This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

St Bartholemew (Nathaniel) 24th August

Reading 1, Revelation 21:9b-14

9 One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came to speak to me and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’

10 In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God.

11 It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.

12 Its wall was of a great height and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel;

13 on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

14 The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Gospel, John 1:45-51

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ 46 Nathanael said to him, ‘From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see.’ 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.’ 48 Nathanael asked, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.’

49 Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.’

50 Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.’ 51 And then he added, ‘In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.’

by El Greco

Nathaniel, the disciple of Jesus mentioned only in John’s gospel is traditionally identified with Bartholemew, who is mentioned in the other gospels. This is to avoid the awkward admission that the lists of the “Twelve” don’t match or add up perfectly. The institution of the Twelve probably goes back to Jesus, for whom it would have been a symbol of the New Israel (Twelve Tribes), which he was calling into being by his ministry. There is much use in the gospels of the number 12 and 7 signifying the twelve tribes of Israel and the 7 (as traditionally counted) nations of Gentiles. It would seem that the reality “on the ground” of the Twelve disappeared fairly soon in the history of the church and that precise details of the names of the Twelve were either lost or differently remembered. In any case, once tidy-minded scholars got round to making definitive lists, poor old Nathaniel lost his independent existence.

There’s no good reason for this. He is clearly described in John’s gospel as called by Jesus, although he is initially sceptical. His forthrightness earns him Jesus’ praise as a man in whom there is no guile. He is later mentioned as a witness to the resurrection. What more is needed for true discipleship than to respond honestly to Jesus’ call, and to become a witness of his risen life?

I wonder if he could be made the patron saint of all who see “heaven as open”?

There are so many religious people who think it’s closed, except of course to people like them: only those with the right theology, or the right baptism, the right use of the Sabbath, the right interpretation of the bible, will get in. An open heaven, such as Jesus glimpsed at his baptism, and made available to others in his ministry, and secured forever through his suffering and death, is very frightening to all bigots. St. Nathaniel would be a sign of contradiction to all such, and a sign of hope to all who doubt that heaven is open to them.

How is heaven open? It’s open, says the book of Revelation, because its gates are open, day and night. There is always a way into the kingdom, which is available to those who come from all directions at all times. It is the way of Jesus, communicated and represented by his twelve apostles, of whom Nathaniel is one. The task of the church is to represent the openness of the kingdom. It is not that the kingdom lacks walls, as the “church without walls” movement would have us think. The walls of the kingdom are justice, love, peace and goodness, but disciples of Jesus proclaim its openness to all who want to come in, by way of Jesus.

Afro-American Spiritual

Do you think Mohammed and the Buddha refuse to enter by these gates? Of course not! They realise that these gates let in more people than the ones they constructed, and are happy for that reason. Only those who want gates that admit them alone, and those who feel entitled to a heaven without gates, that is, those suffering from terminal arrogance, will find themselves outside, but they won’t know it, for they’ll call it their kingdom.

Today, if you have time, give thanks for Nathaniel, patron saint of the open kingdom.