“Nathanael said to Jesus, How do you You know me? (How do You know these things about me?) Jesus answered him, Before Phillip called you, when you were still under the fig tree, I saw you.” (John 1:48)
I have been reading John 1 for the past week, missing for many years, the treasures that lie within, due to the need to speed read, as though quantity is more valuable than quality. One of the gifts the kingdom has given me is the ability to mine the word of God for treasures that are missed. The price of revelation knowledge is time, it takes time to listen, time to learn, time to hear what the Lord is saying, not what theology has said. While mining John 1, I met Nathanael, one of the disciples of Jesus and what I have found is speaking not only to me, but I believe to many in the remnant, who have found the kingdom.
Nathanael was an authentic Israelite, he was learned in the Law and the Prophets, he was possibly Scribe or Pharisee material. But Nathanael was overlooked, passed by, not seen by the system. As I was studying this, I realized yet again, how the system does not see people, it does not value authenticity, and it does not want to be exposed.
The system’s main objectives are to control, to be followed without asking questions, to use people for the system’s purpose. So, with a possible call to ministry on his life, but a system that could not see him, for whatever reason, Nathanael, never stopped studying, never stopped being authentic, but was also never seen. How do I come to believe this, because of what he said, when Jesus encountered him. “Nathanael answered, Teacher, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel.” (John 1:49) Jesus told Nathanael, I see you and Nathanael said, you must be God.
I have met many people, that the system does not see, but God sees them. They may not know they are seen, as they sit under their fig tree and spend time in the Word and prayer, in worship and loving others, but God sees them. I believe there are many reading this that have felt like they are not seen. They have a message in their belly, they have a call on their life, they have a passion in their soul, but they have not been seen by the system. I am here to say, this is a blessing. If the system sees you, it will use you to keep the system going, but if God sees you…! When you realize God sees you, you will know it, for you like Nathanael will declare, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!
Immediately after Jesus saw Nathanael and Nathanael saw Jesus as God, Jesus said to Nathanael, “Because I said to you, I saw you beneath the fig tree, do you believe in and rely on and trust in Me? You shall see greater things that this. I assure you most solemnly I tell you all, you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man! When Jesus sees us, we see Him and then we get to see greater things. Powerful!
Jesus wants you to know…I See You!
Lisa Great, author of Divine Principles of Success, pastored a church in Malaysia. She is a minister and blogger at Mouthpiece Ministries.
