Human beings being what they are will never ever be in full possession of all the facts that there are. But just as that does not stop us living our lives very acceptably in normal run-of-the-mill matters neither should it stop us living very acceptably in the spiritual realm of relationship with God.

Just because you don't understand all the ins and outs of the workings of a motor car doesn't stop you driving one or travelling in one. Before taking a lift from a friend you don't ask if he/she understands how oil is turned into petrol or diesel. No, of course you don't – all you need is sufficient knowledge not exhaustive knowledge.

Do we have sufficient knowledge to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?

This evening we will take a look at how one man came to a solid faith in Jesus Christ even though he would later have far more reasons for this faith – Nathanael. Let's take a look at him.

Nathanael

In the first chapter of John we hear how Nathanael came to faith in Jesus Christ. It wasn't a long drawn out affair but really came about very rapidly. The transition from blunt scepticism to enthusiastic faith was stark.

How did it happen?

Well the sequence of events is very straightforward. Philip had already met Jesus and in his enthusiasm he went off to find Nathanael and tell him the good news about this man. The discovery that Philip had made was that Jesus was the Messiah.

Nathanael must have been impressed and excited as he heard Philip enthusiastically talking of the One Moses and the prophets had spoken about but this excitement suddenly came to a grinding halt.

Wait a minute – did Philip really just say that this man about whom he was getting so excited actually came from Nazareth? Nathanael was blunt – the Scriptures didn't link the Messiah with this place. And in addition the inhabitants of Nazareth weren't to be trusted:

"Can any good come out of Nazareth?" he asked.

Philip didn't try to argue with Nathanael but simply invited him to come and see for himself then he would be able to make up his own mind.

The fact that Nathanael was happy to respond to this simple invitation shows that he was a straightforward kind of man something that Jesus was to pick up on.

Now are we ready to have our cherished ideas challenged by the reality that is Jesus Christ or not? Nathanael could have stayed where he was refusing to allow the facts to change his thinking because his mind was already made up. But he didn't. He came to Jesus to find out more – will we?

Jesus Meets Nathanael

As Nathanael comes into Jesus' presence Jesus immediately speaks declaring that in Nathanael one finds a true Israelite!

What Jesus means by this is that Nathanael stands out from his fellow countrymen who were much more like their ancestor Jacob the twister, the deceiver. Nathanael was prepared to be blunt and to speak his mind – but there was no trickery about him and he was open to being taught new things.

Now some commentators have tried to suggest that Jesus was simply skilled at reading another person's body language and that all that takes place between Jesus and Nathanael can be explained by the use of His highly developed skills. But that is not how Nathanael understands it nor is that the opinion of the author John.

Nathanael is straightaway intrigued by these words with which Jesus greets him. He knows that Jesus has spoken truly about his character and nature but doesn't see how Jesus was in a position to know this about him. So a straightforward man puts a straightforward question:

"How do you know me?" he asks Jesus.

The reply he receives from Jesus is enough to turn his whole world upside down. Real encounters with the Lord Jesus tend to do just this. For a man or a woman to genuinely meet with Jesus Christ it is inconceivable that their life will carry on just as before, as though nothing at all had happened. Do you remember how the early Christian preachers were described in the NT era? They were the men who had "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).

What was it that Jesus said to him that produced such a rapid and complete transition in Nathanael's thinking? There he was one minute declaring his scepticism that anything good could come out of Nazareth and the next he is declaring that Jesus of Nazareth is God's long-promised Messiah!

At first sight Jesus' reply does not seem all that impressive does it? This is what Jesus gave as His reason for understanding just what Nathanael tick, we read it in v.48:

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

What are we to make of this?

Well a down to earth straightforward man like Nathanael would not have been struck as he was had he actually been within sight of Jesus as Philip came to speak to him! There is something much more special here.

Jesus is here displaying a supernatural knowledge of Nathanael and in doing so reveals Himself to him as the Messiah. No natural human contact could explain Jesus knowledge of just who Nathanael was – that Nathanael knew only too well and it was that that caused him so much surprise – but still Jesus knew him!

It has been suggested that when Jesus was referring to seeing Nathanael sitting under his fig-tree He was referring to something very significant indeed. The fig-tree speaks both of home and the place of spiritual meditation.

Was Jesus telling Nathanael that He had seen him as he went quietly about his religious devotions at home?

Some among the Pharisees about this time had been teaching that no prayer was true prayer unless it included an appeal to the Lord to send forth His long-promised Messiah. Had Nathanael been doing just this as he had been sitting under the fig-tree?

Jesus knew that this man was longing for the coming of the Messiah but that he didn't want to be led astray – he was guileless in this regard. He had come along with Philip to see whether Jesus might possibly be the One they were waiting for.

And now Jesus was using the Messianic quality of supernatural knowledge as He speaks to Nathanael!

This still happens today doesn't it? You've been sat in a church meeting and no-one has known what has been weighing heavily upon your heart and as the Word of God is opened up you are suddenly aware that you are been spoken to, that the message is personally for you. You may even wonder whether someone has actually given some information to the preacher beforehand!

Do you react as Nathanael did with a movement of trust and with a declaration of faith in Christ?

Nathanael's Conversion

It doesn't seem much information upon which to act does it? A simple word from the Lord Jesus and Nathanael's undergoes a complete transformation!

Jn.1:49 “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

In an instant he has changed from denigrating a person who has any association with that despised town of Nazareth to speaking to Him with great respect "Rabbi" he says, before going on to make a stunning confession of faith. The twin titles he employs – Son of God and King of Israel – are both titles that belong to the Messiah. All doubt and hesitation has gone and Nathanael believes!

We are not meant to understand from this that Nathanael gained a full and complete understanding of just how Jesus was going to fulfil His mission as the Messiah. We are not to imagine that he never had any struggles along the way after this initial commitment he made to Jesus Christ but we are meant to understand that it was all exceedingly real for him.

He didn't know everything there was to know but he knew enough to believe and believe he most certainly did! The knowledge he had was sufficient for a commitment of faith – time would simply add further confirmation that he had acted wisely!

Let pause again and ask whether we have acted wisely with the knowledge we have of Jesus Christ? Let's not postpone until some imaginary time in the future when we might know more but let us be sure that we act upon what we have and come in faith to Jesus Christ the only Saviour of sinners.

Jesus puts His Question

Finally, we come to our text for this evening:

Jn.1:50 “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

Jesus is not in any way calling into question the validity of Nathanael's profession of faith – He knows that Nathanael has expressed far more truth than he really understands at this moment – but His reply does carry with it the note of surprise as He commends Nathanael.

What is the cause of this surprise if surprise there be? Well it is because faith has come to Nathanael on the basis of having seen so very little!

Think about it for a moment – what has Nathanael seen?

a. The ministry of John the Baptist preparing the way for the coming of the One greater than he

b. The witness of his friend Philip who nearly blew it all with his reference to Nazareth

c. The supernatural Word of Christ Himself – albeit in fairly enigmatic form.

If Nathanael can come to genuine faith when he has as yet seen so little surely that should encourage us as we speak about Jesus to others! We don't have to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Christian before we can believe for ourselves nor do we need that in order to speak about Him to others.

The real question is not whether you know much or whether you know little – it is not about how much you know at all – but what does matter is what you have done with what you do know.

Genuine faith can begin with very little though of course it would be a tragedy if genuine faith were to remain ignorant. Jesus assures Nathanael that his faith, which has been built upon only a small quantity of evidence, will find progressively more evidence to undergird it.

Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is not the end of the journey. None of us comes to faith with a full and completely mature faith that needs no further growth and development!

I wonder if you find that mildly depressing. Well you shouldn't. Coming to faith is the glorious beginning of a whole new life - how exciting that really is! There is more to learn, more to see, more to understand, more to experience, more to apply, more to humble us, more to exalt Him!!

And we never need be afraid: every fresh truth we understand, every nuance newly grasped, every new comprehension of how it all fits together will serve only to afford us more reasons for trusting Christ, more confidence that He is well-able to save us and keep us. Truth is never the enemy of faith in Christ and there is much more to be grasped.

That is what Jesus indeed said to Nathanael. Nathanael had faith, real faith, true faith but his faith was founded upon a very small understanding – how much more stable that faith would become as he learnt and discovered more!

Jesus promises to Nathanael that he will see greater things than this one word of supernatural knowedge. What might He have had in mind?

The Greater Things

In v.51 Jesus broadens His speech. He is no longer speaking to Nathanael alone – the you is you plural. His words cannot and must not be restricted to Nathanael alone.

Jesus words in v.51 recall the incident in the book of Genesis where Jacob has a vision of a ladder linking heaven and earth – a way of communication between heaven and earth. In the place of a ladder the Son of Man provides a far better access – He is indeed the one and only way that leads to the Father and any that wishes to approach the Father must do so by Him.

The focus is upon the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, and as His life and ministry develop it will become increasingly clear who this Son of Man is and what He is like.

Looking ahead we can point to some of those "greater things" that will characterise the Saviour and which will be heard by those who have ears to hear and seen by those who have eyes to see.

Nathanael and his companions will see:

1. More miracles

i) Over nature

ii) Over evil spirits and the whole demonic world

iii) Over sickness and disease

iv) Over life and over death

2. His Authority

i) As He cleanse the religious corruption out of the Temple

ii) As He teaches the crowds

iii) As He debates with and confounds the religious leaders

3. His teaching

i) His wonderful content

ii) His wonderful harmony with OT teaching

iii) His freshness and vitality

iv) His promises

v) His prophecies

4. His Life - they will observe Him day by day

i) never doing anything wrong and never reacting inappropriately

ii) never saying anything wrong but always being wise and just in His pronouncements

iii) not being bound by taboos or prejudices

iv) always doing His Father's will

v) fearlessly confronting error and refusing to be turned aside from the path the Father had chosen for Him

5. His sufferings, His death, His resurrection and His ascension

They would see Him calmly walking towards what was humanly speaking a gruesome end fully knowing what He was doing and what was going to happen. They knew of His confidence and trust even where they didn't understand. They would see the vindication of Him in His resurrection and His crowning via the ascension!

6. If all this were not enough they would hear the Father's voice speaking from heaven on two separate occasions commending His Son and directing all the attention towards Him as being both His Beloved Son and well-pleasing in His sight.

7. They would too catch glimpses of Jesus own glory when Jesus was transfigured in the presence of His Father so that His very garments sparkled and gleamed with glory and this prior to the more general manifestation of that glory at His resurrection.

Conclusion

We may not have seen all this with our own eyes but we have heard about it all as it has been faithfully recorded for us in the Word of God. We have so much more knowledge and understanding than the mere smattering that Nathanael possessed when he committed himself to Christ. Have we committed ourselves to this Christ? Come to Christ now even this evening if you have never exercised faith before. And if you have come to faith in this One then go on growing in your understanding!

But don't whatever you do sit back saying if only I could see with my own eyes a miracle or some special display of Christ's power:

John at the end of his gospel records Jesus speaking to Thomas. This is what Jesus said to him:

Jn.20:29 "Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

There were some chosen at the beginning of the gospel to be eye witnesses – indeed this had to be so – but believing without seeing was to be the norm through the centuries of the Christian era. Listen to how John follows up his account of Jesus and Thomas:

Jn.20:30-31 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

To God be the Glory.

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