Nathanael would follow Jesus. He had to overcome his prejudice first. He had to see differently. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” His friend invited him to come and see. It’s not clear what Jesus saw in Nathanael, only that he was a man of integrity. Unlike his forefather, Jacob, he could be counted on to tell it like he saw it. Whatever it was about Jesus seeing him “under the fig tree,” it helped Nathanael to see beyond his stereotypes of the humble Galilean village where Jesus grew up. “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” His declaration makes me want to plant a fig tree in my garden, sit under it and meditate about the stairway from heaven in Genesis 28. Even more, it makes me want to see and to be seen like Nathanael.
I live with my family in the banlieue parisienne. The banlieues are the multi-ethnic “suburbs” that sprawl out on every side of the City of Lights. French journalists use the term as a euphemism for urban social problems popularly associated with African-origin immigration. Images diffused across the planet during the Fall 2005 riots burned these negative stereotypes onto the world’s consciousness. You can almost hear Nathanael’s initial critical tone, “Can anything good come from the banlieue parisienne?”
I like to imagine Jesus growing up here in the banlieue. I like it so much, that I named my third son Nathanael, which means “God gives.” God gives in places that no one else thinks are significant, in ways that we don’t expect, and to those, like Jacob, who are totally undeserving of his blessing. He also makes us to see differently and to recognize his good gifts flowing freely to us on the Stairway from heaven, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the King of Israel... Jacob's shepherd (Gen 48.15-16).
I pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will bless my Nathanael with eyes that recognize grace wherever it is to be seen.
