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

 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 to 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

In yesterday's reading, which comprises the second and third day of the story of Jesus' ministry, we read that John the Baptist 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 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."  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."   John gives us the following day in this beginning of his Gospel, making this the fourth day parallel to the creation week of Genesis.  In today's reading, Philip and Nathanael are called to discipleship, having been previously disciples of John the Baptist.  They see Christ as the true Light, the One who was revealed in the Old Testament, a lesser light.  It parallels the establishment of the lesser and greater lights governing the night and the day on the fourth day in Genesis 1:14-19.  Nathanael is also known as Bartholomew. 

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 to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"   Nazareth (and Galilee itself), we will read later on in scathing comments by the Pharisees, was not looked at as being at all distinguished in spiritual terms (see John 7:52).  Here, even Nathanael, who is also a Galilean (from Cana), speaks disparagingly of Nazareth.  But readers of the New Testament understand that Christ, although raised in Nazareth, was born in Bethlehem.  "No deceit," my study bible says, means both having a pure heart and being straightforward with others.  Nathanael is definitely not trying to use flattery or charm for any purpose!

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 notes that what occurred under the fig tree is not precisely stated.  According to St. John Chrysostom, this was the meeting place of Philip and Nathanael, and Jesus was praising Nathanael for being so diligent and careful in His search for the Messiah.  Jesus' foreknowledge and ability to see into the heart of Nathanael stir him to this confession of faith.

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."    Here the title Son of Man is introduced in this particular Gospel.  It is a title of the Messiah that had a level of mystery in its meaning, according to my study bible.  It indicated a man of heavenly origin who would usher in the Kingdom of God.  This title is originally found in the prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14).  In another Old Testament prophecy, Jacob dreamed of a ladder which connected earth to heaven, and upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12-15).  By his own words, Jesus teaches us that He is in fact this "ladder" who unites earth to heaven; and therefore He is this Son of Man.

It is important right from "the beginning" (John 1:1, Genesis 1:1) that we understand who Jesus, the Son of Man, truly is.  John has established in the first verses of His Gospel, that Jesus is the Word, the Son, made incarnate as human being.  In yesterday's reading, this truth of His identity -- including His relationship as Son to both Father and Spirit -- was revealed to John the Baptist, who testifies of the vision he was given.  So, right from the start, John's Gospel establishes Christ as creator of the universe, that "all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."  But in the great and overarching poetry of the Gospel, nothing is lost in the facts of the Son of Man.  For even as our Creator, through Whom all things were made, Jesus' story, as Son of Man, is entirely one that is steeped in the humble, in the small and personal and particular.  One by one, His disciples are chosen.  It is approximately His thirtieth year of human life as Jesus, and now is the time He is revealed, only to John the Baptist, as the One upon whom sits the Holy Spirit (see yesterday's reading, above).  As Jesus is the ladder that unites earth to heaven, so the Gospel gives us a portrait of the Son of Man -- God condescending in human form to earth as the man Jesus, and we are given these intimate pictures of Jesus' life and beginning ministry.   When Jesus prepares His disciples for His Crucifixion, He gives us another image of the even tiny, small, intimate thing that manifests a tremendous -- seemingly impossible to quantify -- harvest, and compares Himself and His sacrifice on the Cross to a grain of wheat that falls to earth (John 12:24).    It was this paradox that turned the entire classical world to the mystery of Christ.  That is, the infinite contained in the small, the tiny, the finite -- God in humility descending to be one of us, and to suffer every injustice of the powerless in this world, even as One who never sins, compounding that injustice.  What we find in this tremendous story is the greatness of an entire and infinite universe contained in the personal and the finite.  Even in Nathanael's plainspokenness, we receive the wisdom of the Gospel.  As one of us, the Son of Man unites heaven with earth, making it possible for us to be like Him and with Him.  This remains the story behind the story, which we should never forget, because that story is made just for us -- each one of us, in our most intimate and humble times of our lives.  He is here for each one of us and so commands that we should remember at all times (see this reading).