Come and See – John 1:43-51

Jesus grew up in Galilee, in the little town of Nazareth, a stonemason or carpenter before entering into his ministry.  Galilee was despised by Judeans because it was under so much Gentile influence and so many Gentiles lived there (Matthew 4:15; John 7:41,52).  Should we be surprised that he recruited his apostles from Galilee?

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee and he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, from the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets wrote about, Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”  Nathanael replied, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?”  Philip said, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said about him, “Look, a true Israelite in whom is no deceit.”  Nathanael said, “How do you know me?”  Jesus answered, “Before Philip invited you to come I saw you under the  fig tree.”  Nathanael responded, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”  Jesus answered, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, you believe?  I will show you greater things than this.”  And he added, “Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man.”  (John 1:43–51)

Whereas Andrew and John were pointed to Jesus by John the Baptist and sought him out to see if they could be his disciples, Jesus seeks out Philip.  Philip was from the city of Bethsaida in Galilee, the same home town of Andrew and Peter who had just become Jesus’ disciples.  They obviously knew each other, may have been in the same profession, fishing, though we are not told this in Scripture.  Peter and Andrew moved at some point to Capernaum (Mark 1:21,29 and see here and here), most likely for the sake of their fishing business (see here) in partnership with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, the John who authored this Gospel.

Just as Andrew found his brother Peter when he learned who Jesus was, and introduced him to Jesus, so Philip finds Nathanael (his brother?), probably to be identified with Bartholomew in lists of the apostles in other Gospels.  The gospel is spreading through relationship networks.

Nathanael has a bias against Nazareth, the town where Jesus was raised, not too far from Bethsaida but viewed as a small, nothing kind of town.  How could Messiah come from there, he chided.  But Jesus convinces him by giving knowledge of him that could only have come from God.  Then Jesus promises him that Nathanael will see even more convincing proof, angels ascending and descending upon him to and from heaven.  The allusion is to the vision of Jacob as he was fleeing his brother Esau and going to Haran (Genesis 28).  Jacob has a vision in his sleep one night camped out on his journey and sees angels going up and down a stairway to heaven.  Jesus is claiming to figuratively be that stairway, that person of access to heaven, the “Son of Man” of Daniel 7:13-14, the divine figure who receives the kingdoms of the world from the Ancient of Days.  Wow, heady stuff!

So we’ve seen people come to discipleship with Jesus through the testimony of a revered leader (John the Baptist), through the sincere witness of a family member or friend, and through a demonstration of miraculous knowledge.  Each needed something a little different to convince them to follow Jesus.  What did it take for you?

Discussion Questions

1. What did it take for you to become a disciple of Jesus?
2. Who did you immediately influence to become a disciple as well?
3. Philip noted that Messiah was written about in Moses and the prophets.  Where would you look in those sources to find descriptions of the Messiah?
4. Nathanael’s conception of Messiah was “King of Israel.”  What expectations did that entail? (see 2 Samuel 7 for help)
5. Did Jesus access his divine omniscience to see Nathanael or was this revealed by the Spirit to him?
6. Why do you think Jesus chose this unusual reference to Jacob and the stairs to heaven to describe himself to Nathanael?