Character Needed - Bible Sketches 7

CHARACTER NEEDED – BIBLE SKETCHES

Character Needed, by Robert Allen, published by Regular Baptist Press, includes 33 skits illustrating the truths of each of the verses in Proverbs 15.  These Character Needed – Bible Sketches are designed to accompany those contemporary plays, illustrating the same character traits by use of a Bible story.  

CHARACTER NEEDED

  

MEETING CHRIST

Proverbs 15:7

John 1:45-50

Character Trait:  Truthfulness

Cast of Characters

                        Narrator

                        Philip

                        Nathanael

                        Jesus

NARRATOR:             Philip had a problem.  Just that day he had met Jesus, and that was wonderful.  But he still had a problem.  He had heard about Jesus from his neighbors, James and John, and Jesus had invited Philip to follow Him, to become one of His disciples.   That was where the problem came in.  He wanted all of his friends to meet Christ as well, especially Nathanael.  But Nathanael was a hard man to convince.  They had often argued and Philip had never won.  How was he going to convince him concerning Jesus?  By the time he found him under a fig tree, he had decided that the best approach was simply to come right out and tell him what had happened when he met Jesus.

PHILIP:                      Nathanael!  I’ve found Him!

NATHANAEL:          Who have you found?  What are you talking about?  I didn’t know anyone was lost?

PHILIP:                      I found the One Moses was talking about.

NATHANAEL:          Moses talked about a lot of people.  And they’re all dead.  How could you have found one of them?

PHILIP:                      He’s the One all the prophets talked about.

NATHANAEL:          What are you talking about?

PHILIP:                      It’s the Messiah.

NATHANAEL:          You mean the prophet who Moses said God would raise up from among the people, like unto him, and would put His own words in His mouth?

PHILIP:                      That’s the One.

NATHANAEL:          Well, who is He?  Are you going to tell me, or aren’t you?

PHILIP:                      His name is Jesus.

NATHANAEL:          Jesus?

PHILIP:                      Yes, Jesus of Nazareth.

NATHANAEL:          Nazareth?  Did you say Nazareth?  Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?  You must be kidding.

PHILIP:                      Come and see for yourself.

NARRATOR:             Well, that was the best answer Philip could have given.  He knew that there was no way he could convince Nathanael that Jesus was really the Messiah.  Nathanael needed to come to Christ and settle that question for himself.  So the two of them headed back into town to where Jesus had been when he told Philip to follow Him.  As they traveled, Philip kept talking about this wonderful man he had met.  He was so anxious for Nathanael to believe in Him, so they could serve Him together.

PHILIP:                      John the Baptist says that He is the Son of God.

NATHANAEL:          I never put much stock in what John the Baptist said.  There he is, down there in the wilderness, living in ragged clothes and eating locusts and honey.  What would he know about the Son of God?

PHILIP:                      Andrew and Simon have already decided to become disciples.

NATHANAEL:          The fishermen?  They are going to leave their nets to follow Him?  They are probably just trying to get out of work.  It won’t last long.  Simon is always jumping with both feet into something new, and then trying to get out of it the next day.

PHILIP:                      He’s a wonderful teacher.

NATHANAEL:          So are some of the Rabbis.  But I wouldn’t give a penny for anything else about them.  He’ll have to be more than just a good teacher to convince me.

NARRATOR:             Philip was really getting worried by this time.  Maybe he had made a mistake in bringing Nathanael to see Jesus.  Maybe Nathanael would just make fun of him, and of Jesus too.  It was so hard to convince Nathanael of anything.  Finally the two men arrived at the spot where Philip had left Jesus, and sure enough, He was still there.  It was almost as if He had been waiting for them.  In fact, He saw them coming and before Philip could even open his mouth to introduce his friend, Jesus called out to them.

JESUS:                        Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.

NARRATOR:             Nathanael blinked.  That was a perfect description of him.  Someone just have told Jesus about him.

NATHANAEL:          How do you know me?  Where have you met me before?

JESUS:                        Before Philip called you, when you were sitting there under the fig tree, I saw you.

NARRATOR:             Nathanael couldn’t believe his ears.  That was impossible!  There was not way Jesus could have seen him under the fig tree.  Jesus had been in town when Philip found him.  There was only one way Jesus could have seen him under the fig tree, and that was if He really was the Son of God and knew all things.  All of Philip’s arguments had failed, but one simply statement from Jesus was enough to convince Nathanael.

NATHANAEL:          Teacher, you are the Son of God.  You are the king of Israel.

JESUS:                        Do you believe in Me because I said I saw you under the fig tree?  As you follow Me, you will see much greater things than that.

NARRATOR:             Philip was thrilled.  For the second time that day he had seen the power of Jesus to change lives.  First, he had become a disciple, and now Nathanael.  Right then Philip determined to bring everyone he possible could to meet Jesus.  And he kept that promise.  From that day forward, every time the Bible refers to Philip he is bringing someone to meet Christ.  He had learned that Jesus was the answer to his problem.