I hope you had a really great St.Bartholomew’s Day! It was Monday of this week just in case you missed it. Most Baptists did miss it without missing it at all. That is because we are just not fond of calling people “Saints”. It even bothers some folks that the title of the Gospels use the word Saint & they literally wrote the book!
Bartholomew is named in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts as one of the Apostles. In these books Bartholomew is always mentioned right next to Philip. John pairs Philip and Nathanael in his account of the Gospel. Since John does not mention Bartholomew and the other Gospel writers do not mention Nathanael, this has led most theologians to conclude that Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person.
The name Nathanael means “God’s gift”. It seems likely that this was a nickname given to him by the other Apostles. Remember that Jesus Himself informed Simon that He was going to call him “Peter”, because that word meant “stone”. The early church did the same thing when they changed the name of a man from Joseph to Barnabas because it meant “son of encouragement”.
Assuming that Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person, it is easy to see why they would want to call him Nathanael. Jesus Himself called Nathanael an “Israelite. . . incapable of deceit”. That kind of person is indeed “God’s gift” to the mission of Christ.
Ancient church history claims that Bartholomew-Nathanael proclaimed the Gospel in India and Greater Armenia. Some extend that claim to even include Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. All accounts agree that he was killed for his faith, although they disagree about the exact location of his death.
If you are still reading this long history lesson, then you are about to be rewarded with a “so what does that have to do with me?” Here is the message. It does not matter what your name is. It does not matter which “side of the tracks” you were born on. It does not matter how much education or money you may have. If you are a Christian, God can use you, andGod expects to be allowed to use you, to share the Good News.
Bro. Dennis