Matins Devotion: August 24, 2026

John 1:43-51

There’s a beautiful symmetry in our text from John this morning. Philip finds Nathaniel, also known as Bartholomew, and tells them that they have found the long-awaited Savior. Nathaniel is a man of low expectations, essentially saying, “oh, ok. You’ve found the Messiah, and He’s from that hick town Nazareth. Sure, we’ll see.” But then, after Nathaniel is flabbergasted by this rather meek miracle where Jesus tells him where he was sitting a moment before, Jesus tells the once skeptical man that he will see far greater things than this. He will see the fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder. He will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. He will see the fulfillment of the promise given to their father Jacob where all the nations of the earth are blessed through Him. He will see the very salvation of the world, heaven come to earth and earth come to heaven in the cross of our Lord.

So there’s the beautiful symmetry. Nathan underexpects. Jesus overdelivers. The Savior from Nazareth, the Son of Joseph the Carpenter, He has given us everything. And because of this, we can expect everything.

Do you expect Jesus to give a little peace to your life? Expect more. Because through the ladder that He built to heaven in His cross, He has sworn to give you a day when every sorrow, every grief, every ounce of confusion and fear and worry will melt away forever as your heart of fallen stone burns up and puts on an imperishable heart of flesh that will live forever, beat forever, and never again know the sorrows of this life.

Do you expect Jesus to give you another chance to turn your life around? Expect more. Because the One who went to Calvary did not give you every drop of His blood and every beat of His heart and every breath from His lungs to simply wipe the slate clean and let you try again to make yourself worthy of heaven. He gave you His own worthiness. He gave you more forgiveness than you had sins. He gave you endless mercy, endless devotion, steadfast love that will never expire or run out. When you could not make yourself into a child of God, He reached His nail-pierced hands in the wilderness, found you, and washed you clean. In His resurrection, He cradled you in His embrace. And in the waters of your baptism, He carried you up Jacob’s ladder to His Father in Heaven who looked at you and said, “this is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”

Raise your expectations of Jesus. Raise them to the most absurd levels imaginable. You still won’t be within five thousand miles of the paradise our Lord has promised to give you.