The Extra Mile

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE EXTRA MILE

John 1:46-51

46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."  48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."  49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."  51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." 

NIV

A long narrative which cannot be broken apart shows us that Jesus is willing to go the extra distance in order to help Nathanael see the truth. Sometimes people, like Nathanael are not simply going to accept what someone else says about Jesus. Certainly in my own life, I did not. No matter what others said I was not willing to see the truth of God unless he demonstrated his reality, his power directly to me. There are many people like me, who will make some negative remark such as Nathanael did about anything good coming from Nazareth. But Jesus went the extra mile; he demonstrated to Nathanael that he had the power of God, the ability to see beyond human sight and it was exactly what Nathanael needed. God did that in my life, showing me he had the power over science of chemistry, over the technology of photography, exactly what I needed to believe. Jesus also told Nathanael that he would see far more as a believer then he ever saw before. He would see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Jesus may have been referring Nathanael to the recorded vision of Jacob seeing the ladder leaning against heaven and angels going up and down it and that he too would see such things. The Israelites held Jacob up as one of their greater ancestors, making him as someone special because of his interactions with God. But Jesus is making the point that we all are special, that we all are special ancestors in the body of Christ, that we can all see heaven open. Jesus is not keeping the heaven a secret from us, he has opened heaven for our spirits to see. We only need to open our hearts and minds, believe in the miraculous, believe in visions, believe in the absolute power of God and his willingness to go the extra mile so we believe.