The Light Shines in the DarknessNäide

What does convince you that Jesus is who He says He is?

“Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’” (John 1:48-49)

Philip was one of the first disciples, called by Jesus Himself. Similarly, he found Nathanael and told him: “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). But initially, Nathanael was skeptical. He did not think the promised Messiah could be from the city of Nazareth. Actually, he did not think anything good could come from that place. However, when Philip repeated his invitation to come and see for himself, Nathanael finally joined him. And then he was blown away by Jesus’ words: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”.

Jesus’ words made clear that He had the supernatural ability to know people’s words and thoughts, even when those words were not spoken in his presence. Nathanael immediately grasped the implications of this and confessed Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel. And he was right. No ordinary human can do such things.

The Bible contains many more stories where people were convinced of Jesus’ true identity when they heard or saw his miraculous power. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, what convinced you? If you don’t believe it, why not?