORD is in this place.” (Genesis 28:12-17) Many times over the next three years, as Nate observed Jesus in action, he could see that “surely the LORD is in this place” in the flesh. He would be convinced many times over that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” (2nd Corinthians 5:19)
|
| REFLECT: |
1. Are you a skeptic? What would it take to convince you that Jesus is God in the flesh?
2. Maybe you have a skeptical friend or relative. Any ideas of how you can bring them “face to face” with the reality of Jesus Christ?
3. What should you do when a skeptic voices his or her doubts openly? (See 1 Peter 3:15,16 for a hint.)
|
| RESPOND: |
| "Lord, please use my life to reach skeptical friends. Help me to live before them in such a way that the quality of my own life becomes an answer to their doubts about You.” |
|
|
| home | cartoons | ignore this | soul feeding challenge | about | contact |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
