When we have a very convincing reason, we are most likely to try to have a Pure Heart. I have been in pursuit of this question for a few decades.
The Pure in heart will see God. This is a brief answer. A straightforward answer from the Bible. This is from the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Looking back at my blog post on this topic 6 years ago (updated here) – I do not find that the post inspires me as it had when I wrote it then. So in this post, I shall share that which the Spirit of God reveals to me now. Meanwhile, in case you wish to read the first version of the blog post on “why should you should desire to have a Pure Heart” written 6 years ago, go ahead & click on the question in this sentence.
For the new journey, we will journey through scripture references that are being highlighted to me these days. To begin with, I wish to explore the terms related to the topic of the blog post viz.
pure heart,
other terms for pure,
other terms for heart, related to heart.
Since the verse says the pure in heart sees God,
We will try to understand what is seeing, terms relating to seeing, experiencing and understanding God
Nathanael’s encounter with Jesus
Philip had come to know Jesus. He was eager to bring his dear friend, Nathanael, also to know Jesus. Nathanael was a devout Jew, reading and meditating on the scriptures, was expecting the saviour, as was foretold in it.
Having come across Jesus, Philip tried to share the good news with him. Yet Nathanael had set certain conditions in his mind about Jesus coming. So he did not believe what Philip told.
Here is the unfolding of the scene as given in the Gospel of John, when Jesus saw Nathanael coming with Philip to him.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said, “Here comes a true son of Israel—an honest man with no hidden motive!” Nathanael was stunned and said, “But you’ve never met me—how do you know anything about me?” Jesus answered, “Nathanael, right before Philip came to you, I saw you sitting under the shade of a fig tree.”
Nathanael blurted out, “Teacher, you are truly the Son of God and the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you sitting under a fig tree? You will experience even more impressive things than that!
I prophesy to you eternal truth: From now on, you all will see an open heaven and gaze upon the Son of Man like a stairway reaching into the sky with the messengers of God climbing up and down upon him!” (Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 47-51)
We see Nathanael being referred to as an honest man without any hidden motive or hidden agenda. His mind was not devious, his heart was without guile, a term used in other versions of the Bible.
Thus, we see him to perfectly fit the description of – pure in heart. A man who used to read the scriptures, meditate on it, expected the coming of the saviour of the Jews. It is said that Nathanael was probably reading and meditating about the saviour who was to come. As Jesus called him an honest man without any hidden motive – a guileless person, these are the qualities to aspire for. Moreover, these qualities were highlighted about Nathanael by none other than Jesus.
Jesus immediately went on to prophecy an eternal truth.
He said that Nathanael would thereafter see an open heaven.
He would see the Son of Man like a stairway between heaven & earth with angels ascending & descending.
Since the above mentioned “seeing” is an eternal truth, it’s a blessing for everyone who keeps his/ her heart pure. Jesus perceived Nathanael to have a pure heart, and he foretold the eternal truth as a prophecy for Nathanael. It’s yours for the taking.
