Jesus grew up in Nazareth, as we all know. In today's reading (Jn 1:45-15) we see that the first followers of Jesus questioned whether He was really the Christ because they heard that He was from Nazareth, and assumed that nothing good could come from that town. The Gospels never tell us why folks held Nazareth in such disrespect. Maybe somehow it has acquired a particularly-bad reputation, for reasons we'll never know. Or maybe the problem was that the Old Testament (in Second Samuel and Micah) had suggested that the Messiah would come from David's family and from Bethlehem, as the disciples say in John 7: 41-42. So, they ask, how can Jesus possibly be the one, since He is from Galilee, and specifically Nazareth. It all shows you the problem of reaching a conclusion when you think you have the facts, but you really don't. What the disciples don't seem to know, and what is creating the issue, is that Jesus is really from Bethlehem-- that's where He was born, after all-- and from David's family (by adoption, let's say), through Joseph. So, the Old Testament would support the notion that Jesus is the one, not dispute it. Nathaniel and the others simply don't seem to know that and are operating on an incorrect assumption. The disciples have gone off "half-cocked", as my grandmother would have said, referring to a gun which is partially ready to fire but not completely so. Of course, they follow Jesus anyway, but they've created an issue they needn't have. In a sense, they have thought they're smarter than the Holy Spirit, which descends on Jesus at His baptism, and which John the Baptist realized was a sign He could neither ignore nor dispute. The disciples who question Jesus' origins know that (see Jn 1: 32- 34), but that doesn't seem to stop them from assuming they know all the facts-- facts that would question John the Baptist's assertion that Jesus is the Christ-- and challenging the conclusion John the Baptist has reached. So we might remind ourselves that it is especially important, particularly when dealing with matters of faith, to know what we're talking about before we speak. How many folks have had their reputations tarninshed because people spread around incomplete information? Beyond that, we might remember to follow where the Holy Spirit is leading us, even if in our incomplete knowledge the path seems questionable. When Nathaniel questions where Jesus is from, and doubts that He could be the Messiah for that reason, Philip says simply: "Come and see." Nathaniel does that and, as they say, the rest is history. Sure, we need to use common sense and good judgment. But we might also reserve judgment, especially when we don't know all the facts, and see how things play out before reaching conclusions. That attitude served the first disciples well.