for the first time in 1:35–51, witness to Jesus is met with resistance. What Nathanael thinks he knows about Jesus—that he is from Nazareth—determines what he is willing to accept about Jesus (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”). Nathanael’s reaction introduces a theme that will be repeated throughout the Gospel: people’s preconceptions about Jesus can stand in the way of a full experience of Jesus. The Pharisees in John 9, for example, are so sure that they know who Jesus is that they do