Skip to main content
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): 
Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nathanael asked him.
John 1:44-46 CSB
Not sure if Nathanael was from Bethsaida as well, but he certainly wasn't from Nazareth!
His comment gives  insight into the person Nathanael was; arrogant, quick to judge, quick to pigeon hole someone because of where they come from.
Everyone from there is the same.
And none of it is good.

And as I've thought about Nathanael I've realised that I'm the same.
There's countries that I've called basket cases.
There's towns I'd never want to live in.
There's suburbs I'd at least in my mind call "Nazareth". Nothing good can come from there. 
That streak of arrogance runs in me.
Yet Jesus was one of "them", from "there".
By pigeon holing people, categorising, means I don't have to enter in, to see "them" as image bearers, as people Jesus loves, as people just like me, a distorted image bearer, but also a beloved child of God.
Jesus gently reminds me that there are no "them", just us. 
#itsaheartthing
#lovepeople

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...
Post a Comment
Read more
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...
Post a Comment
Read more