Post 136

Nathanael sat relaxing in the shade of a fig tree when Philip came running up to him.

"Nathanael!" Philip said between gasps for air. "We found Him!"

"Found who?" Nathanael asked.

"The Messiah promised by Moses!"

Nathanael raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes," Philip said. "Jesus of Nazareth."

Nathanael chuckled. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

"Come and see!" Philip insisted, pulling Nathanael to his feet. "He's the Promised One alright!"

"Okay, okay," Nathanael said. "Let's go see this Jesus fellow."

So Nathanael allowed his friend to drag him along until they came to a small group of people a ways down the road. In the center of the group, a tall, well-built man was speaking passionately, holding the attention of all present.

"There He is," Philip whispered. "Jesus."

Despite Jesus' calloused, manful physique, something about the way He held Himself made Him look (Nathanael thought) somehow royal, as though he could command the world.

As Nathanael and Philip approached the group, Jesus looked at them, stopped His speaking, and walked toward them.

"Here!" He said, pointing at Nathanael as He approached them. "Here we have an Israelite who doesn't have any guile in'm!"

Nathanael looked around, confused. "Me?" he asked. "Do you know me?"

"I saw you sitting under the fig tree," Jesus said with a shrug, then He put His hand on Nathanael's shoulder. "How are you?"

The strength of His voice! The sincerity of the common question! These things impacted Nathanael greatly, and, had the entirety of their interaction been limited to those things alone, Nathanael may have eventually come to the conclusion that Philip was probably right in his perception of this Man, but it was the the power of His touch and the intensity of His gaze that made Nathanael drop to his knees and exclaim, "Rabbi, Thou are the Son of God! Thou are king of Israel!"

The man laughed a kindly sort of I'm-not-mocking-you-but-you've-
got-to-admit-that-this-little-exchange-of-ours-isn't-making-a-great-
deal-of-sense laugh and said, "Because I said I saw you sitting under the fig tree, you believe?"

Nathanael sputtered a little laugh through his fast falling, guileless tears.

Jesus bent down, hands on knees, to look Nathanael in the face; Nathanael looked up and felt deeper reverence yet.

"Hereafter," Jesus said, "you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

The tears began again, and Jesus offered Nathanael His hand.