Jesus’ call of Philip is the first recorded time in Scripture that Jesus says, “Follow me.” By these words, Jesus invites Philip to become His disciple. During that first encounter, Philip became convinced that Jesus was much more than a talented Rabbi. He believed Jesus was the Messiah God had promised through Moses and the prophets in the Old Testament.
So Philip went immediately to find Nathanael sitting under his fig tree. Nathanael was not especially gullible. He was not inclined to accept Philip’s word that Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, when Philip told him that Jesus came from Nazareth, Nathanael was skeptical. Nazareth was a small and unimportant village, and Nathanael could not imagine the Messiah coming from there.
When Jesus sees Nathanael coming, He takes the initiative. He says, “Here comes a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” Nathanael is startled, because Jesus had never met him, but knew that he was not someone to play games. When Nathanael asks, “How do you know me?” Jesus tells Nathanael something He could not have known naturally: “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Nathanael is convinced. Jesus has demonstrated a supernatural knowledge of him. Nathanael responds, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus’ reply is very much like saying, “You’ve seen nothing yet!” He tells Nathanael that he will see angels coming and going between Jesus and Heaven. These words recall Jacob’s dream at Bethel.
Jacob was running for his life from his brother Esau. In the dream, he saw a staircase stretching from Earth to Heaven, with angels coming and going. At the top was God, who gave Jacob the same promise He gave to Abraham. He would be the father of many children, who would inherit the land. Through him and his sons,
the whole world would be blessed. Most importantly, God would never leave or forsake him.
In Jacob’s dream, the angels traveled on a stairway between heaven and earth. Jesus applies that image to Himself. He is telling Nathanael that He is the meeting place between God and humanity, the true bridge between heaven and earth. Through Him, God would never leave or forsake him. It is the same for us. Through Jesus, we are connected to Heaven. God knows everything about us and will never leave or forsake us, because He loves us.
Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog
The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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