John 1:43-51 - Jesus Invites Phillip and Nathanael into the Adventure 

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

About the Gospel of John: John’s Gospel is significantly different from the other three. Matthew, Mark and Luke are called Synoptics because, while differing in many ways, they seem to view the story of Jesus through a similar lens. John does not. His Gospel, probably the last gospel written that we included in the canon of scripture, contains no birth narrative, no parables, no sermon on the mount, no healing of the lepers and no brief pithy sayings. John has Jesus going to Jerusalem three different times, while the synoptics only record the one momentous time that leads to his crucifixion. In John everything that Jesus says and does is for the purpose of disclosing who he is and what that means for humanity. There are many contrasts in John, most notably between light and dark. The author is filled with a sense of urgency. The life of faith for him is a constant stream of opportunities to choose, between light and darkness, blindness, and sight. John does not use miracle stories as such. In this gospel, miraculous actions of Jesus are called signs. They are told not in order to marvel at his power, but rather to point toward his true nature.

Background to today’s passage: Today’s text, coming right on the heels of the call of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and his calling of Andrew and Simon (Peter,) continues in the narrative of making a choice. One does not stumble into discipleship as if sleep walking in John. It is always a choice to take up a way of life and leave another behind.

Word Study:

Vs. 43-45 –Follow - The word ‘follow’ here means to companion with, to be united with. It implies an unfolding of relationship over time.  Just a fun aside: the word ‘found’ in Greek is a form of the word eureka. Isn’t it fun to imagine what it would be like for Jesus to see you and shout Eureka?

Vs. 46 –Nazareth was not exactly a cosmopolitan garden spot in Jesus’ day. It was a tiny town, not mentioned in the Old Testament, with little water and few resources. It had a bad reputation for lack of culture, poor dialect, moral laxity and rebellious spirit. No wonder Nathanael is skeptical!

Good -This is the word for moral goodness, for doing the right thing.

See – There are a number of different words in Greek that we translate as ‘see.’ The word here, hede, means to look something over or inspect it.

Vs. 47 – saw – this Greek word means ‘to be made aware of something, to notice.’

deceit - means to be without guile, craftiness, or treachery. One way to translate this would be: Here is an Israelite who deserves the name Incapable of Deceit. Nathanael came to be understood by the early church as a symbol of those who do not hide from God. As opposed, of course, to Adam and Eve who ineffectively tried to hide from God in the Garden.          

Vs. 48-49 –  know – this word for ‘know’ means to know from experience after intimate investigation.

            Saw – this is again the word for notice, or become aware.

fig tree - Images of fig trees are rich and diverse in the Bible. Here John probably refers to the fig tree in the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve made clothes to try to hide from God. This is a symbolic way of Jesus saying that he knew Nathanael from the beginning, even in his sin.     

Son of God – this is a rather loose expression that was applied to anyone deemed holy, someone who would be at home in God’s household.

King of Israel – Nathanael knows instinctively that he is in the presence of greatness. Perhaps he is already hoping that Jesus will turn out to be the Messiah who can restore Israel as a nation to both righteousness and greatness.

Vs. 50-51 – believe – this is a form of the Greek word pistis. We often translate it into English as ‘believe’ or ‘to have faith.’ That is a little misleading. The word means to trust, to profoundly trust to such a degree that one would stake one’s life on it.

            I saw you under the fig tree – this phrase indicates that Jesus’ seeing had a supernatural element to it. In other words, Jesus is asking Nathanael if he trusts him due to a supernatural experience.

            You – this word is plural. He is speaking to all present and to us directly.

Son of Man is used differently from the way it is used in the other Gospels. Gerald Sloyan in his commentary on John is helpful. He says, “That this is not the Son of Man of the Synoptics must be noted. That figure is always a simple human being or a present sufferer or a future reigning apocalyptic figure. John’s Son of Man is a person on whom angels ascend and descend from the open heavens. He is God’s man, even as the Jacob of the ladder was the man who became “Israel” and gave the name to his people. There is already a sense of mystery about Jesus’ calling to which every phrase in the first chapter contributes. He is more than, and greater than, all the claims that are being made in his favor.”

Questions for Personal Reflection     

1. In these verses Jesus calls the early ancestors to follow him and see for themselves. For John this is the invitation into the mystery of Jesus in all his fullness. It is in a sense an initiation into the mysteries. For John, the mysteries of faith are not a puzzle to be solved, but rather something one must be initiated into in order to understand. Are there any mysteries of faith that walking with Jesus have helped you understand? How did that happen?
2. Jesus invited Phillip to follow him. That meant to discover who Jesus is by spending time with him. Sometimes in our day people think that they need to somehow understand or believe in Jesus before they agree to follow. How would you respond to that argument from your own experience and the teaching in this passage?
3. Jesus sees Nathanael and instantly knows that he is a person with no deceit in him. The word refers to guile, craftiness, and treachery. In daily life those qualities can often be quite subtle. We experience guile and deceit as putting on a brave face, trying to be thought better than we are, covering up our mistakes, seeking for others to be taken down a peg, conspiring to receive gain or power by lying, or even choosing to believe that lies are truth. How do you see those qualities at work in your life or community? Do you know people that you think are without deceit? What qualities do they embody? Is there anything that you need to face in yourself in order to live without guile?