Follow Me

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

- John 1:43-51

In yesterday's reading, John the Baptist brings his disciples to Jesus, who is identified as the Christ. (See Behold! The Lamb of God!) In today's reading, more disciples come to Jesus, to form his early group who will be the Apostles.

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." My study bible comments on this first verse that "Philip immediately obeys, perhaps because he already knows about Jesus, or beholds the divine presence in him." Whatever it is, the disciples of John the Baptist share the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. From the very beginning in John's Gospel, we are treated to a sense of the relatedness of spiritual reality within Christian theology and understanding. Just as the Trinity is united, so we as Christ's followers are brought to him by one another; there is a constant series of relationships that evolve and grow, one into another.

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" As John the Baptist has brought his disciples to Jesus, Andrew, Peter and Philip are all from the same city, and so, we are given to understand their relationship to one another before they became disciples: first of John and then of Jesus. In turn, Philip found Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew). Nathanael's skepticism is interesting, because it teaches us a couple of things. First of all, that Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, has a "bad" reputation in the sense that it is considered to be in Gentile territory, and therefore unlikely to be the place where a very spiritually "pure" person, such as a prophet or the Messiah, would be from. Secondly, it teaches us about Nathanael, and his open expression. Philip tells him, "Come and see." This is something that each person has to recognize and know for themselves - and despite the skepticism, Nathanael approaches Jesus. He will come and see for himself. Jesus greets Nathanael's approach with the now-familiar statement: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" My study bible notes that no deceit implies a pure heart which is capable of recognizing Christ. Nathanael is one of straightforward thinking. "No deceit" is often translated as "no guile." It gives us to understand that Nathanael's nature is one not given to any form of trickery or duplicity.

Nathanael said to Him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!" You are the King of Israel! How do we know people? How do we understand our faith? Knowing and knowledge are important concepts here. We consider our faith to be a form of trust in Someone, in the Person of Christ, in the Persons of the Trinity. And so it is with this encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. Jesus has the ability to know others more intimately than they know themselves - as was revealed by his renaming of Simon Peter. But Jesus' divine knowledge is linked also with Truth and truthfulness. Like meets like here, in this understanding and knowing: Nathanael is one without guile, one with a heart open to Truth, a truthful nature. My study bible says that "Jesus' foreknowledge stirs Nathanael to a joyous confession of faith." But we will see how relatedness and relationship work throughout the Gospels, by adoption we become sons, we become like God. But first there is the great requirement of the heart that is open to Truth, without deceit or guile. That is, without intent to deceive or trick, a form of a lie. Jesus' greatest criticism in future will come in the form of the word "Hypocrite" - whose original meaning is "actor." As we practice repentance in this journey of faith in His Name, we will find that repentance is a form of giving up what binds us in falsehood or blindness, and opening our hearts to receive deeper truth or understanding. This is the process of salvation, and of healing.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." My study bible has a very long note on this passage: "In ancient Jewish thought, the Son of Man is a mysterious being of heavenly origin who is to usher in the Kingdom of God (see Dan. 7:13,14). Jesus is this One (see Matt. 24:30, 31). In Old Testament prophecy, Jacob dreamed of a ladder connecting earth and heaven, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (see Gen. 28:12-15). Jesus--the Son of Man--is "Jacob's Ladder," man's access to God, the final and fullest revelation of God. In His Incarnation, God and man are united. In the teachings and miracles of His public ministry, the Kingdom of God on earth is inaugurated. His Cross, set up on earth like Jacob's ladder, reaches into heaven. Through His Resurrection, Ascension, and exaltation to the right hand of God, human nature is raised into heaven. And through His Second Coming, all things will be reconciled to God. In Christ, heaven and earth are joined."

My study bible's note is important for this theme of joining, of relatedness and relationship, especially in the sense of understanding that Christ links human nature to heaven -- and that through the Second Coming, we await reconciliation of all things. Therefore we are to understand that on every level, this text is about relatedness, and its connection to knowing. How do we understand a person? What is it about someone that you can immediately trust? Like attracts like. We begin with the characteristics that draw one to another in this story: a firm commitment to spiritual truth, a willingness to see beyond appearances, and in Nathanael, to see for oneself, a directness. This is a human example of a heart open to knowing and to learning, despite doubts and skepticism. How do we come, one to another, to this sort of union, to a formation of union in relatedness and relationships? We follow our hearts, and we are also given to understand the hand of God in that place of the heart, leading us if we will but listen. What does it mean to have an open heart to truth? to spiritual understanding? Often, we find, it is quite easy to fool ourselves in life. We offer up defenses for not seeing things we don't want to see, to make it easy to live with something. But healing always requires the doing away of denial, of lies, of deceit. Repentance is opening up our eyes to new things to learn, and the discarding of the old blindness. Where do you need to go on that journey of the face-to-face encounter today? Are you ready to see for yourself? To have a heart in which there is no deceit? Often, our fears can bind us. But nothing should stand in the way of the relationship that is the most important of all. And in that face-to-face encounter, to be ready to be led out of our own blindness, to see and to know better. An encounter with Christ is also coming to know ourselves, as reflected in Him. This is the greatest gift we could have. Nathanael, in the Hebrew, means "Given of God." Let us remember that we take our own identity from Creator, and in this encounter and its transforming effect, we more truly find ourselves.