UNDER THE FIG TREE

Scripture for the day: John 1:48-50 Nathanael said to Him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

Nathanael answered and said to him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do your believe? You will see greater things than these."

Thought for the day: Isn't this an interesting exchange? Very early in his ministry Jesus was choosing the twelve who would walk with him and whom he would disciple to become the church when he had returned to the Father. He had spent much time in prayer over those who would become part of his inner circle and this was no chance meeting. In fact, the phrase "under the fig tree" was a common saying meant to indicate communion with God. Under the fig tree there was relief from the heat of the day, quiet, and peace; it was a place where one could retreat from the pressures of life and spend some quality time with the Lord. Jesus saw Nathanael communing with God and knew he was "an Israelite in whom is no deceit."

There is comfort when we understand that Jesus knows each and every one of us, more intimately than we can even know ourselves. He knows the inner hunger that characterizes each of us. He knows the fears, the faults, the failures; he knows the love, the desire for fellowship with him, and the degree to which each of us is surrendered to his will. His ability to read our hearts, as he did the heart of Nathanael, ought to be a deciding factor in whether we are able to say with the disciple, "You are the Son of God!" Now I don't think Nathanael fully understood what he was saying. I don't think any of the disciples completely understood the mission of redemption the Savior was on, nor the extent of that mission. But how many of us fully grasp all that Jesus is about, even now? How many have encountered Jesus in a moment of conviction and understood the far-reaching extent of his death, burial, and resurrection?

Nathanael saw a man who fulfilled the hopes and dreams of the prophets; one who fully illustrated the meaning of the ladder dream of Jacob (Genesis 28:12-17). This Jesus who had seen him "under the fig tree," was the one who had come to unite fallen humanity with their redeemer God. He became the link between heaven and earth. As Paul said, He is "the one mediator between God and man."

When Jesus asked, "Do you believe?" He focused immediately on the fundamental nature of Christianity. Faith is the keystone that holds the whole thing together. Without faith, the Bible says, "It is impossible to please God." By faith our sins are forgiven. By faith we are redeemed, justified before a holy God, adopted into the family of believers, and brought from death to life. And by faith we are to live our lives "under the fig tree." Remove faith from Christianity and we are left with a set of high principles and a noble moral code, both of which will eventually fail us. This faith in the Son of God is what keeps the believer's heart, and it is what provides a receptacle for the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. A professed follower of Jesus Christ without this divine life in his or her heart is like a car without an engine; everything may look good on the outside, but on the inside there is no motor - that person is only a cold empty symbol of the real thing.

Down through the centuries the question has remained the same: "Do you believe?" Do you believe I am who I say I am? Do you believe I am able to do this? Do you believe? Only when we are able to answer an undoubting "Yes!" can we claim the assurance of being a true believer.

Jesus said, "You will see greater things than these." In that he promised a revelation of himself beyond anything either the disciples then or now could imagine. Nathanael first believed because of what Jesus saw in him. Later he believed because of what He saw in Jesus.

Now go take on your world. - Bill