Deepertruth: The Apostle St. Bartholomew, follower of Christ

St. Bartholomew was one of the original 12 Apostles of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His name literally means "son of Tolomai", born in the "House of Tolomai" from Cana of Galilee.

Bartholomew most certainly knew the Bride Groom and guests at the famed wedding feast of Cana when Jesus performed His first public Miracle (John 2:1-11).

At the time of Jesus, Cana and Galilee in general had a strong economy based on the fishing industry. No doubt St. Bartholomew lived within the means of his household, but because of his friendship with St. Phillip, he had an encounter with Jesus that would change his life forever. St. John knew St. Bartholomew and lists him in his Gospel as "Nathanael" in respect to his strong faith and reliance on God.

At that time, there were many reports of messiahs and there were problems with the leaders of Israel, they were under Roman Rule and despair was a temptation. At one point, St. Bartholomew told his friend, St. Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." What St. Bartholomew did not know was that St. Philip had already met Jesus a couple of days before.

John 1:47 States, "Jesus saw Nathana-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Think about that for a second, wouldn't that be great for Jesus to think of you that way? St. Bartholomew must of been strong in faith and conviction. From that time on St. Bartholomew would be counted with the 12 Apostles (Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16).