๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who do you trust the most? Why?
โข Recall an instance when somebody promised you something. Was that person able to fulfill his or her promise? Why or why not?
โข Tell us about a time when you felt like you could not complete something, but were able to do it anyway.ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ!โ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, โ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ,โ ๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ:๐ฐ๐ต-๐ฑ๐ญ
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ:๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ฐ๐ด.)
In this story, Jesus had just called His first disciples to follow Him. Among these was Philip, who loved pointing others to Jesus. Philip found Nathanael sitting under a fig tree and, with enthusiasm, told him that the man foretold by Moses and prophets had come. Nathanael had his doubts, but Jesus turned them into faith. Nathanael then praised Jesus and called Him the Son of God, while Jesus went a step further by speaking of the Son of Man. Today, we will explore these titles of Jesus and their significance duringโand beyondโChristmas.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ!โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ:๐ฐ๐ต
Nathanael doubted Philipโs claim that the man Moses and the prophets spoke of was someone from Nazareth, a small, rural town that surely a king would not come from. But God works differently than we humans thinkโHe chooses the foolish and little things to accomplish His grand plans. When Jesus told Nathanael that He saw him before Philip did, Nathanaelโs doubts were removed and he acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. This title referred to the promised Savior King from the line of David who would bring restoration to Israel and rule with peace, justice, and righteousness. How does this change the way you think of the wise men who gave gifts to Jesus when He was born (Matthew 2:1โ11)?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ:๐ฑ๐ญ
Nathanaelโs response to Jesusโ wisdom seemed to be an earthly and political statement. Little did he know that Jesus would not only reign on earth, but the kingdom of heaven would also come. Jesus tells him that the heavens would be opened with ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ. While some people associate this title with humanity and humility, it speaks of a glorious and heavenly ruler. Daniel had a preview of this Son of Man who would establish an eternal kingdom and rule forever, not only for Israel, but also other nations (Daniel 7:13โ14). How does this truth support the fact that Jesus died and resurrected for people from different cultures and backgrounds?
The picture that Jesus showed Nathanael is the fulfillment of a similar dream that the patriarch Jacob had of angels going up and down a ladder (Genesis 28:10โ19). Ultimately, Jesus bridges heaven and earth together by being the means of getting to heaven, while also being the means of heaven coming down here on earth. These two titles of Jesus affirm both His humanity and divinity. We can celebrate Christmas because Christ came down to live among us, ultimately giving Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin, so that in Him we may have eternal life.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Jesusโ humanity and divinity exist together. Through this, He became a way of bringing man to God, and heaven to earth. This week, take some time to meditate on this truth and give praise to God.
โข Both Jesusโ humanity and divinity enabled Him to redeem mankind from sin. How does this truth strengthen your relationship with God?
โข Jesus came to redeem and rule all nations. How can you be a blessing to people from different cultures and backgrounds this Christmas?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God that through Jesus, we can have eternal life with Him. Pray for Godโs grace to live this out here on earthโthat your heart may be fixed on the things that are eternal, not temporary.
โข Pray that you would trust God in all things, and that He removes any fear or doubt that would hinder you from trusting who He is and His plans for your life.
โข Pray that God uses you to be a blessing to others this Christmas. Ask God for wisdom and for open doors to preach the gospel to friends and family.