John 1:43-51
43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 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.” 49Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” 50Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
What was the very first thing that God did when He created the first human being? The answer is communication. In Genesis 1:28, “God blessed and said to them…” It was the first thing that God did with the one whom he created. God’s communication through his words is essential because whatever God said is not for Himself, but it is for us to protect us from potential harmful situations. It is the first and foremost reason why God created us and had communication with us.
The way of communication
The meaning of communication is to transfer information from one person to another. Also, every communication involves at least three components, a sender or speaker, a message, and a recipient. If these three components correspond well, there are so many physical benefits, spiritual fruitfulness, and emotional contentment that we can experience.
There are a couple of different ways of communication. The first is written communication, such as a letter or an E-mail. Another one is verbal communication, which is talking. The last one is non-verbal communication. It could be body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
However, there are some possible dangers of miscommunication that is remaining when we do not respond to it appropriately. I did not like non-verbal communication because a man does not have that kind of sense to be aware of it by nature. For example, sometimes Lisa used to point out my insensitivity. She felt that I could not read her mind. Sometimes, not many times, I asked her, “Tell me what do you want me to do for you.” Her response is simple. “Did you not read my mind?” I said, “No, please tell me.” If I did not have non-verbal communication skills, I would get in big trouble.
What is biblical miscommunication?
The answer is clear. If we do not say or tell what God said in the Bible, there is biblical miscommunication. Revelation 22:18-19 clearly let us know what we should not do. “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Whoever adds anything to God’s word and takes words away from it causes severe consequences which they must pay for.
For example, God said in Genesis 2:16-17 to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.” However, what happened in Genesis 3:1-6? They ate it because the serpent added some words to tempt them. The original words that God said were “eat from it; you will surely die,” but what the serpent put was only the word “not.” The serpent said in 3:4, “You will not surely die.” Adding a word that changes its entire meaning, that is the danger of miscommunication in the Bible.
Why does the right person sit in the wrong place?
Let’s go back to John 1:43-51. These passages tell us why a good Christian stands or stays on the wrong spot with the right motivation. There was a man, and his name was Nathanael. Jesus recognized him as a right and sincere person looking for the Messiah throughout his entire life. In verse 47, “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” Jesus saw everything that Nathanael had done was good, but only one mistake he made was to sit in the wrong place with the right motivation.
However, Philp was a friend of Nathanael, and both of them were waiting for the Messiah. When Philp heard Jesus was the Messiah and was coming down to Galilee, immediately he came down to see him and eventually met Jesus Christ, the Messiah that he has looked for for such a long time. Similarly, Nathanael possibly heard the same news that Philip had but did not try to come down to Galilee to meet Jesus because he learned or heard that the Messiah should not be the Galilean. Unfortunately, it was the wrong information that he heard or learned from people. It was the reason why Nathanael was sitting under the fig tree to pray to God to send the Messiah for him and his people. Finally, why does the right person sit in the wrong place? The answer is because he/she was not provided the correct information. It was his only mistake.
The right communication in John 1:35-51
Imitation of Jesus is the perfect way of biblical communication. In these passages, I can see two different characters. The first one is Nathanael, who is holding the wrong information and looking for input from people in society. The other one is Philp, who tried to imitate what Jesus did. In verses 38-39, “Come, and you will see,” it was what Jesus answered when people asked him a question. His response was simple and straightforward. In verse 46, it was what Philp said, “Come and see.” It was exactly what he imitated Jesus when Nathanael asked Philp about Jesus. Therefore, biblical communication is to be like Philp, who says what Jesus said.
I believe that everyone knows the movie “Forest Gump”. The favorite quote from that movie is this, “My mama always said, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” In the movie, He always does the right things for others because he believes what his mama said is his life manual to follow. Similarly, the words of God in the Bible are our life manual.
Conclusion
We live in a society full of information. To live in such a society as a Christian, we should develop the ability to discern what is the right and wrong information to share with others, and to be a good communicator who transfers truthful information for people. However, for Christians, imitation of Jesus is the best communication skill. This is my final word, to be like Philp who always tried to say what Jesus said.
@ Featured image on Unsplash
