(1:50–51) Introduction: Jesus bore witness to Himself. He clearly declared who He is.
1. The response of Jesus to Nathanael (see vv.46–49).
2. Jesus is the revelation of God: the One who reveals greater things (v.50).
3. Jesus is the mediator: the One who opens the doors of heaven (v.51).
4. Jesus is the Son of Man: the pattern, the perfect representative of man (v.51).
1 (1:50) Nathanael: Nathanael’s experience with Jesus (vv.46–49) was the background for what Jesus said in this passage.
2 (1:50) Jesus Christ, Revelation of God: Jesus Christ is the revelation of God, the One who reveals greater things. Note two points.
a. It was belief in Jesus that brought “greater things” into Nathanael’s life. Nathanael believed Jesus; therefore, he could expect to receive greater things, to receive more and more from God.
“Verily, I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Mt. 17:20).
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mk. 9:23).
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10).
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Ro. 11:33).
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Co. 2:9).
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ep. 3:17–19).
b. It is Jesus Himself who is the revelation of God; therefore, it is Jesus who reveals the “greater things” of life. (See note—Jn. 14:6 for more discussion.)
1) Jesus Christ is the embodiment of revelation.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1–2).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn. 14:6).
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).
2) Jesus Christ is the communicator of revelation.
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:4; cp. Jn. 1:1–3).
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (Jn. 14:9–10).
3) Jesus Christ is the liberator of revelation.
“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31–32).
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10).
3 (1:51) Jesus Christ, Mediator: Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. This is seen in the picture Jesus painted by the words, “Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (v.51).
This is a picture of Jacob’s ladder (Ge. 28:10–22). It is a picture of open access into the very presence of God: the door of heaven is open and the angels are ascending from earth to heaven. Jesus was saying …
• He is Jacob’s ladder; the ladder is a symbol of Him. He is the One who opens heaven.
• He is the One who reaches from earth to heaven, the One by whom man has his communication carried up into heaven.
Thought 1. Three critical facts should be noted.
(1) A man can approach God and enter heaven through Christ (Jn. 14:6). The gulf, the loneliness, and the alienation which man knows have been bridged.
(2) A man has access to God only through Christ (Jn. 14:6).
(3) A man can have constant communication with God. The picture is that of angels carrying messages from earth to heaven and back to earth again.
4 (1:51) Jesus Christ, Son of Man: Jesus Christ is the Son of Man. This does not mean that Jesus was born of a man. It means that He is more than what an ordinary man is, more than a son of some man. Jesus is what every man ought to be, the Son of Man Himself.
a. Jesus Christ is the Ideal Man: the Representative Man, the Perfect Man, the Pattern, the embodiment of everything a man ought to be (see DEEPER STUDY # 3—Mt. 1:16). Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of a man. Everything God wants a man to be is seen perfectly in Jesus Christ (cp. Jn. 1:14; Col. 2:9–10; He. 1:3).
b. Jesus Christ is the Ideal Servant of man. The term Ideal Servant stresses Jesus’ sympathy for the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the bruised, the outcasts, the bereaved (cp. Lu. 4:18). Jesus is the pattern, the model, the perfect example of concern and caring. He served other people just like every man ought to serve other people.
Jesus called Himself “the Son of Man” about eighty times. It was His favorite term. The title Son of Man is probably based upon the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13–14. There is also a picture of Jesus as the heavenly Son of Man contrasted with Adam as the earthly Man in 1 Co. 15:45–47. Both references picture Jesus as the Representative Man, the Ideal Man, in God’s plan for world history.
“And Jesus saith unto him, the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Mt. 8:20).
“But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house” (Mt. 9:6).
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28).
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Mt. 24:27).
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mk. 8:38).
“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Lu. 18:8).
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lu. 19:10).
“For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man” (Jn. 5:26–27).
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53).
“And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (Jn. 12:23).
“Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him” (Jn. 13:31–32).
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?… And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:13, 16).
“And [Stephen] said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Ac. 7:56).
“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks [churches]; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle” (Re. 1:12–13).
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2004). The Gospel according to John
