These scriptural reflections by the Rev. Dr. Sandra Bochonok are copyrighted, but you are free to reproduce them for your own noncommercial personal or church use. Other uses require permission of the author, who may be reached at revsandyb@aol.com.

"When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, 'Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!' Nathanael asked him, 'Where did you get to know me?' Jesus answered, 'I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.' " John 1:47-48

One of my dearest friends is a minister with a non-Christian denomination. Every week we try to get together and walk and talk at a nearby state park. While walking one week, she thoughtfully shared that as a non-Christian; she had always been impressed with the powerful teachings of Jesus and tried to offer them to her congregation.

This was quite a challenge, for both her husband and congregation were distrustful of anything Christian because of their past experiences with disrespectful, rude, pushy, manipulative and overly persuasive Christians. These zealous Christians had used a variety of aggressive and unwanted evangelistic techniques including memorized spiritual laws. My friend's husband and congregation experienced these as distasteful and arrogant encounters of judgmental religious intolerance and bigotry. She appreciated my attitude of respect. She clearly understood I was distinctly Christian but in a non-pushy way.

I completely agreed with her perspective on pushy Christians, before sharing a bit about my experiences when I studied evangelism with a Billy Graham School of Evangelism in 1999. The thousand people, who attended, wanted to learn how to share their faith and "win souls for Christ." Many would go out "soul winning" in the evening at the local shopping malls, while joyously sharing stories of their converts during breakfast the next morning with other students. Some targeted young, unattended children as potential converts. Their messages focused on sin, hell fire and God's judgment on sinners.

I honestly felt and still do believe this manner of evangelism was not the way of Christ. He was master of the art of spiritual conversation. As I search the gospels, I see him meet and greet seekers, doubters and skeptics with respect and courtesy. He never used prememorized formulas of spiritual laws; rather, he seemed to meet people as individuals. He knew how to look deeply into their souls and listen carefully to their spoken and unspoken questions about God and life.

A number of scholarly people have theorized that Nathanael was probably having his quiet devotional time under the fig tree when Philip came calling. It is quite possible that he was reading the scripture story of Jacob, a known scoundrel who later became a beloved patriarch. In Jacob's younger days, he was full of guile and deceit. No one, not even his brother and father, were safe from his schemes for power and privilege. (Jacob's fascinating story is found in Genesis chapters 27-28.)

Jesus knew Nathanael and respectfully met him as an individual. He also knows us and meets us in unique and intensely personal ways. One of my favorite Psalms reads: "O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely…such knowledge is…wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it." (Psalm 139:1-6 NRSV).

We are searched and known by a divine love so great that words cannot express the depth, breath, height and width. Whether we are under a fig tree or at home alone, God knows us. Nathanael brings us many gifts through his story. Nathanael is God's gift to us today.

Prayer: Just as you have searched and known Nathanael, O Christ, so you have searched and known us. Bring us into quiet spiritual conversations, seeking greater understanding as Nathanael experienced. Amen.