How do You know 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, 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's reading described events that took place in the second and third day given in the Gospel:   John 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."  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!"  No deceit, my study bible explains, means both having a pure heart and also being straightforward with others.   Today's reading marks the fourth day (the following day) given in John's Gospel.

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."  We don't really know what precisely took place under the fig tree.  According to St. John Chrysostom, it was the meeting place of Philip and Nathanael, and Jesus is praising Nathanael for being so diligent and careful in his search for the Messiah.  My study bible comments that Christ's foreknowledge and His ability to see into Nathanael's heart renders Nathanael's 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."   This messianic title, Son of Man, is one that had a level of mystery in its meaning, and it indicating a man of heavenly origin who would usher in the Kingdom of God, as found in Daniel 7:13-14.   The phrase angels of God ascending and descending opens up the image of the ladder dreamed of by Jacob in an Old Testament prophecy, in which there were angels of God ascending and descending upon a ladder which connected earth and haven (Genesis 28:12-15).  Jesus is the "ladder" who connects earth and heaven and is this Son of Man.   In this revelation, Jesus is the true Light, while the light of the Old Testament is a lesser light.  My study bible names this parallel to the establishment of the lesser and greater lights governing the night and day respectively on the fourth day of creation in Genesis 1:14-19.

In today's reading, we're reminded that Jesus' ministry is a deeply personal one, just as our faith is an encounter of a deeply personal nature with Christ, both Son of Man and Son of God.  This isn't a theoretical meeting and an intellectual understanding alone that we ascribe to.  It is an encounter, albeit a mystical one, but with the divine Person who became a human being and lived life with us and as one of us.   First of all, all of the meetings of Jesus with His first disciples in yesterday's reading (above) and today's are personal.  They are drawn person by person, first from John the Baptist, and then one finds another.  Andrew found his brother Peter; Jesus found Philip who's from the same town of Peter and Andrew, and then Philip finds Nathanael.  At first Nathanael is scornful:  although all are seemingly from the region of Galilee, Nazareth as a town had no sterling reputation as far as religious understanding went.  Could the Messiah come from Nazareth?  The Messiah was supposed to be from Bethlehem, the city of David, in Judea.  "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Nathanael is skeptical, to say the least.  But Philip's answer, "Come and see," is an important one, because it is in the personal encounter that things really happen.  Jesus comes toward Nathanael, and says of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"  Jesus already understands the character of Nathanael, revealed in his initial response to Philip regarding "anything" coming out of Nazareth.  He's a "no nonsense" kind of a person, who does not flatter or seek to please for ulterior motives.  Nathanael recognizes himself, apparently, in Jesus' gaze and approximation, and he's immediately struck by the truth in Jesus, responding, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  And that is a no nonsense answer, one straight from the inside, the truth of one person recognizing another.  For in this person-to-Person encounter with Christ, we find ourselves, and there is no nonsense in that.  Here, the deepest layer of truth is given to us, and it is one that isn't about facts that can be misconstrued or simple objective analysis, or some sort of opinion based on the few strands of a story we know.  This is a person-to-person reality, Christ's apprehension of the basic character of Nathanael, which Nathanael himself recognizes in the presence and words of Christ.  There really is no substitute for it, no other experience like it.  And Nathanael in turn recognizes who Jesus is, immediately, definitely, deeply.  This kind of person-to-person encounter is one of a depth of knowing, a kind of truth that penetrates deeply into who we are and is only recognized on a deep level of the inside of a person, of what is called the heart in Scripture.  In turn, Jesus reveals more about Himself to Nathanael:  "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."   This strikes me as a prophecy, even alluding to the Ascension which is to come long after the date of this first encounter of Jesus and Nathanael.  But it is a revelation of something deeper and more which is to come -- it is a revelation of salvation ministry of Christ.  Once we enter into this region of mystical truth, we are no longer in a place where misleading lies and flattery apply, or appearances that can be deceiving.   Neither are we in a place of theory, or some sort of ethereal otherworldly experience.  Rather we are in a place of the depth of truth, truth that penetrates to the deepest places in us, and so deep that it is shared among all to whom it may be revealed and apprehended.  It is something that unites us in the experience of what is truly real, a unity in a field behind all that we see and know.  This is not theoretical, but rather the ground of reality and being.  It is the depth of encounter with a divine Person, the action of grace.  Perhaps, after all, it is Nathanael's no nonsense, "no fooling" character which enables this possibility, and for this reason he is "an Israelite indeed."  At any rate we can be certain he is one for whom truth matters, and for whom the truth is what he seeks above everything else.  Jesus' ministry will include every experience the world gives us, and every sublime truth that can be revealed:  there will be nothing left out.  There is no illusion and no merely nice story here, but the bedrock of what is what, of who Christ is, and who we are.  To follow Him, we have to want truth above all pleasantry or diversion.  How precious is a personal encounter with Truth to you (14:6)?