Read John 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 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.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” 

Comments

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 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.” 

[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”dds0tp510r” question=”What do you think?” opened=”0″]Again, as people start to come to Jesus, they tell other people about Him. While there’s not much backstory, it’s amazing to see that so quickly Philip understands that Jesus is “of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote” (v 45), i.e. the Messiah. And who is this Messiah? “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”. They are expecting a human leader to take over, but He’s so much more, and as often is the case, the timing is not what they expect.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”dds0tp510r” question=”<meta charset=”utf-8″>What do you think?” opened=”0″]I’ve always laughed at this verse. As in a lot of Jesus culture, there is a lot of “I’m better than you” sort of mentalities – Jews and Gentiles, Pharisees and Sadducees, and in this instance, even a town like Nazareth having nothing good, both in the current time of Jesus and in biblical prophecy. It’s also interesting how Jesus fullfilled all the prophecies, but not as expected. He was born in Bethlehem, but that’s not where He grew up. The way God unfolds things is not based on our assumptions, but His will. And how do we know it’s God? By learning His Word, His Voice, and His Ways, to be able to align things we see with what God is doing.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”dds0tp510r” question=”<meta charset=”utf-8″>What do you think?” opened=”0″]What an amazing introduction, “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” That’s a type of introduction I would love to hear from the Lord. As evidenced later, Jesus already knew Nathanel, both from his external appearance and his heart attitudes.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]