Mission To Galilee. Abridged.

MISSION TO GALILEE.

John 1:43-51.

1. PHILIP.

The first chapter of John’s Gospel, having opened with a declaration of Jesus as God (John 1:1), closes with Jesus seeming to make an ordinary human decision: to go ‘walkabout’ into Galilee (John 1:43) - perhaps to visit the home of His new disciples Andrew and Peter (John 1:44). Yet this was not an arbitrary choice of destination, but it was made with the set purpose of seeking out and recruiting another disciple. This is, in embryo, what Jesus has been doing on our behalf all along: seeking and saving that which was lost.

In Galilee, Jesus found Philip of Bethsaida, whom He commanded - with all the authority of His kingship - “Follow me” (John 1:43). Philip was no doubt ripe for the picking (despite his Greek name and the Gentile reputation of his hometown), as is evidenced in his knowledge of certain Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. Yet when Philip ran to his friend Nathanael, he did make a common mistake as to the identity of Jesus, naming Him “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45) - somewhat perplexing Nathanael, who could remember no prophecy about any good thing coming out of Nazareth!

Yet God does use our clumsy attempts at evangelism, even when we blurt things out in the excitement of the moment without having fully thought them through. Philip managed to recover from the artlessness of his testimony to Nathanael with the encouragement to “Come and see” (John 1:46). Disputation is often counter-productive, so the Lord (who had called Philip without any intermediary) now enabled His new recruit to add wisdom to his enthusiasm, and used him as His mouthpiece to call Nathanael.

2. NATHANAEL.

To Nathanael’s credit, despite his misgivings, he went with Philip. How different his life would have been if he had remained in the grip of prejudice and misunderstanding! The Lord knows everything, and Jesus immediately demonstrated His divine knowledge of Nathanael’s character and whereabouts (John 1:47-48).

Jesus honoured Nathanael as “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (John 1:47). One of the marks of the godly man is his sincerity: his true heart, and his lack of guile (cf. Psalm 32:1-2). No doubt Nathanael was a pious Jew, awaiting the revelation of Messiah.

Nathanael was astonished at Jesus’ miraculous knowledge (John 1:48). When Jesus added that he had seen Nathanael sitting under the fig tree before Philip had called him, Nathanael lavished a plethora of Messianic titles upon Jesus (John 1:49): Jesus would have denied any of these if they were not all true! Jesus told Nathanael that “you (singular) shall see greater things than these” (John 1:50).

Jesus also added, “Hereafter ye (plural) shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man” (John 1:51). Perhaps when Jesus had seen him under the fig tree, Nathanael had been meditating on Jacob’s vision of the ladder (cf. Genesis 28:12) - but the use of the plural “ye” indicates that the promise “ye shall see…” belongs to all of God’s people. Jesus, as both “Son of God” (John 1:49) and “Son of man” (John 1:51) is the ladder connecting heaven and earth, providing access to God for all of His people.