Something good, out loud

Jesus sees Nathanael coming and says something about him out loud. They haven't even spoken yet. An Israelite without deceit: someone who is what he seems.

There is humour in that greeting too. The name Israel came from the patriarch Jacob, who in Genesis had deceived his brother and his father with a trick. Nathanael had just scoffed that nothing good comes out of Nazareth. Yet Jesus sees in him an Israelite without the double-dealing. He opens their first meeting with a compliment, and says it where others can hear. That is something you can learn from him.