August 17th, 2026

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​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ August 16 2026)
Sermon Title – Can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth
Text – John 1:43-51
Rev Key Min Lee

Since I have been here and shared sermons with you, I have continued to emphasize that we should not look at our circumstances and environment, but look only to Jesus.  And perhaps I could continue preaching about not looking at our circumstances and environment, but beginning in September, I want to emphasize how the words we speak need to change in order for us to overcome our circumstances and environment.  The reason is that if our words do not change, our thoughts and actions will not change.  And if that happens, our circumstances and environment will not change either.  So, beginning in September, I want to share with you, through Scripture, about the importance of our words.
Today, through Nathanael’s situation, I want us to look at why we should not look at our circumstances and environment.
In the Bible, the name Nathanael appears only in the Gospel of John.  In the other three Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—we do not find the name Nathanael, but we find the name Bartholomew.  These two names refer to the same person.  Nathanael was his given name, while Bartholomew was a patronymic name.  Nathanael means “God has given,” while Bartholomew means “son of Tholmai,” referring to his family lineage.
Nathanael appears together with Philip, and he became a disciple of Jesus through Philip.  He was from the region of Galilee and was one of Jesus’ disciples who was martyred.  As you may know, Bartholomew is remembered as one of the apostles who suffered one of the most painful and brutal martyrdoms.  While he was doing missionary work in Armenia, he refused to worship idols and remained faithful to the end.  Because of this, he was subjected to flaying and was then beheaded.
But when we look at today’s passage, we see a situation that is somewhat different from the Nathanael we have come to know.  In his words, we see not an overflowing of hope and joy, but words of doubt, despair, and perhaps even hopelessness.  Let us read verses 45–46 again:
“Philip found Nathanael and said to 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.’  Nathanael said, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’”
To Nathanael, Philip’s words must have sounded like complete nonsense.  Why?  Because when we look at the situation at that time, Nazareth was such a small and seemingly insignificant village, and it was far from Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Messiah according to Scripture, and Jerusalem, the central city.  In a way, it is as if Nathanael were saying to Philip, “Don’t give me false hope.  In a way, those words could give me even greater despair.  I am waiting for the Messiah right now.”
Here, we need to understand something important:  until this point, Nathanael had been waiting for the Messiah, praying alone under a fig tree, and quietly studying the Law of Moses by himself.
The first thing we need to understand is the significance of the fig tree.  According to Jewish customs and rabbinic traditions found in the Talmud, Jews at that time had a practice of studying the Law of Moses under a fig tree, waiting for the Messiah, and praying.  In Augustine’s well-known Confessions, we find the following words:
“I flung myself down, how, I know not, under a certain fig-tree, giving free course to my tears, and the streams of mine eyes gushed out, an acceptable sacrifice unto Thee.”
— Augustine, Confessions, Book VIII, Chapter 12, §28
These accounts help us understand how deeply Nathanael longed for and waited for the coming of the Messiah, spending each day in tears.  But then Philip appears before him and gives him what seems to be an impossible hope.  Why?  Because to Nathanael, the Messiah could never come from Nazareth.
This is the most important part of today’s sermon.  It is the place called “Nazareth.”
A place is our environment.  At that moment, Nathanael could not believe Philip’s words because of the place called “Nazareth.”  Isn’t it the same with us?  When I say “Blackwood,” what is the first thing that comes to mind?  There is no particular meaning behind the question.  I am just asking.  Can anything good come from this area?  What we need to focus on here is that because of the place called Nazareth, Nathanael could not believe Philip’s words.
But then, what happens?  When Jesus speaks to him in verse 48, his eyes and heart are opened, and he is able to look beyond his circumstances and environment and see only the Lord, the Messiah.  Why?   Because when Nathanael was under the fig tree, he was there alone.  No one knew that he had been there.
But when Jesus says to him, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you,” Nathanael naturally responds, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”  Those words from Jesus made him realize that in that place where no one knew him, in that place where he had shed tears when no one else knew, the Lord had been with him from beginning to end, wiping away his tears.  Isn’t that something we should be deeply thankful for?  Please remember this.
When we become trapped by our circumstances and environment, we can no longer properly understand or see God working in our lives today.  So perhaps the reason gratitude disappears from our lives and we lose our joy is because we ourselves are holding on to our circumstances and environment.  But, on the other hand, if we do not focus on our “Nazareth,” but look to the Lord who is still working today, we can live each day with joy and gratitude and experience victory.  May we all receive that kind of grace in the name of the Lord.
There is something I realized while we were doing VBS this time.  During July and August, churches across the country hold VBS.  This time, three churches came together, and although we were not a large group, we were given the precious opportunity to meet these children of the Lord with love and to serve them.  I don’t know what other people may think.  But I look at those children and think about where they will be ten or twenty years from now.  I don’t think anyone knows what they will become as they grow up.  But if we meet them with love and serve them with love, won’t they become people like Nathanael ten or twenty years from now?
Who knows about Blackwood and Laurel Springs?  Who is going to notice them?  But do you think the Lord will just leave the children we have met and served with love as they are?
Personally, I am not bound by a place, because a place is only an environment.  What I see is this:  when we meet others with the heart of the Lord, I believe that someday they will realize the Lord’s love and become people like Bartholomew who follow the Lord.  Why?  Because the Lord is still with us, and He is still watching over us.
Beloved brothers and sisters, Jesus came into our lives from a place no one expected.  Whatever that place or environment was like, the Lord came to us without being limited by it.  And even now, He wants to use us to lead people who, just as we once did, are wandering in darkness into the light.  Nazareth is only an environment.  When we go beyond our environment, the next generation will not be people who look only at their environment.  Instead, they will become people like Bartholomew who look only to the Lord.
May all of you be blessed in the name of the Lord as you look to God, who works beyond our circumstances and environment, and may you always live in victory.
Finally, I want to ask you a question:  Can anything good come from Blackwood?
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