John 1:50

Ver. 50. “ Nathanael answered and said to him:Master, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. ”

By the title Son of God, he expresses the thrilling impression which was made within his mind by the intimate relation between Jesus and God, of which he had himself just had experience. Lucke, Meyer, and most others maintain that this title is here equivalent to that of Messiah. They regard this as proved by the following expression: the King of Israel.

But it is precisely this juxtaposition which implies a difference of meaning. At all events, if the two titles had exactly the same sense, the second would be joined to the first as a simple apposition, while the repetition of the pronoun σύ, thou, and of the verb εἶ, art, before the second title, absolutely excludes this synonymy. Besides, the title which Nathanael here gives must be the vivid and fresh expression of the moral agitation which he has just experienced, and not, like that of Messiah, the result of reflection. If the latter is added afterwards, it is to do justice to the affirmation of Philip (John 1:46); but still, it can only come in the second place. In general, we believe that the equivalence of the term, Son of God, with that of Messiah, even in the form in which Weiss makes it out, who understands by Son of God the man well-beloved of God, never wholly corresponds with reality. In this passage, in particular, the title Son of God, can only be connected with the proof of supernatural knowledge which Jesus has just given, and consequently, it contains the feeling of an exceptional relation between Jesus and God. Undoubtedly, it is a vague impression; but it is, nevertheless, rich and full, as is everything which is a matter of feeling, even more than if it were already reduced to a dogmatic formula.

As Luthardt observes: “Nathanael's faith will never possess more than that which it embraces at this moment” (the living person of Jesus), it will only be able to possess it more distinctly. The seeker for gold puts his hand on an ingot; when he has coined it he has it better, but not more. The two titles complete each other: Son of God bears on the relation of Jesus to God; King of Israel on His relation to the chosen people. The second title is the logical consequence of the first. The personage who lives in so intimate a relation with God can only be the King of Israel. This title is undoubtedly the response to that of true Israelite, with which Jesus had saluted Nathanael. The faithful subject has recognized and salutes his King. Jesus feels indeed, that he has just taken the first step in a new career that of miraculous signs, of which His life had been completely destitute up to this time; and His answer breathes the most elevated feeling of the grandeur of the moment.