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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 on the third day covered in the life and ministry of Jesus in John's Gospel, John the Baptist 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." 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!" My study bible explains to us that no deceit means both having a pure heart and being straightforward with others. This word, deceit, in the Greek can also mean "bait." In other words, a crafty person who seeks to lure others might offer something attractive (like a false compliment). But Nathanael speaks his mind plainly, without flattery!
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." My study bible says that what happened under the fig tree isn't stated, but refers to St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that this was the meeting place of Philip and Nathanael, and that in fact Jesus was praising Nathanael for being diligent and careful in His search for the Messiah. It says that Christ's foreknowledge and His capacity to see into Nathanael's heart stir him into this confession of faith. Perhaps what Jesus means here is that before he was called by Philip, Jesus had already perceived a disciple in the man beneath the fig tree.
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 tells us that the title Son of Man is a title of the Messiah that had a level of mystery in its meaning, indicating a man of heavenly origin who would usher in the Kingdom of God (see Daniel 7:13-14). In an Old Testament prophecy, it was Jacob who dreamed of a ladder which connected earth to heaven, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12-15). Jesus is this "ladder" who unites heaven and earth -- and therefore is this the Son of Man.
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" I think it's an important question. Cyril of Alexandria refers to Nathanael as someone who's obviously learned, because he's studied the prophets. Chrysostom comments that Nathanael is surprised because he knows the Christ is supposed to be from Bethlehem, not from Nazareth. The answer, of course, is to "Come and see" for himself. Later on in John's Gospel, we'll read that the Pharisees disparage Christ in a similar way to Nathanael's, asking Nicodemus sarcastically if he was from Galilee too, as "no prophet has arisen from Galilee" (John 7:52). But even that is a mistake, as Jonah came from Gath Hepher, a town in Galilee. But the popular disparaging of the region as one which included many Gentiles is apparent here. The thing many ancient commentators remark on is how all of these earliest disciples (Philip, Andrew, Peter and presumably John) are also from Galilee! John Chrysostom writes that the Galileans were "somehow of a more boorish and dull disposition than others. But even in this Christ displayed his power. He selected his choicest disciples from a land that bore no fruit" (Homilies on the Gospel of John 20:1). It takes us back to yesterday's reading, in which Jesus proclaimed Peter "Rock," just as He names Nathanael "an Israelite in whom there is no guile." Being the Christ, Jesus sees into the true nature of His creations, these people He chooses as disciples. Some commentators point out the parallels of Nathanael to Jacob, of whom it was also said that he was a "plain man" (Genesis 25:27) and so like one "in whom there is no guile." It is Jacob who would be called Israel (Genesis 35:10), and so Nathanael is like Jacob in Jesus' remark that he is "an Israelite indeed!" As my study bible pointed out, it was Jacob who dreamed of a ladder on which angels were ascending and descending, and so Christ confidently predicts to Nathanael that he will see the same -- and it is a revelation of the fullness of who Christ is. All of this serves to send us once again the message -- as in yesterday's reading -- that God's notion of perfection and how our faith works is never going to be a worldly image of what perfection is. Somehow the Nathanael sitting under that fig tree (which can also be a symbol of sin, a kind of blindness), the one who wonders how anything good can come out of Nazareth, is also the one who will "see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man," just like Simon is also Peter, who is the rock of the Church. Jesus Himself will be disparaged for His Galilean origins. But all of this serves to teach us about our faith, and that "with God all things are possible." Yesterday, I quoted from St. Paul, who was told, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). In the choosing of these first disciples, we are repeatedly reminded that Christ's "perfection" isn't our perfection. It's a perfection viewed in the eyes of love, a perfection made of what Christ or Logos brings to the world, as stated in John's Prologue: grace and truth. It is Christ of whom the Evangelist wrote that all had "received of His fullness, and grace for grace." This is what we see in action in the choosing of these Galilean disciples, by a man from such an "unlikely" place as Nazareth. May we be blessed with His sight and vision of love, and grace, and truth!
