Nathanael Bartholomew: An Israelite Indeed

What can we learn from the apostle named Nathanael or Bartholomew? Based on Jesus’ statements in John 1, we understand that he was deeply religious (“an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile”). He was seeking the Messiah, and when his friend Philip told him that they had found the Messiah, Nathanael didn’t allow his own personal bias and prejudice to prevent him from learning the truth. (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) This desire to seek the truth demonstrates why Jesus chose him as one of the 12 and stands as an example for us today.

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