The Longing of the Heart Called Up Short

AM Psalm [83] or 145 • PM Psalm 85, 86
Judges 8:22-35 • Acts 4:1-12 • John 1:43-51

Nathanael was disappointed when Philip told him that the Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” he asked. But when he came to Jesus, before getting out a simple greeting, Jesus indicated that he already knew that Nathanael was a true Israelite, a student of the scriptures, one in whom there is no deceit. Intrigued, Nathanael asked Jesus how he already knew him. Jesus simply said, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” When he heard this, Nathanael proclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But why did this convince him? Anyone could have seen Nathaniel under a fig tree and recognized his face. But when Jesus referred to the fig tree, he was referencing the prophet Micah, not an actual fig tree. Micah 4:4-7 offers a messianic vision where God reigns over the nations in peace and each person can sit under a fig tree without any fears.

Perhaps the peaceful time of God’s reign was a time which Nathanael deeply longed for yet felt he would never come to see. But when Jesus spoke those words to him, he discovered that Jesus knew the greatest longing of his heart in ways that no one else did. Jesus, however pointed beyond the longing of Nathanael’s heart; “you will see greater things than these!”

What are the greatest longings of our hearts? Whatever they are, we may often find that they begin to become self-serving, and don’t reach our original intentions. If we take the longings of our heart to Jesus, we are always called up short. But through him we find God’s infinite creativity which transforms the longing of our heart, supplants our expectations about what is possible, and takes us up into God’s rule, in which is found infinite love and acceptance, perfect justice, and unending peace.

Written by Curtis Moneymaker

A student of Theology on pilgrimage to God’s Heart.