Conversation with a good man

“We have found him!” Said Philip to his friend Nathanael,
“We have found the one about whom the prophets wrote and about whom Moses wrote!”
Nathanael was skeptical and voiced his doubts, to which Philip replied,
‘Come and see.’
That is what I would like to say to every reader of this page. Don’t stay away and argue about it. Approach Jesus yourself and get to know him. For Nathanael this only involved a short journey, for people living today it involves a spiritual journey. The best way is to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible, accompanied by prayer to the supreme God.

What convinced Nathanael was the fact that Jesus knew him. Jesus greets him with the words, “Here is a genuine Jew who never lies or deceives.”
“How do you know me?” gasps Nathanael, who was amazed that a person he had never met before should know so much about the sincerity of his Jewish belief and life style.
Then Jesus says something that clinches it for Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Philip is convinced, and declares that Jesus is the Son of God.

Let me stop the story at this point and speak directly to my readers. This is why Christians believe; not because we were raised this way, or because we selected a religion, but because we had proof that Jesus knows us individually and responds to our prayers. It is the same with the Bible, although a wealth of evidence is pouring in which shows that the Bible is a trustworthy religious document, we do not read and believe it for that reason. We believe what is written in the Bible because when we opened it and read, it was as though we were looking into a mirror; the Bible told us about the human condition, human hopes and human struggles. That is why we believe it.

Now many of my Christian friends would expect that Jesus would immediately explain to Nathanael that the Jewish religion had become corrupt and was blind towards God. But Jesus did not do that. He praised Nathanael for the way he sincerely lived the Jewish faith and affirmed that Nathanael was an honest and genuine person. There are many good and honest people in the world who practice another faith than Christianity and I believe God sees their sincerity.

What Jesus does promise Nathanael is that he shall see even greater things than he has already seen. Let me get earnest here, I believe it with all my heart, Jesus is the fulfillment of every good thing in all the world religions. It was that fulfillment that Jesus was promising Nathanael when he promised him greater things.

Jesus said that Nathanael would see heaven open and angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Nathanael became one of the disciples, and was with Jesus after his resurrection, if he had a vision we do not know, what we know for sure is that he understood that Jesus is the link between heaven and earth and through him the way to heaven is open.

I remember one person who was also convinced that Jesus is both stairway and door to Heaven; he wanted to believe, but his family and his friends did not. Sadly he said, “I can’t give up my own religion it means so much to me.” I am so glad to tell you that you don’t have to give it up, simply accept Jesus as the fulfillment of all that is good in your own religion. Become a Christian Moslem, a Christian Jew, or even a Christian Christian.


Vision of the Son of Man: Daniel 7 verse 13
After the resurrection: John 21 verse 2
Angels ascending and descending: Genesis 28 verses 10 -12
God hears good people: Acts 10 verse 2