John 1:43-51 @ Christ Church on 15 Jan 2012
Who were Philip and Nathanael ?
Although Philip is from Bathsaida his name is greek – it means Horse Lover. He was probably a fisherman. Little is known of what happened to him after the resurrection. Some say he travelled in Asia Minor with his sister Marianne and Nathanael. Clement says that he lived into old age (so was not martyred), but all we know is that he is called Philip and is from Bethsaida. He is not the same Philip that is found in Acts speaking to the Ethiopean.
Nathanael is equally mysterious. He is almost certainly known as Bartholomew in the other Gospels. Bartholomew means son of the furrows, perhaps indicating that he was a ploughman. In each gospel he is mentioned with Philip.
Philip
We have no information about why Philip responded to Jesus. After getting his first two disciples from John (Andrew and Peter), Jesus decides to go to Galilee. On the way he finds Philip, says “Follow me” and its done. I can't believe that it was really that straight forward, its simply that the full story is lost to us.
Nathanael
Nathanael, on the other hand, is much more interesting. He was obviously already good friends with Philip. After his calling by Jesus Nathanael is the first one to be told. Philip has obviously had some significant conversations with Jesus already. – even before the first miracle that is recorded. Turning water into wine occurs in the next chapter. Philip has already recognised who Jesus is. We can tell this by the way he passes the news on to Nathanael: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote”. Philip means the Messiah.
Messiah expected soon
There was a high level of expectation in Israel in the 1st Century that the Messiah would be sent by God to free the Israelites from Roman rule. Just as He had sent Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian rule hundreds of years before. The Jewish people were looking out for someone who would fit the bill, and there were many who appeared to and then failed. Philip had identified his candidate and went to tell his friend.
Nazareth
His last seven words though ruined it for Nathanael. “Jesus of Nazareth – the son of Joseph”. Nazareth clearly did not have a good reputation amongst Galileans, perhaps that explains why Joseph and Mary were able to settle there. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip is still full of enthusiasm “Come and See.”
Nathanael
As Jesus sees Nathanael approaching he says “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” If I was greeted like that, I would be taken aback. That appears to have been Nathanael's reaction.
“How do you know me?”. Does his response suggest to you that he may have thought he was being stalked? He certainly sounds defensive and uncomfortable – but then who wouldn't be if their character was summed up by a complete stranger.
Jesus' answer “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” may sound simple to us. So Nathaniel was sitting (presumably) under a fig tree and Jesus passed by. How would Jesus draw the conclusion that there was “nothing false” in Nathanael from that? And how would that explain any of the conversation that follows?
Under a fig tree
Well the phrase 'under a fig tree' was used in the 1st Century to describe someone studying or meditating on scripture. That helps explain it. Jesus had seen Nathanael studying and had even seen what he was reading. Jesus may have meant it quite literally, or He may have been given a word of knowledge. Either way it impressed Nathanael.
Titles for Jesus
It impressed him enough for him to respond “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” “Son of God” is the description that John the Baptist give of Jesus when he is describing him to his own disciples. For John it was a revelation that God had given him. “King of Israel” is a title that Jesus would be given from time to time and which He seemed less pleased to accept.
Nathanaels response is quite a turn around from his derogatory remarks about Nazareth. I struggle to shake off the impression that Jesus is laughing at him slightly in the next response.
Read Genesis 28:10-17
Before we look at that it will be helpful if we too spend a minute under the fig tree.
Please turn to Genesis 28 verse 10.
I'm going to read verses 10-17
Remember that Jacob had lied and schemed and cheated his brother Easu out of his inheritance. Here God speaks to him in a dream.
Ge 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
Let's assume that the passage I have just read is the one, or at least part of the one that Nathanael was reading.
Nathanael recognied Jesus
Remember, Nathanael has recognised Jesus for who he is on the strength of either a careful piece of observation of a simple word of knowledge. Jesus replies “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” Then goes on to add “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
I'd just love to hear the rest of the conversation. Where did it go from there? What did Nathanael say next? The narrative moves on, so we can never know, but we can get a better understanding of Jesus' last statement.
Jesus' promise
Jesus picks up on the scripture that Nathanael was reading and promises that he will see greater things. Why shouldn't he – he has already been identified as a true Israelite, a truthful Israelite. By comparison Jacob was anything but truthful, yet God spoke to Jacob, and made a promise to be with him.
Son of man
Jesus ends with the title 'Son of Man' – a favourite title that Jesus gave himself, but how would Nathanael have understood it.
The phrase 'son of man' in the Old Testament (in our translation) appears in Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Mostly it simply means human being. In Daniel 7:13 in the dream of the four beasts, it clearly refers to the messiah, so it is quite possible that Nathanael would have understood it as confirmation of Philips statement 'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote” - The Messiah. If he did he may also have realised that Jesus is saying that he is the way to heaven. An oblique reference perhaps to the fact that he would die for our sins and therefore make it possible to be once again connected to heaven.
Recognising Jesus
We don't have the luxury of a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, so I wondered what it was that triggered my belief. It certainly wasn't a simple word of knowledge, for me it was a much longer process. I had been attending church for a while and had been working through a number of things that might prevent me from believing. Was the Christian faith rational – the world I lived in was ordered and could be made sense of (at some level) – if Christianity denied that, I was never going to join. Those things over it was Jesus in the people I was friends with that finally made the difference.
Think back – what were the influences on your life that made you recognise that Jesus was the son of God? What was the one thing – if there was just one thing that first made you believe?
For Philip it may have been a command.
For Nathaniel it was Jesus' words: “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
For Jacob it was a dream.
Everyone has something that triggered their belief, or will trigger their belief.
All we can do is introduce them to Jesus and let Him do the rest.
