Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!
- From John 1
Imagine that:
No deceit!
Of all the reasons to remember one of the Apostles, with their foibles, their frailties and faults - Nathanael gets chosen to be remembered for his sincere and honorable habits.
We don't get much else about Nathanael. No big dialogues between him and Christ, a la Peter. No arguments between him and one of the Twelve (and they were brothers even) a la John and James.
We learn that Nathanael was, just, a really good guy. Jesus made a point of it. Of all the public pronouncements Jesus could have made about you . . . wouldn't "He has no deceit" have to land near the top of the list?
And I repeat - it means essentially the same thing as "What a good guy!"
In pop culture, I know of two characters from TV that may be said to have no deceit: The first is Marshall Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke. On almost a weekly basis, Marshall Dillon is given difficult choices between doing wrong but increasing his wealth or power; or doing right and maybe getting half the town mad at him.
The other example is Commissioner Frank Reagan in television's Blue Bloods. Commissioner Reagan makes the right choice so frequently, that in the real world he probably would have been fired many times over.
That's right - - - the morally and ethically sound decision will often get you in trouble (and it's probably true more often than not). You'll lose your rank, your job, your friends, your family.
Of the two whistleblowing experiences in my life, one directly led to the loss of my job, and probably the break-up of my marriage. The other one made me distrust authority figures, to a dysfunctional degree. I believe I made the moral choice, the ethical choice, both times. But it cost me, and others.
You wonder if Nathanael had problems keeping a job, or holding on to his marriage.
When a society begins to loosen its grip on the supremacy of ethics and morality, it can swiftly decay into disorder and dismay. Simply put - human society aggressively, and constantly pressures people to do wrong. It offers rewards for choosing selfishly or corruptly; and severe punishments if you choose the right.
Political seats of power are notorious for harboring massive corruption just under the surface. It even occurs in local politics. And in the corporate world, despite it's protestations to the contrary, political maneuverings are a fact of life.
Society have to push-back without letup, without taking a break, if it hopes to give honest and guileless people a fighting chance.
This is what Nathanael was like. He just made the right choices. That's all he did. His quality of life did not matter. Neither his wealth, or his influence counted, in the Lord's eyes.
He had no deceit. He was honest. You could trust him. And he would stand up to the rich and the powerful.
2023 is running out of men and women without deceit.
