Breaking the Word

Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth." But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him." Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (Jn 1:45-51)

Jesus has two types of qualification regarding his identity.  One is based on the scriptures. That is his identity fits well with that of law and the prophets. The other identity is from his place of birth. This is human and a natural identity. The identity from the scriptures is ideal and the human identity is real. These two in fact make Jesus the person he is.

The persons who are able to see the two and see in these two the identity of Jesus become his disciples. There are those who refuse to see the scriptural identity and there are those who do not see the human identity. Nathanael is one of such who find it difficult to see the human reality. The conditions and the situations are so vivid that no good could come out of Nazareth for him.

Jesus reveals his identity to Nathanael. What is revealed is far more important than the scriptural and natural. What is revealed is divinely. This is like in the case of Peter when he said you are the Messiah. Jesus assured him that it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to him rather it was the Father from the heavens. Revelation is complete and ture.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.  (Mt 23:23-26)

Jesus sends out his owes on the scribes and Pharisees. The reason for it is that they are hypocrites. They worry about the external things and they try their level best to be very meticulous about the external things and they do not bother about the law, mercy, fidelity etc. Their primary concern should have been fulfilling the laws and then they should worry about the traditions.

The continued criticism of Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees has been that they neglected the basics and got attached to the peripheries. They were worried about the externals and were not concerned about the internals and the essentials. In life the important things were fidelity, justice and mercy. These were the things which helped them regarding their relationship with God and with the others and themselves. But these leaders were worried about the minor things

Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the scribes. He also conveyed message about the basics of life for his followers. The things that matter are the internals, the basics, the essentials, the laws and not the traditions, the externals, the peripheries..