John 1:47

Without Guile

Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! John 1:47.

Many of you boys and girls have a baby brother or sister. Do you sometimes wonder what they think about? They are taking in the sights that are round about them; the world seems to them just a place to play in. If they be well, they are ready to have everybody round them as playmates. There are no dark corners in their mind; they are what old Scotch people used to call “ae fauld,” or one-fold without guile.

In Nathanael we are introduced to a grown man who was like a child: he had no dark corners in his mind; he was “ae fauld,” he was without guile. I can remember that when I was a child a very old man was pointed out to me. “That,” said my mother, “is a real Nathanael.” I thought of him then as one who was very, very good, and would think no evil of anyone.

Very little is told us of Nathanael in the Bible. We have only a few lines about him; but they are sufficient to set us thinking. Jesus had wonderful words of praise to bestow upon him. “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” He had been watching Nathanael at a time when he did not know that anyone was looking: he was meditating and praying under a fig tree.

Nathanael doubtless had faults, but Jesus loved him. He may not have been a great man; but it is the case that great men who are good are always guileless, and Nathanael was good. It was said of Gladstone, the great statesman, that he was the most guileless of men. He was as “ae fauld” as a baby. Deep down within him was the heart of a little child.

Guilelessness is the first step towards being good; it is the first step towards being really happy. “No,” said a boy, “a lie is never right, for you are always found out, and you almost never feel half as well after it.”

That answer reminds me of Mrs. Ewing's story Jackanapes, and of Jackanapes himself. Jackanapes had a grandfather who loved him very much. One day he bought a pony for Jackanapes, and the old man wanted a little love from the boy in return. I shall read you a page from Mrs. Ewing's story.

They were sitting in the window in two Chippendale arm-chairs, the General devouring every line of his grandson's face.

“You must love your aunt very much, Jackanapes?”

“I do, sir,” said Jackanapes warmly.

“And whom do you love next best to your aunt?”

The ties of blood were pressing very strongly on the General himself, and perhaps he thought of Lollo, the pony. But Love is not bought in a day, even a lot of money. Jackanapes answered quite readily, “The Postman.”

Nobody could help loving Jackanapes; he was without guile.

Boys and girls, if you are to grow up good men and women, truth is the one thing needful. Our nation needs those who are true and good. More than once I have heard a mother say, “My boy has never given me a moment's anxiety.” She knew he was without guile. Remember that although Jesus Christ was the friend of those who had done wrong and were sorry for it, He hated guile.

Would you like to know more about Nathanael?

It is supposed that he became one of the twelve disciples and that Bartholomew, of whom Matthew, Mark, and Luke speak, was the same man. Bartholomew means just “son of Talmai,” and Nathanael's full name may have been “Nathanael, the son of Talmai.” So the man without guile most likely became a constant follower of the great Master.

We hear of Nathanael again in the very last chapter of John's Gospel. There we are told that he was one of the seven to whom Christ appeared after the Resurrection. He was one of those who in despair went a-fishing on the Lake of Galilee, hoping thus to dull the ache of their sorrow. And you remember how, when they returned still sad in the morning, they found Christ waiting for them on the shore.

Tradition tells us that Nathanael followed Christ to the end of his days. He became a great missionary and travelled here and there telling people the story of Jesus. And at the last he is said to have laid down his life in his Master's cause.

Boys and girls, it is easy for those who are guileless to follow Christ and become His friends. What about yourselves? Will you not strive to have the single heart that loves and follows truth, that loves and follows Christ now and for evermore?