The name Bartholomew is always found whenever the list of the Apostles is mentioned. (Mathew 10; Mark 3; Luke 6; Acts 1), but there is nothing else said about Bartholomew in the New Testament.

     Probably, this man Bartholomew was the same man whose name is Nathanael in John 1.

     Reasons that possibly Bartholomew and Nathanael was the same person:

1. It is common for a person in the New Testament to have two names.

2. When the name Bartholomew is mentioned, the name Nathanael is never found in the list of the Apostles in the gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When the name Nathanael is mentioned, the name Bartholomew is never found in the list of the Apostles in the gospels written by John.
3. In the gospel of John, we learned in John 1 that Philip and Nathanael were good friends, so after Philip found the Messiah of the Old Testament, the brought Nathanael to Jesus. Then in the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the name Bartholomew is always mentioned in the list after the name of Philip.  

4. The Bible indicates that Nathanael was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ in John 21:2,14. However, the name Nathanael is not found in other recorded list of names of the 12 disciples, therefore this man probably had another choice of name mentioned and most likely it is the name Bartholomew.

John 21:2, 14 “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. ¹⁴ This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.”

It was quite likely that Bartholomew and Nathanael are same person because of the four reasons given, although we are absolutely not sure that they are one. If Bartholomew and Nathanael are not the same person, the Bible will just list the name Bartholomew and would not tells us anything. On the other hand, if they are the same person, then we know several things about Bartholomew in John 1 of the gospel of John.

I – NATHANAEL MEETS JESUS

     Nathanael had a good knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. Since Nathanael knew the Bible, so he asked something in John 1:46. Read and complete the words which Nathanael had said in John 1:46 “And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any ___________ thing come out of ______________?.” Because Nathanael had knowledge of the Old Testament this question of Nathanael indicates that he did not know of any passages in the Old Testament which said that the Messiah would come from the city of Nazareth, after Philip told Nathanael that Philip found Jesus whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write which is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (John 1:45). May be what is in the mind of Nathanael is the important prophecy found in Micah 5:2 which tells that the King of Israel must come out of the town of ___________________ .

Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” 

     Nazareth was not the birthplace of Jesus, Nazareth was the town where Jesus grew up, that is why Jesus was called “Jesus of Nazareth”. But Nathanael did not realize that Jesus was not born in Nazareth but was born in Bethlehem.

     After Philip told Nathanael that he had found the Messiah and Nathanael replied “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” then Philip invited Nathanael and said “Come and see” (John 1:46). Although Nathanael had his doubts but he was sincere and open minded, so left his fig tree and followed Philip. Now Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, please put the missing word about what Jesus said to Nathanael in John 1:47 “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no ___________” . The noun “guile” in Greek (dolos) means deceit, treachery. This signifies that Nathanael was not tricky or deceitful person for he was an honest and sincere and open-hearted man. As the Jews was looking for the prophesied Messiah, who is King of the Jews, Nathaniel was one of the Jews during his days, waiting and looking for the coming of the prophesied and the promised Anointed One, the Messiah. Now Nathanael asked Jesus in John 1:48 “Whence knowest thou me?” , he is saying to Jesus “How do you know me?” (NASB, ESV). Then Jesus replied to Nathanael in John 1:48 “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the __________ tree, I ________ thee.” This indicates that Jesus as the omniscient and omnipresent God saw Nathanael even though Jesus was not there. Nathanael was really amazed to hear Jesus describe the exact place and what he is doing when Jesus said in John 1:50 “I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree” We therefore conclude that even before Philip spoke to Nathanael, Jesus knew exactly all about Nathanael. In John 1:49, Nathaniel sees the all-knowing attribute of Jesus, so what made Nathaniel convince who Jesus really was? _________________.

John 1:49 “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

     Jesus knows everything about Nathaniel, what was in his mind, where Nathaniel was, what kind of man he was. The same is true for us. Jesus knew our past, present and future. There is nothing that Jesus do not know about us. Jesus knows you more than you know yourself. Jesus knows what are you thinking, feeling, wishing and planning. Jesus knows your wrongs and mistakes even though you are not aware of it and do not admit it. Jesus knows your weakness, failures, pretenses. Jesus knows all about your problems, fear, doubts, and worries. Jesus knows your heart.

     Whenever we consult the medical doctor, we expect the doctor to know exactly and accurately our condition. The more accurate the doctor knows our illness the better the doctor will be able to help our physical problem. We can trust the doctor to diagnose right, to prescribe medicine right, to advise right, to do the right and best for our body. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus is the great Doctor of our soul. Jesus knows about our spiritual condition. Jesus knows exactly and accurately what is wrong with our Christian life and what are the sinful things that affect our spiritual senses. We need to trust Jesus and allow Him to do His best for the sake of our soul and help us to be spiritual healthy. 

     As an open-minded person, Nathanael was open to accept correction if it necessary and for his good. As we have learned that at first Nathanael was wrong about who Jesus was (John 1:46 “And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”), but Nathanael is willing to change and we have learned that he immediately changes his mind after Jesus spoke with him, he realized his wrong thinking and humbly learned who really Jesus was (John 1:48-49 “Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel “). The lesson that we need to learn here is that God wants us to be open hearted and open minded, a person who are willing to change when somebody confronted us with the truth from the Word of God.

     The last thing mentioned about Nathanael is recorded in John 21:2 “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Jesus appeared Himself to the disciples for the third time after risen from the dead, Jesus shew Himself to Nathaniel with other six disciples who went fishing. John 21:14 “This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.” Besides this, the Bible does not tell us any other thing about Nathanael.

     There are no so much information’s that the historical tradition can provide us about this man Bartholomew. As we do not exactly know about the death of Philip, likewise we also do not know exactly about the death of Bartholomew. We are not sure exactly how Bartholomew died, but one thing we are sure he was put to death because he serves the Lord and faithfully preached Jesus Christ as he believed in John 1:49 “the __________ of God and the ______________ of Israel”. Like Philip and other disciples, Bartholomew died as a martyr and shall receive the martyrs crown, the crown of glory. (Revelation 2:10 “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

     What have you learned from the lives of Philip and Bartholomew that should be also found in your life as a follower of Christ?