John 1:43-51

THE CALL OF PHILIP AND NATHANAEL

Text 1:43-51

43

On the morrow he was minded to go forth into Galilee, and he findeth Philip: and Jesus saith unto him, Follow me.

44

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.

45

Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46

And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

47

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48

Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

49

Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art King of Israel.

50

Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee underneath the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

51

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Queries

a.

What did Moses write of Him in the law and the prophets?

b.

What did Nathanael mean when he said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46)?

c.

What is the meaning of John 1:51?

Paraphrase

The next day Jesus decided to go north to Galilee. Before leaving, however, He discovered Philip and said to him, Follow me. (Philip was from Bethsaida, the same city that Andrew and Peter were from). Philip, the same day, found Nathanael and said to him, We have found the One of Whom Moses wrote in the Pentateuch and of Whom the prophets also wrote. This One is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph the carpenter. But Nathanael said, The Scriptures do not say, do they, that the Messiah shall come out of Nazareth? Philip answered, Come and see for yourself. As Nathanael was coming to Jesus, Jesus said, Look! A true son of Jacob in whom there is no deceit nor guile! Nathanael said to Jesus, How do you know what my character is? Jesus answered him, saying, Before Philip found you, when you thought yourself concealed under the fig tree, I could read your heart. Nathanael said to Jesus, Teacher, you are indeed the Son of Godthe King of Israel. Jesus said to Nathanael, You believed when I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than these. I tell you truly, You shall see the way into Heaven and a measure of its glories revealed through the Son of man.

Summary

Jesus gathers two more disciples. Philip, neighbor of Andrew and Peter, and Nathanael, a true Israelite. Nathanael's quick faith is to be rewarded by visions of Glory.

Comment

This is the fourth day from the time the Jews questioned John the Baptist. Jesus has spent almost a week in the vicinity of John's place of baptizing. Time is drawing near for Him to commence His public ministry. The Lord has decided to go north into the province of Galilee. It may be that while He is preparing to go Philip comes to Him. It may be that Philip had called Andrew and Peter aside and was talking to them when Jesus approached him with the challenge, Follow me. The two from Bethsaida (Andrew and Peter) had probably told Philip, their fellow townsman, the Messianic news. Philip seems to be the type of man who always wants to get to the bottom of things (cf. John 6:5-7; John 12:21; John 14:8-9), and was probably seeking Jesus when Jesus found him.

Philip, too, is a personal evangelist. We cannot help noticing a strong emphasis on personal evangelism in this first chapter of John. Each one wins one. Now it takes more than one hundred to win one.

Who is Nathanael? The best answer is that he is the Bartholomew of the Synoptical Gospels. The name Nathanael means gift of God. His home town was Cana of Galilee (John 21:2). We assume Nathanael and Bartholomew to be the same man since Bartholomew is never mentioned in John's Gospel, and Nathanael is never named in the Synoptics. It is amazing that Nathanael lived his youth at the same time Jesus lived His, in Cana of Galileeonly about 3 miles from Nazareth the boyhood home of Jesusyet he had never heard of Jesus. This fact shows how perverse the wild fantasies of the Apocryphal Gospels are.

These two men, Philip and Nathanael, were undoubtedly students of the Old Testament Law and Prophets. Nearly every male Israelite studied them from childhood through old age. When Philip told Nathanael of finding the One of Whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Nathanael's heart must have pounded as he recalled the words of Deuteronomy 18:15, Isaiah 53:1-12, Daniel 9:24-27, Jeremiah, the Psalms and a host of other, references. There is an invaluable lesson here for students of God's Word today. The Old Testament cannot be properly understood without seeing Christ as the very core and substance of the Law and prophets (cf. Luke 24:27; Luke 24:32; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; John 5:46; Acts 3:18; 1 Peter 1:10).

John 1:46 has always been one of varied interpretation. Three interpretations are usually offered: (a) that Nathanael was expressing civic pride and rivalry since he was from the neighboring village of Cana, (b) that Nazareth was notoriously evil and Nathanael was uttering a proverbial denunciation, or (c) that Nathanael is questioning, what seems to him, a wrong interpretation by Philip of the Messianic prophecies. The third interpretation seems to have the weight of the context in its favor (cf. John 7:52). Philip does not try to argue Nathanael into his position but bids him, Come and see!

Nathanael, being a man with an honest and good heart (Luke 8:15), comes to see. Jesus, seeing him coming, tells His other disciples, Look! a true son of Jacob. The word Jesus used for guile here is dolos which means bait, snare, deceit, or guile. It is evident that throughout the entire conversation with Nathanael Jesus keeps referring to the history of Jacob, father of all Israelites. He contrasts the guileless character of Nathanael with the deceitful practices of Jacob. Such trickery was also found in most of the descendants of Jacob (cf. Genesis 34:1-31; Matthew 23:16-22). Many of the Jews of Jesus-' day had no scruples against cheating and deceiving in their business transactions. Few of the rulers had guileless characters. Nathanael's moral excellence caused Jesus to exclaim, Look! a true Israelite, in whom is no deceit (cf. Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:26).

Nathanael is surprised that Jesus knows how he thinks and how he lives. Those who seek to follow Jesus now would do well to remember that He still sees the most hidden recesses of their hearts (cf. John 2:24-25; Psalms 139:1-24). The guileless Israelite frankly asks Jesus where He received His information. Perhaps Nathanael silently wonders if Jesus had learned of him through Philip. The Master quickly shows that this would be impossible for He saw Nathanael's heart before Philip found him.

Jesus even names the place where Nathanael thought he was hidden from the eyes of strangers. It seems to have been the custom of the Jews to seek the shade of the fig tree as the most peaceful and obscure place to sit and meditate and pray (cf. 1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4). Was Nathanael praying and meditating under the fig tree? Did he often pray that the Holy One of God should soon come? From the Lord's estimate of his character these things could not be far wrong. Now Nathanael is face to face with One Who knows his secret longingsWho has heard his prayersWho reads his heart. This must be the Son of Godthe King of Israel.

Most of our English versions have translated John 1:50 as a question. This interrogative form tends to disparage the value of Nathanael's unhesitating faith. We might get the idea from a question that Jesus doubts that Nathanael could believe so soonor that Jesus doubts the surety of his faith. To the contrary, Jesus praises the man's faith by promising to reward it with even greater manifestations of His glory.

John 1:51 is hard of interpretation. The best exegesis is that Jesus means He is the antitype of Jacob's ladder. In other words, He will be revealed to Nathanael as the Way to Heaven (John 14:1-6). He will be shown to His disciples, and eventually the world, as the Mediator between God and man. The Lord could hardly have reference to a literal ascent and descent of angels upon His Person. There were times when the angels did literally minister unto Him (cf. Mark 1:13; Luke 22:43; Matthew 28:2-4; John 20:12-13), but Nathanael was not sufficiently close to Jesus at any of these incidents to see the angels.

This record of the actual opening of Jesus-' ministry is full of victory. He does not declare Himself in spectacular fashion to the multitude, but a little group of select and eager men begin to have an insight into His glorious personality. They recognize Him as the Lamb of God, the Messiah, The Son of God and the King of Israel. He declares Himself the Son of man, and opens up an absorbing vista of His coming ministry. (R. C. Foster in Studies in the Life of Christ, Vol. 1).

Quiz

1.

What type of man was Philip?

2.

Who was Nathanael? Where did he live?

3.

What is the necessary relationship of Christ to the Old Testament?

4.

Who does Jesus think of as He talks to Nathanael?

5.

What is the teaching of Psalms 139:1-24?

6.

What do we assume Nathanael was doing under the fig tree?