“The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 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.’ 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 there is no deceit!’ 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.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ 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.’ 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.’”
- The Merit and Power of Repeating Truth
Last week we focused heavily on the testimony of John the Baptist, his own acknowledgement of his position and his declaration of Jesus as the Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Today’s text begins with the same proclamation. We see John the Baptist standing with two of his disciples and upon seeing Jesus he declares again, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” This shows us that John’s previous declaration wasn’t some one off occurrence, that his excitement, his joy remains. There is an example here for us to apply in our own lives. Jesus is God come into the world, our Creator in the flesh come to save the world He loves. The power of His love, the miracle of His birth, death and resurrection isn’t something that we should ever grow complacent about. His Truth isn’t something that should fade with time until it seems assumed and not worth repeating. He is always perfect, always miraculous and His nature and magnificence are always worth praising and glorifying. The two yet unnamed disciples hear John’s words and from this, they follow Jesus. This makes sense, as if they’re disciples in the baptism ministry of John, then Jesus, the Way the Truth, and the Life, is who they’re ultimately seeking. Jesus, taking note of them, stops to ask them a rather loaded and powerful question, “What are you seeking?” This immediately reminded me of something I once heard Jackie Hill Perry say: God doesn’t ask questions because he needs to know the answer. Her overall point was that while God may ask a question to reveal something to the one answering Him, He never asks out of a lack of knowledge. The men addressing Him as “Rabbi” in their response shows respect, though the true nature of His identity is of course still a mystery to them. It seems that them asking where he’s staying suggests a desire to seek Him out at a later time, but Jesus invites them to come and see for themselves, an invitation we see repeated again later in this section, which leads them to stay with Him for the day. This seems to align with Matthew 7:7-8,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
In this scenario, we see that the two men seeking after Jesus, were not delayed, or put off. Their desire for Truth was met at once and the event that spurred the encounter into motion was John the Baptist’s repeated testimony concerning the Lamb of God.
- The Knowledge and Perception of God in all Things
We don’t know the details of their time spent with Jesus, but we see that time spent in direct company with the Messiah had a profound effect. We see now that one of the two men was Andrew, the other is held by many Biblical commentators to have been the apostle John, the writer of this gospel, which I think makes sense in the context of the rest of the book. Throughout his gospel account, John is particular about referring to himself indirectly if at all, and while his primary focus is always Jesus, he doesn’t shy away from mentioning his fellow disciples by name. Specifically stating that one of the two was Andrew while omitting the other entirely seems notable support for the second man being John the apostle, “the beloved disciple.”
Just as John the Baptist could not be silent about the role and position of Jesus as the Christ, we see Andrew effected the same way, running first to share the good news with his brother. In witnessing the first meeting between Jesus and Simon we see a glimpse past the flesh of Jesus into the limitlessness of His position as the Son of God.
“Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter).”
In their first encounter we see Jesus recognize and identify him with no introduction. If you were inclined to explain this away you could guess that Andrew has told Jesus about his brother Simon, maybe even described him and that Jesus in seeing the two men approach deduces that this is the brother of Andrew. While not illogical, this is path I’ve observed when people want to water down or naturalize Christ. Those who look to Jesus as a great teacher but try to take Him without accepting His deity. But Christ without Godhood is not the Christ and is not who Jesus professed or shows Himself to be. What dispels the simplified explanation of events is what Jesus does next. Cutting through the human limitations of space and time, He rechristens Simon with a new name: “Cephas” in Aramaic, “Peter” in Greek, this man, at the words of God is the rock. Calling forward to Matthew 16:13-20,
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.”
This is not the first time that one of the disciples has acknowledged the Jesus is the Son of God. Specifically in today’s text we see Nathanael declare it shortly after meeting Jesus, and in Matthew 14 after Jesus walks on water, we see in verse 33,
“And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.”
We see a change in geography, presumably going from somewhere in the region of Bethany beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing (note that this is not the same Bethany where Jesus is anointed later in the gospel accounts, which is near Jerusalem, but would be on the eastern bank of the Jordan), and moving north toward the region of Galilee. In Jesus’s encounter with Philip, we see something present with certain disciples in other gospel accounts which is firstly that they are not directly seeking Jesus, but are called by Him and secondly that their response is immediate. We don’t see a discourse between the two, we’re not even given any information on Philip other than that he’s from the same city as Andrew and Peter. But we see in the next verse that Jesus’s impact on Philip is the same as it was on Andrew and has him immediately seeking out someone particular to share this profound news with.
- The Rewards That Exceed our Expectations
“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.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’”
Nathanael has a different response from anything we’ve seen so far in that he questions what he’s being told. Nazareth, being a small town of little to no prominence, wouldn’t have been where the Messiah, in power and authority was expected to come from. But Philip only offers his friend encouragement to come and see for himself.
This “come and see” principle is something that is crucial for us to understand as Christians, both for ourselves and in our dealings with nonbelievers who will belittle and strawman our belief in God and His Word. It’s not that we can operate without faith, it’s a requirement. But God does not teach that faith is to be given blindly but offers proof and validation for our belief. This is illustrated in a number of instances, one being Luke 17:5-6,
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.’”
In Matthew after the disciples fail to cast out a demon, we see Jesus again using the example of the mustard seed again in 17:19-20,
“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’”
In Mark’s gospel we’re given a different perspective on this same exorcism in 9:21-29,
“And Jesus asked his father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘“If you can’”! All things are possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ And he said to them, ‘This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.’”
We know from these three accounts that faith is required, but that only a little faith placed in the might of the Lord is sufficient. God’s might and ability is not limited by the strength of our faith. We see a distinct line drawn between faith and prayer and we see Jesus’s compassion for the father of the possessed boy, a man who openly acknowledges the need for help with his unbelief. But this again stresses the point that Jesus has never asked for our faith to be completely blind, He has never failed to offer proof or validation for what we’re being told to have faith in. Romans 1:19-20 tells us that though some choose willful blindness, God is on display through His creation,
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
We know that Jesus, in the countless miracles He performed throughout His ministry, acted out of mercy and compassion for suffering people, but also in response to their faith as is seen in the stories of the leper who came to Jesus saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” or the bleeding woman who said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Through His physical, miracle work Jesus validated the faith of those who believed. This is beautifully captured in the account of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14:28-31,
“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”
Several things are revealed in this section alone. First we see Peter’s request for validation, his desire to test that this is in fact Jesus coming to them on the waves and the trust he shows for Christ’s position in that He has the authority not only to walk on the water Himself, but to bring another out with Him. We see that the request isn’t rebuked or denied, but as with John the Baptist’s two disciples asking Jesus, “where are you staying,” Jesus answers Peter with full affirmation. Peter then has a moment of doubt I sympathize with deeply, feeling fear as he takes his eyes off of Jesus and sees the chaos of the world that surrounds him. But as he sinks as a consequence of his doubt and cries out to his Lord, Jesus takes him and, gently chastising him, secures him again.
And so returning to today’s passage, we see that Nathanael’s question will not go without answer.
“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’ 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.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’
Similar to Jesus’s first interaction with Peter, we see Him first show a casual familiarity before piercing the veil of the flesh and seeing beyond the limitations of human eyes. The interesting thing it that, while we have context and future knowledge of the relevance of Simon being rechristened as Peter, we don’t know the particulars of why Jesus seeing Nathanael under the fig tree was relevant. While we know much of Peter’s future, we don’t get to see his response to his new name. We do however get to see Nathanael’s response to Jesus’s divine knowledge. Whatever the relevance is of being seen under the fig tree, we see the man who was hesitant and maybe even a little mocking at Philip’s news that they had found the Christ, boldly profess Jesus as the Son of God and King of Israel.
“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.’ 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.’”
In the parable of the dishonest messenger in Luke 16 Jesus says in verse 10,
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
When Jesus multiplied loaves and fish to feed thousands of people on two separate occasions, not only was there enough for everyone to eat their fill, but there were baskets of leftovers. When the Israelites were in the wilderness and God provided manna, He didn’t give them just enough to barely scrape by. While the bread from heaven couldn’t be saved without spoiling except on the day before the Sabbath, the volume allotted for each person was more than enough for the day, but for each to have plenty. And so when Nathaneal professes Jesus as the Christ over His miraculous knowledge of whatever transpired under the fig tree, Jesus tells him there’s more to come. Nathanael will not be left with just this one miracle as validation, but will see heaven opened, and angels of the Lord affirming the position of the Son of Man. God does not leave His people to stumble along in the dark, feeding on crumbs. This does not mean that we will not suffer in a broken and fallen world, on the contrary, we most certainly will. But God does not leave us to starve in our faith, He provides in abundance. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:31-39,
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
While there are countless lessons that could be taken from John 1:35-51, three things make themselves plain to me: the need for always repeating and glorifying the truth of Christ, the testament to God’s perfect insight and knowledge, and the fact that God’s perfect provision for us, our “daily bread” so far exceeds anything we could dream of. He is perfect, and in the enormity of His perfection there is peace.
Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv8YlrinKdA
Ravens and Lilies - Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
Leave a comment