Nathanael: The Pure of Heart

Historical Data

Nathanael, appears as the sixth member of the Twelve in the synoptic lists of the apostles and seventh in Acts and always after Philip.

Nathanael is also known as Bartholomew, Nathanael Bar ‘Tolmai (son of Tolmai), the name Nathanael means: God has given.

Bartholomew is the subject of later apocryphal and Gnostic writings (these are early writings but do not meet criterion to be considered cannon.

Gospel of Bartholomew

the Acts of Andrew and Bartholomew

The Acts of of Bartholomew and Barnabas

The Questions of Bartholomew

The Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle

Because Nathanael is consistently named sixth in the list (outside of Acts) we can distinguish that he had a prominent place among the disciples (though not in the inner circle)

Getting to know Nathanael

We only know about Nathanael because of the record in John 1& 21.

Philip is a close friend to Nathanael. After he is recruited by Jesus, he goes and finds him to share all that he has discovered about who Jesus is.

We know that Philip and Nathanael are close first by the introduction in John 1 but also because they are listed in the Synoptics in succession consistently. Lastly, most of the early writings we have outside of the Bible reference the two together. Not unlike Peter and Andrew and James and John. Except they are dear companions and not brothers.

We are introduced to Nathanael in the wilderness of Galilee. Shortly after Jesus’s baptism he goes into the wilderness of Galilee and seeks out Philip. Philip knows where Nathanael is hanging out and finds his friend.

This interaction is extremely interesting:

Philip declares to Nathanael “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, Bar Joseph.

Philip begins the interaction with a large assumption, that Nathanael will catch right up with his statement. How can we know? Because there is no small talk, only the sharing of the revelation of what Philip has witnessed.

We can conclude that Nathanael, like Philip studied Torah. Nathanael was searching for the Messiah texts and studied diligently alongside Philip. Why else would this exchange take place?

The Torah was important to Nathanael. Because of the nature of the introduction suggests Nathanael knew the prophesies. Philip didn’t need to go into detail. He operated from a place of common knowledge.

Philip didn’t say “I found a great teacher, or leader, or life changer, some one who will make all your struggles go away.” he didn’t appeal to him from the worldly starting points but from the salvific, cosmic work of God on their behalf as a people.

Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah prophesy. This was Philip’s starting point.

Nathanael has some growing to do...

When Philip reveals the name of Jesus and more importantly where Jesus is from all of a sudden we get a different response than what we expect.

Nathanael finds out Jesus is from Nazareth and all of a sudden he pushes back in protest.

Nathanael is from Cana which is 9 miles away from Nazareth, unlike Bethsaida and Capernaum. Since he is so up on his study of Torah he knows that Nazareth is not the birthplace of the Messiah, but at this point he doesn’t know where Jesus was born. Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.”

But there is something else that reveals a character flaw of Nathanael— Prejudice.

He makes a qualifying remark “can anything good come from Nazareth” Now Cana was not a bustling town, likely it is a little smaller than Jesus’s hometown but we see a negative judgment because of where Jesus is from.

Not only do the facts of the situation not line up with Torah, Nathanael doesn’t like the area. he is critical and condescending. He has judged Jesus by a wordly standard. And foolishly made a wrong judgement.

But this reveals also, that Nathanael has a desire for the truth. He didn’t hold back to appease his friend but spoke hard truth. He is a man who lets you know where he stands, no gray area, no questions, what you see is what you get. But Jesus is gonna have to address Nathanael’s heart.

Nathanael could have responded with actual Torah references about the Messiah instead of this negative caricature of Jesus because of his home town.

Meeting Jesus

We know that Nathanael is a what you see is what you get. Philip insists that he come and see for himself and weigh what his experience of Jesus. Will he measure up will be the question.

Jesus greets Nathanael with a unique statement “ Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” verse 47.

If you reach back to your Old Testament, we should be thinking about Jacob, the one whom God called Israel. Jacob was shrewd and deceitful, even though God used him to bring forth the Hebrew people, he didn’t always honor God with his actions. Jacob held back so as to capitalize on a given situation. Whether it was to get ahead of his brother Esau or to avoid harm, Jacob twisted the truth and outright lied. His motives were always suspect.

Nathanael isn’t like Jacob, as we have heard already you know where you stand with him. His love of truth was a wonderful thing, now his heart must be addressed.

How does that happen? Through belief.

Nathanael asks the question “how do you know me?”

What an interesting question, Jesus called out a character trait and Nathanael is guarded. How could Jesus know anything about him?

The response of Jesus is simple “I saw you under the fig tree” Many scholars hypothesize to what this means.

Young children were placed under the shad of Fig Trees when the mothers would go to work in the fields.

Often a Fig Tree was planted outside a house for shade to get away from the warmth of the inside. It was a private place of solitude and study of scripture.

No matter what the circumstance, Nathanael realized Jesus knew something intimate about him that no one could know and it was enough.

Nathanael’s response says it all, “you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

With this profession of faith, Nathanael is on the road to transformation.

Jesus will teach him that God desires a heart that is pure, filled with love, mercy,grace, forgiveness, and truth. Jesus has come to destroy prejudice and bring all people into the fold.

Like Philip, Nathanael had a hard time seeing that Jesus was for everyone. He was judgmental and harsh. He spoke truth but needed to be tempered with love.

Matthew 5:8 ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Jesus tells Nathanael, “do you believe because I saw you under the fig tree” You will see greater things than these. you will see heaven open and angels God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” Perhaps we will go back to Jacob and his dream in Genesis where he to saw this taking place. God was moving and he needed to be ready.

Nathanael known as Bar Tolmai, would get to see greater things as he journeyed with Jesus and took the message to the world outside of Israel. Several traditions speak of his martyrdom but vary in specificity. Likely he was killed in while close to Philip for they were likely companions. Or in Armenia in west Asia.

Wrap up

Nathanael, had a blind spot. For all of his truth and his love of knowledge Nathanael needed to learn. It wasn’t about insiders and outsiders. It wasn’t about division. It is about God’s want for all of his people to gather together united under the banner that is Jesus Christ.