A LITTLE CONVINCING

John 1:43-50
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

The First Disciples

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”


It seems that Nathaniel took a little more convincing than some of the other disciples before he would agree to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. He had some preconceived notions about people who come from Nazareth. In his mind, no one good could come from there.

Are we like Nathaniel? If we are from the city, how do we feel about folks from the country? If we have moved to the suburbs, how do we judge those left in town? What is our opinion of folks from the ‘delta’ … the ‘north’ … Rebels, Bulldogs, Tigers, Eagles, Braves or Delta Devils … Florida, Michigan or California? Don’t we all have some preconceived notions?

Nathaniel needed to be shown a little of the divine nature of Jesus before he would follow. What did it take to convince you that Jesus is the real deal? Was it a “…greater thing…”, a still small voice, or the written Word? Was it a parent, a friend or even a stranger? Was it a special event, a retreat or a revival?

It doesn’t matter, as long as you are convinced. JESUS IS LORD!