Be Still and Know - "Can Anything Good Come From Nazareth?"

(from www.premierchristianradio.com)

1. John 1:45-46
   
   
   
   
   
   Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
   
   Wherever you live, I suspect that there is a town not far away that has a dodgy reputation. For whatever reason the place is held in suspicion, and you can’t imagine that anything good would ever come out of it. It is said that Nathanael came from Cana, which is not very far away from Nazareth, and it would appear that it was typical town rivalry which made Nathanael respond in the way that he did.
   
   Happily, Philip wasn’t put off by Nathanael’s dismissive response to Jesus. He invited Nathanael to come and see the Messiah for himself – and that changed everything. Jesus saw Nathanael and made the amazing statement: “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” Within moments, Nathanael declared that Jesus was the Son of God, the king of Israel. But none of that would have happened unless Philip had persisted in his invitation. He could easily have felt hurt by Nathanael’s cynical response and decided not to push it. But he didn’t. And his persistence gave Nathanael the opportunity to meet Jesus for himself.
   
   
   
   When we speak about Jesus, we will often face a dismissive response. Sometimes, people dismiss Christianity because of what they’ve seen of the Church. They will be quick to point out any whiff of hypocrisy that they have picked up or tell the story of a rude church minister. We should always listen to those accusations with grace and patience; their stories are probably entirely correct. Christians are not perfect. They are perfectly capable of hypocrisy, rudeness and much else besides. Our role is never to point to Christians or the Church, but to encourage our friends, relatives, co-workers and community to meet Jesus for themselves, knowing that he alone can give them life.
   
   
   
   
   
   Question: How do you respond when people are cynical about Christianity?
   
   Prayer: Loving Father, thank you that we can always point people to Jesus with confidence, knowing that he will never let them down. Amen