Jeremy L. Berg

Lectionary Reflection: John 1:43-51

Whose company do you prefer? A person who keeps their true opinions to themselves and has you constantly walking on eggshells, never quite knowing what they think or where you stand with them? Or do you prefer a person who can be a bit blunt and brash at times, but who speaks their mind in every situation and isn’t afraid to “call a spade a spade”? My wife and I often remark how much we enjoy the latter types in our friends.

We all have that friend who puts their foot in their mouth. They go just a bit too far in the text thread, testing the limits of propriety. Their honesty can be disarming at times, but their ruthless sincerity is also a refreshing gift in a world of two-faced liars and posers. “What you get is what you get with me,” is their attitude. “Take me or leave me.” 

Such folks can be a bit prejudiced, opinionated, and naive at times, but usually they are committed enough to the truth (“I just tells it as I sees it”) to change their mind when presented with better facts. Ultimately, they want to be walking in the truth and they have little patience for playing games and beating around the bush. “Just shoot straight with me!” 

This week’s Gospel reading from the Common Lectionary has Jesus beginning to choose the company he prefers to keep. As we’re about to see, Jesus has a soft spot for “guileless” people as well. Let’s read from John 1:43-51:

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is a sincere Israelite in whom there is no guile (or deceit)!”Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Nathanael fascinates me. He only shows up briefly in John’s Gospel, and may or may not be one of the Twelve. The other Gospels don’t mention him, but he may be one and the same person as the Bartholomew listed among the disciples there. But Nathanael makes quite an entrance here, blurting out without reservation as a proud resident of the Galilean town of Cana that “There’s no way in Hades the Messiah could come from our rival village over yonder!” Why don’t you tell us what you really think, Nathanael?

His buddy Phillip wisely doesn’t try to argue with him, but just invites him to “Come and see” for himself. To his credit, Nathanael isn’t afraid of being proven wrong, and so he goes with Philip to meet Jesus of Na…Na…Nazareth personally (he can barely say the name with a straight face). As Nathanael approaches, Jesus sizes him up and looks into the depths of his heart, and proclaims: “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no guile!” Jesus likes what he sees! “I can work with a guy like this!” He seems relieved and refreshed to have found man free of “guile.” 

Free of what now? This is not a common word today, and so you may be excused in thinking guile was a skin disease or something. The definition of “guilelessness” in the dictionary is: Free from deception or slyness; sincere and straightforward. Similar words include above-board, candid, frank, artless, unsophisticated, simpleminded. Used in a sentence: “No matter the situation, she was always transparent, guileless, and above any petty manipulative ploys.” A straight shooter who calls them as he sees them, and who doesn’t put up with BS. 

Why does Jesus seem to appreciate this particular quality in a potential disciple? I suggest its because Jesus is the Truth Incarnate who came to wage war against the Father of Lies, and the strongest weapon in the Enemy’s arsenal is, you guessed it, deception. The Sly Snake used his guile to lead our first parents astray. Self-deception is what keeps many people in prisons of their own false narratives and religious pretenses. We’ve been rescued out of the kingdom of darkness and ushered into the kingdom of light by the One who says “I am the truth” (John 14:6). “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (Eph. 6:14) because “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).Jesus prays, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17), and then he gives us the Spirit of truth to “guide [us] into all the truth” (John 6:13). We can rest assured knowing that “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Ps 145:18). 

But Jesus launches a full frontal assault on the hypocrisy—i.e., mask-wearing, two-faced deceptions—of the religious leaders of the day. (The Greek word for ‘hypocrite’ comes from the world of ancient theater, where one actor would wear different masks to change characters in different scenes.) While Jesus was meek and mild in many ways, the one thing that twisted his beard was people, especially leaders, playing fast and loose with the truth, and shape-shifting and putting on a performance to get their way. For “the LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy” (Prov. 12:22). Consider his unflinching words to the guileful religious leaders in John 8:44: 

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Let every Christian read that again and shudder, especially all who have made peace with supporting and defending politicians who are proven pathological liars who trade in doublespeak and conspiracies.

On the other hand, God delights in and Jesus scoops up into his crew those who are willing to get honest with their dishonesty, to take the masks off and walk boldly into the light of God’s saving grace. We believe the church should be the place on earth where people can break free from deception, manipulation, posing and whitewashing of the truth. Sadly, the church is often the place where people are especially careful to come dressed in their “Sunday best” with fake smiles firmly in place and all our family’s dysfunction stuffed tightly under the surface for that one hour.

Likewise, many churches and their leaders are falling prey to political cunning, buying into conspiracy theories, and supporting the most bald-faced political liars and charlatans who will not hesitate to twist the truth for political gain. Scot McKnight, in his Second Testament translation of John 1:47, perhaps captures Jesus’ words best in reference to Nathanael: “Look! Truly, an Israelite in whom there isn’t a disguise.” 

Nathanael types are a breath of fresh air in the church because they are true-faced and have discarded all disguises. They are done playing religious games, done pretending, done airbrushing the warts and pimples, honest about their doubts but open to being persuaded of the Truth. Do you belong to a church that “does not delight in evil [especially lies] but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6)? Does your church have room for guileless people who won’t put up with games and BS? Do you need to work up the courage to begin taking off the disguises you’ve been wearing to feel more secure and acceptable? 

Let us follow Nathanael’s lead and “come and see” Jesus with fresh eyes this New Year! I promise you will come to see that Jesus can handle your salty tongue. Jesus can work around your rough edges. He’ll be patient with your prejudices. But the one thing Jesus can’t work with is a person who resists the truth and who insists on wearing masks and playing games with God.