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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, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom 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
Yesterday, we read that the next day after John the Baptist's testimony to the representatives of the Pharisees, he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek? They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).
The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." My study bible notes here that Philip immediately obeys, perhaps because he already knows about Jesus or beholds the divine presence in Him. We read in the previous reading that John the Baptist guided his disciples to Jesus, so perhaps we can infer that several of the men in these early readings chosen as Jesus' disciples began as disciples of the Baptist.
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, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" Again, we have a sense in the reading that we must consider how we perceive, how we choose. Philip immediately followed, recognizing something about Christ. And here Nathanael (who is also known to us as Bartholomew) first questions Jesus' background. My study bible says that Jesus' remark about Nathanael, "in whom is no deceit," implies a pure heart which is capable of recognizing Christ. Nathanael's remark about Nazareth tells us something about him, and to my mind is linked to his straightforward, if blunt, honesty. He says what's on his mind, he reveals himself, a positive quality in Jesus' praise. He doesn't just follow because others are praising someone. He must "come and see" for himself.
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!" Again, there's a hint here about recognition, a question implied about how we know someone, how we can perceive. Jesus, who is also called the "heart-knower," recognized Nathanael before meeting him, even before Philip called him. It is this understanding of Jesus' foreknowledge that stirs Nathanael to confession in encounter.
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." About the term Son of Man, my study bible has a lengthy note: "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 . . . in Old Testament prophecy, Jacob dreamed of a ladder connecting earth and heaven, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (see Genesis 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."
Today's reading invites us to think about questions of perception. What does it mean that Jesus knew Nathanael while he sat under the fig tree, before Philip called him? How does John the Baptist understand about Jesus in the first place -- where did his knowledge come from about the anointing of the Spirit, how does he perceive this? How does Philip know to follow Jesus? There are implications here about perception that go way beyond our normal methods of understanding something, or of understanding someone. As we have observed from the earlier readings so far in chapter 1, John's Gospel will invite us to consider the life of the Spirit, and how we are connected to a mystical perception of the work of the Spirit. As the note in my study bible indicates, Jesus, as the link between heaven and earth, invites us into this place where we are capable, through the gift of the Spirit and this grace that links heaven and earth in Christ, of perceiving the things of God -- just as Philip and Nathanael come to know and understand Jesus. The beginnings of ministry in Jesus' public life are already bearing fruit that begins to tell us about perception, and implies questions about how we come to know or understand something or someone -- how we perceive the truth about that which we put our faith into. In this respect, Nathanael's question about Nazareth tells us something: Jesus responds to him by saying that he is an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. A true heart, without deceit, is the first requirement for real perception and understanding. This is a key to our lives and to ourselves. Nathanael will not flatter Jesus because others are praising Him, and he must "come and see," at Philip's invitation, for himself. But Nathanael's change of mind, his immediate grasp of who Jesus is, also instructs us. We mustn't be afraid to change our minds, to come to perception, to understanding, even if it throws off our previous cultural understanding about anything, such as the then-popular understanding about Nazareth as a place of no significance. The truth will take us where the truth will take us, but we must be capable of receiving it. And so, we are given a taste of grace, a beginning, of what the disciples will go through as they come to know Jesus through discipleship, by living with Him and being with Him. That's also a teaching about our faith. How do we come to know Him? Faith isn't just intellectual knowledge, it isn't just an assent to a code or value system or way of life. As Son of Man, Jesus intersects heaven and earth, He is "the way, the truth and the life," as John's Gospel will reveal to us. Therefore our encounter with Him also breaks all boundaries of what we commonly understand of perception, He is the heart-knower and He comes to our hearts where we are capable of forming relationship in encounter. Faith, and trust, and love are bound up with one another to form the ladder that links us in places we don't know we have, to help us with our own discipleship, to come to know Christ and His love for us. It is this mystical presence, this reality, that John's Gospel tells us about, so that we, too, may receive of the fullness of His grace and truth.
