Blog

This exchange between Jesus and Nathanael at the end of John 1 sticks out to me:

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Nathaneal’s response to Christ reveals a way of thinking completely unlike our own. He goes along with his brother to meet Jesus, skeptical, expecting to be disappointed. Jesus catches him off guard with a sarcastic comment–he could probably see Nathaneal’s furrowed brown a mile off. Nathanael asks (maybe defensively?) “How do you know me?” and Jesus fires back a bit of Nathaneal’s personal info, revealing that he knows more than Nathanael ever expected.

Here’s where Nathaneal responds as only a monotheist could: He immediately calls Jesus the Son of God, the King of Israel. He’s ready to worship Him on the spot. He has no doubt that a man with this kind of power must be from God. He doesn’t call Jesus a psychic, and he doesn’t double-check Jesus’ Jewishness. He believes, then and there, that this man is God.

For Nathanael, it seems, real power must come from God. There’s just no other source.

The numbers prove it can work. Radiohead has permanently changed the way people will get music in the future:

Radiohead, which offered its latest album as free downloads last week, has seen 1.2 million downloads of “In Rainbows.” With no label, no promotions, and direct access to fans, Radiohead gave up its music for free and asked for donations, whatever fans deemed reasonable, in return. What the band got was an average of $8 per album sold, bringing estimates of profit to about $10 million. Not too shabby for one week. The number of albums sold in the past week exceeded the launch week sales of its three previous albums combined.

Full story here.

One of my favorite musicians, Andrew Peterson, has just launched a new site that looks pretty exciting. From his opening entry:

I believe strongly in the value of the artists in this world. I believe that when someone who was made to strive to create beauty in the world is, as Brennan Manning said, “ambushed by Jesus,” the art that results bears a God-given power that draws men to Christ. I have encountered that power in the sub-creations of Christ-followers countless times. (I’ve also encountered it in the works of those who haven’t yet succumbed to the source of their gifting.) Those works of art have helped me to better understand the Bible and its author, they have given me the tools with which to worship, to serve, to revel in the greatness of the Maker.

It looks like it will become a great place to discuss books, music, and art of all kinds. Join in on the C.S. Lewis-inspired fun at The Rabbit Room.