Jn.1:43-50,Nathanael

In this passage we come to meet  two interesting people:Philip and Nathanael. Philip who  was asked by Jesus to follow him finds Nathanael and asks him to come and meet Jesus.
Philip is from the town of Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.Philip has already become a missionary for Jesus, trying to rope in Nathanael for the new ministry.
Nathanael is not like other disciples.Others just accepted the invitation and  readily joined Jesus.Nathanael, on the other hand, in spite of being very open about his relationsip with God, has got his own misgivings. He is convinced that Nazareth is not in a position to produce any great prophet and hence  asks whether any good can come from Nazareth. It is then that he gets a chance to meet Jesus. As Jesus mentions that he is a true Israelite in whose heart , there is no guile, Nathanael becomes more confused and  asks Jesus pointblank how  he knows him.Jesus then mentions that he saw him while he was under the fig tree even before Philip had invited him.Maybe it was at this time when he was resting under the fig tree that he migh have been thinking about the Savior and felt a  strong desire in is heart to be with the Savior if he were to come.When  he heard that  Jesus had read those thoughts he  was convinced that this was Christ.
Jesus tells him  that he would see  greater things in his life, more miraculous and mind-boggling--- that Christ would be revealed as the Son of God.
Lord, my God, help me to see you in all your splendor.Help me to to beleive in you .Increase my attachent to you.
Nahanael literally means the gift of God.Nathanael is presumed to be  Bartholomew of the first three Gospels.Only John mentions Nathanael while the other evangelists mention only Bartholomew.
We observe the following  interesting points n this episode:                                                                                                      
Nathanael owed his introduction to Jesus to a friend.Have you introduced others to Him?
Nathanel was prepared to listen to conversations about Christ.Have you found him, and are you telling others the story?
Nathanael acepted the sure test of truth and the sure cure of prejudice."Come and see, "Taste and See."
Nathanael's  hopes were realized in an unexpted way.Often joy and rest come to us from the least expected quarters                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Scriptural Reflections:Jn.1:35-42

In this passage, we find two of the disciples of John, Andrew and another disciple(it is said that this is John the Evangelist himself), deciding to follow Jesus after hearing from John that he is the Lamb of God.Jesus asked them what they wanted.They asked in turn where Jesus was staying. Jesus immediately invited them to stay with him by replying: "Come and see."
Those words of Jesus should always resound in our hearts.He will never abandon us; he is always asking us to come and see  where he is.Our whole  desire should be  to stay with him.We have to be constantly asking him , "Lord where are you staying?"Our inner conditions of failures or our unworthiness do not matter.What matters is our desire to be with him.It is that desire that transforms our lives.Our desire to stay with him gives us the grace to transform our lives.
Many a time , we are dissatisfied and unhappy.Nothing does make us happy.We are looking for something more beautiful  or some thing more comforting.Those desires can only make us more hungry for such feelings and will never satisfy our hearts.Only Jesus alone  can satisfy us.So Stay with Jesus,  and feel happy in His presence.
Lord, help me to stay with you and help me to feel the joy of your presence.Lord, be with me.Be my source of joy.

Scriptural Reflections,Jn.1:29-34

In this passage, the Evangelist further describes the testimony of John the Baptist on the role of Jesus. He calls him the Lamb of God to highlight the new role of Jesus. Just like the lamb of the Exodus, Jesus would bring freedom to mankind from the bondage of sin.John further explains that Jesus is not just a man like him but is one who existed before him even though he came after him.God himself has  revealed the  identity of Jesus. He affirms that Jesus is the Son God.
By believing  in Jesus, we come to experience the freedom that Jesus offers us.There is no one among us who is without sin. All of us are imperfect.What gives us peace is the fact Jesus will forgive our sins and give us the freedom from the bondage of sin.He offers us the opportunity to to experience this freedom.So with joy and peace, we can lead our lives.Our imperfections and sins do not matter. What  is important is our desire to abandon our sins and to love him deeply.

Scriptural Reflections-3,Jn.1:19-28

In this passage,the Evangelist speaks about the mission and identity of John the Baptist.John gathered a lot of disciples and was baptizing those who came to him ,repenting.The baptism that he gave them was a sign of their repentance and regeneration. But when the people saw Jesus preaching and baptizing, many had suspicions and questions about the role of John the Baptist.They wondered who would he be.Was he the Christ or one of the prophets? They approached him and asked him point blank whether he was the Christ.This gave an opportunity for John to reveal himself and explain what he was doing.He was only a forerunner, a shadow and not the reality. Reality is one who comes after him--Jesus.Jesus is the Son of God.His baptism is different.It floods the soul with the Holy Spirit.The baptism that Jesus gives makes one the child of God.
Here we see the profound humility of John the Baptist and his sense of realism.No vague justifications or explanations.He was truthful and honest.
In our own lives, we may experience moments of hesitation or confusion with regard to our roles or professions.We may try to evade giving the correct answers.Why should we be afraid? We shall be honest.We have Jesus with us.We are just shadows.But as long He is with us, our shadow is much more real than those who appear to be real.
Today , we shall ask the Lord to give us a profound sense of humility to walk in the shadow of truth who is Jesus our Lord.

Scriptural Reflections-2,Jn.1:9-18

John further explains the mission of Jesus. He is the Light who enlightens every one.But, many failed to receive him or his gift and preferred to be in the world of darkness.He lifts the burden of sin but many prefer to be in the world of those burdens.Those who receive Him are made the children of God and their birth is not earthly but spiritual, from God.
John goes on to explain the incarnation of Jesus.In a few words, he explains what it means.The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among men and people saw the glory of the only begotten son of the Father.
John the Baptist  bears witness  to Jesus by saying that Jesus is greater than him.Through Jesus more grace began to be recieved.Moses gave only the grace of law, to live according to the demands of God.Through Jesus, more grace was given--- the grace to become the children of God.
The Evangelsit goes on adding much more to make us realize the inescapable fact of the divinity of Jesus by underlining the fact that Jesus  alone saw the glory of God and that  he explained the nature of God to men.
What John accomplishes through these words is the affirmaton of the divinity of Jesus and how we are blessed through our faith in Him.Though our faith in Jesus , we have bcome the children of God.By knowing Jesus, we come to know God. By accepting Jesus, we partake of the glory of God.
Our faith is not  just a peripheral facet of our  life; it touches  our whole life. Our faith  is more powerful than our weaknesses and sins.We often  beome defeatist and diffident  in our lives because of our sins and failures.The  evangelsit tells us not to feel defeated but to regain confidence through our faith in Jesus.He is the source of our strength and confidence.
Let us Pray:
Lord, Jesus, be with me.Help me to overcome my failures.You are the source of my strength. As long as you are with me, why should I feel diffident?

Scriptural Reflections,Jn.1-8.

As we open the Gospel of John, we come face to face with some of the great passages of majesty and glory in the whole of the Bible.Reminding us of the whole corpus of the Bible,John uses those great words of immense aura when he starts the Gospel with the beginning words of the Bible:"In the beginning". This beginning is not an earthly beginning as we see in other Gospels; this is eternal and indescribable.
The first few verses make us understand the divinity of Jesus and his identity with God.Using the word Logos which in Greek would mean intelligence as well as thoughts,words and ideas of human beings,John shows us how Jesus is one with God, is God himself, is his own self.
He starts with the descent of God to earth, unlike the ascent of the Lord to heaven as is seen in other Gospels.Compared with Jesus, John the Baptist was only a shadow , an earthy intimation.He was not the Light.Jesus is the Light and Life of humanity.Jesus is the one who  dispels the darkness of sin.Those who are steeped in darkness, in sin, can overcome its power through their acceptance of the Light that is Jesus.Jesus overcomes the power of sin and those who accept Jesus will have within themselves the strength and confidence to overcome the power of sinfulness in them.
What John is telling each one of us is that we need not be afraid of our sinful and human nature, our weakness , our sins.With our faith in  Jesus, we can overcome  the darkness of our lives.We can be the children of the Light.
The above words of John make us understand what this salvation means to each one of us.It gives us hope and confidence in life.We don't have to be afraid of anything in our life.We may have committed serious sins.We have offended many.We have failed many times in our lives.But, we have hope.As long as Jesus is with us, we have an inner power and confidence in our lives that give us peace and joy.
Logos: "Intelligence,word as the expression of that intelligence.
Jesus Christ in his preincarnate existence is called Ho Logos,the Word, meaning first immaterial intelligence and then the expression of that intelligence in speech that humans could undesrstand.
The opposite of logos is  lalia which is unintelligent sounds produced by animals."