"In whom is no guile"

"In whom is no guile"

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" (John 1:4, King James Version) | "Definitions for Guile: Deceit; craftiness."

Clarke's Commentary on John 1:47: "Behold an Israelite indeed - A worthy descendant of the patriarch Jacob, who not only professes to believe in Israel's God, but who worships him in sincerity and truth, according to his light. In whom is no guile! - Deceitfulness ever has been, and still is, the deeply marked characteristic of the Jewish people. To find a man, living in the midst of so much corruption, walking in uprightness before his Maker, was a subject worthy the attention of God himself. Behold this man! and, while you see and admire, imitate his conduct."

Barnes' Notes on John 1:47: "An Israelite indeed - One who is really an Israelite - not by birth only, but one worthy of the name. One who possesses the spirit, the piety, and the integrity which become a man who is really a Jew, who fears God and obeys his law." Compare Romans 9:6; Romans 2:28-29.

"No guile - No deceit, no fraud, no hypocrisy. He is really what he professes to be - a Jew, a descendant of the patriarch Jacob, fearing and serving God. He makes no profession which he does not live up to. He does not say that Nathanael was without guilt or sin, but that he had no disguise, no trick, no deceit - he was sincere and upright. This was a most honorable testimony. How happy would it be if he, who knows the hearts of all as he did that of Nathanael, could bear the same testimony of all who profess the religion of the gospel!"

http://www.godvine.com/bible/john/1-47

Self Exam: Of how many of us can it be said, "_____ 's character was found to be without guile"?
On the Proverbial Zero to Ten scale (Zero = Without Guile), where are we individually? Wow!

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"In whom is no guile"

"Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" (John 1:4, King James Version) | "Definitions for Guile: Deceit; craftiness."

Clarke's Commentary on John 1:47: "Behold an Israelite indeed - A worthy descendant of the patriarch Jacob, who not only professes ...[text shortened]... bial Zero to Ten scale (Zero = Without Guile), where are we individually? Wow![/b]

Originally posted by Kepler

Scale of zero to ten? Ummmmm about pi? Maybe 2pi if you prefer. Let's go for 1.5pi. There, sort of in the middle.

It is interesting to look at the context and remainder of the passage on In whom there is no guile complement Jesus paid to Nathaniel.

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him and said concerning him, Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile!

Nathaniel said to Him, How do You know me ? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Phillip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

Nathaniel answered Him, Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel.

Jesus answered and said to him, Is it because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree that you believe? You shall see greater things than these.

And He said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (Gospel of John 1:47-51)

1.) This guileless Israelite was so impressed with Jesus' knowledge of himself that he immediately confessed his belief that Jesus was the Son of God and the King of Israel.

2.) We do not know WHAT Nathaniel was doing under any fig tree. But it may have been that he was praying for Israel and his own consecration to God. Maybe Nathaniel was asking God about the Messiah.

At any rate Jesus knew all about it. The implication may be that as Nathaniel was dealing with God in prayer Jesus heard every word and knew exactly the nature of the conversation.

Someone had been watching and listening to whatever was going on under the fig tree. My guess is that Jesus floored Nathaniel by indicating His omniscience and omnipresence. The Son of God must be Divine and like God Himself.

3.) Jesus says in essence - "You haven't seen anything yet." Then Jesus speaks of "the Son of Man" and alludes to Genesis chapter 28.

There Jacob had a dream of a latter set up upon the earth joining earth to heaven. And the angels of God were going up and down upon that ladder - "ascending and descending" (Gen. 28:12) . Jehovah God was standing at the top of the ladder.

And Jacob awoke from his dream, pronounced that place he was as a dreadful place calling it Bethel - meaning "the House of God".

When Jesus alluded to this vision and said the angels of God would be seen ascending and descending upon "the Son of Man" He made a number of important revelations.

a.) The Son of God incarnated to be the Son of Man. The Divine became a Human.

b.) This Son of Man (Son of God) was the human BETHEL. He was the house of God upon the earth. In Him the Almighty God lived upon the earth.
This is consistent with John's prologue which says:

" ... and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh and tabernacle among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality." (John 1:1.14)

The Son, Jesus, was the dwelling place of God as God incarnate. And in Him God has come to walk upon the earth.

c.)Jesus being the ladder set up on he earth going to heaven is the Man who connects the earth to heaven. In Him, the living ladder, not only the dwelling place of God is here but the passage joining the realm of God with the realm of human beings is established.

d.) The angels in both Genesis and in John are said to be ascending (going up) and descending (coming down) in that order. The implication might be that the main activity is upon the earth.

Ie. God has created the earth in order to establish Bethel - the House of God. God has created a planet upon which God might live. And His desire is to live in a man.

e.) Though Jesus comes as the individual Bethel, the house of God, be resurrectes from the dead to be ENLARGED to include all those who believe into Him. They become the house of God on the earth in a corporate way.

Further expounding of the chapter and of John's Gospel would reveal this.

For now let it suffice to say that just before His going to the cross, Jesus says that in the house of God, ie. His Father's house, there is not just one abode but many abodes.

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe into God, believe also into Me.

In My Father's house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be." (John 14:1-3)


In brief He is Bethel, the Father's house, the house of God. But if He were forever the ONLY one in whom God could live, He would have told them that from the beginning.

Great news! He goes to the cross to accomplish a redemptive death and a victorious resurrection. In so doing this work He prepares a place for all men who believe into Him to also become the house God - the reality of Bethel.

Marvelous ! I stop here. But Paul says that all the believers have a destination to be built up "a dwelling place of God in spirit" confirming exactly the teaching of Jesus.

"Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone; In whom all the building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit." (Ephesians 2:20-22)

Man, believing into Jesus Christ, becomes the Bethel of God's house upon the earth. God and man incorporated to possess the planet for eternity.