From the Prologue (vv. 1-18) through the conclusion of this selection, the first chapter of the gospel of John focuses on two themes: the identity of Jesus and the way to become a follower of Jesus. The opening establishes for the gospel reader the identity of Jesus of Nazareth as the “Word made flesh.” Even the original listeners to this text needed a fuller explanation of what this might mean. The remainder of this first chapter, then, describes how the initial followers of Jesus identified him. John the Baptist identifies him as “pre-existent” (v. 30) “Lamb of God” (v. 29), on whom the Spirit descended and who will baptize with the Spirit (v. 32-33), and sends two of his disciples to follow Jesus (v. 37). One of them, Andrew, then tells his brother Simon that he has “found” Jesus, whom Andrew identifies as “Rabbi” (v. 38) and “Messiah” (v. 41).
As this story of Philip and Nathanael begins, we have a time reference. 43 The next day, meaning after 1:29-42, but also continuing the connection of this chapter with Genesis 1,[1] Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip (a Greek name, just as Andrew, a Greek name found his brother Simon, a Jewish name) and said to him, “Follow me.” The “call” of Philip is not a spectacular call story. It has simplicity in it. In this call, Jesus acts in a relational way, rather than in a legalistic or dogmatic way. He did not ask any of the disciples to subscribe to a set of theological propositions, to feel a certain way, or to live in a legalistically prescribed way. He asked them to follow, to decide to get up from what they were doing and go with him. Like us, they would have liked more certainty. Yet, the hunger for certainty, the struggle with vocation, and the longing for certainty, are all hints of our longing for the reality of God. As this part of the story concludes, 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, (Romans named it Gaulantis, where it had become heavily Gentile) the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael, a Jewish name, establishing a pattern of witness and missionary activity by the Christian community. Once Jesus has found us, we want to draw others into the fold. Nathanael receives mention only in this Gospel. We can also the willingness to cross cultural and social boundaries to unite them within the circle around Jesus. Philip said to him, “We have found, while in truth, Jesus found him, John as a writer further reinforces the theme of discovery. We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, (John continues the theme of various titles that help us identify who Jesus is) Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” With this identification, Philip misses the mark. 46 Nathanael said to him, asking one of the most memorable questions in the Bible, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Why does he denigrate Nazareth? We learn in 21:2 that his hometown is Cana, so it could be rivalry. He may wonder about the possibility of any significant person coming from the little village. Josephus refers to Judas of Galilee, who inspired people to revolt against Rome, a fact Luke mentions in Acts 5:37 as well. Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Philip's invitation to come and see is an invitation to discover that Jesus really comes not from Nazareth but from God. This invitation is a simple template for evangelism. It was a part of Jesus’ initial recruitment of disciples. As such, it is not a bad idea to emulate the formula that he used. There are two action verbs in this three-word invitation: “come” and “see.” “Come” to a house of worship, or to my home. “See” a Christian in a natural environment.
You have given us a mission — to invite our neighbors in —
and your call to love and listen is a place we can begin.
We need more than open houses; we need, first, to give our hearts.
By your Spirit, make us servants; that's the way your welcome starts.
May we set a welcome table, may we find a common ground
where no one will feel they're labeled, where acceptance can be found.
We don't need to entertain there, or to do things that impress —
just to hear folks' joy and pain there, and to love so all are blest.[2]
Philip makes no effort to clear away the misgivings of Nathaniel. Rather, he leads him to Jesus immediately. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” The statement has some irony in that the name “Israel” comes from the Patriarch Jacob, who was a deceiver. The statement also shows the supernatural knowledge Jesus possesses. Superficially, this power to read hearts recalls the Hellenistic demigods. However, for John, this knowledge arises from the intimate union between Jesus and his Father and because his Messianic vocation makes him insightful. What Jesus knows about him is important. He is a man with no deceit, guile, pretention, or need to cover up his actions. The contrast between honesty and deceit has been fertile ground for humor. Mark Twain said that if you tell the truth, you do not have to remember anything. Comedian George Burns said that sincerity is the key. If you can fake that, you have it made. Comedian George Carlin once observed that if the honesty is the best policy, then, by the process of elimination, dishonesty must be the second-best policy. Most of us learn that second-best policy quite well. An antonym for guile, for example, is one used in Genesis 3:1 to describe the serpent as crafty. Most of us learn to be crafty with who we are and what our agenda might be. Yet, with Nathanael, except for the normal need for discretion and modesty, he is transparent. What you see is what you get. More, he is willing and eager to know the truth, and to make the necessary changes and adjustments that such truth would require of him. He is humble enough to accept things as they are, never bending them to make the pieces fit his own ideas. We immediately feel good every time we meet such persons. They always exude such welcome and wholesome aura about themselves despite their imperfections. They contribute to making society more at peace and in harmony. President John Adams wrote to his sons of such matters.
Have you considered the meaning of the word "worthy"? Weigh it well ... I had rather you should be worthy possessors of one thousand pounds honestly acquired by your own labor and industry, than of ten millions by banks and tricks. I should rather you be worthy shoemakers than secretaries of states or treasury acquired by libels in newspapers. I had rather you should be worthy makers of brooms and baskets than unworthy presidents of the United States procured by intrigue, factious slander and corruption.[3]
Nathanael embodies the ordinary person who, despite warts and all, still has that basic, irreducible trait of exposing his heart, no matter how defective, to the truth. He does not run away nor hide from it. Frankness without charity is never the truth, just as charity without the truth is never charity. The way people think and the way they bond have a curious connection. If you to think of the issues of life in a black and white way, you will meet the challenges, twists, and turns of life in a way that lacks resiliency. That which binds one to others will become chains. On the other hand, if one approaches life recognizing its ambiguity and even appreciating it, one broadens the possible approach to the challenges of a human life. It will also mean bonding with people in a way that leads to freedom.[4] We need to remember Nathanael for his simplicity of heart and sincerity. Before we look for truth, God, who is truth, has already looked for us.
As the story continues, Nathaniel has a hesitant and resistant response to the “come and see” invitation. 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Many people speculate what Nathanael was doing there. It relies upon an image of an Israelite sitting under the fig tree who studied Scripture. More importantly, Jesus knew and found Nathanael before Nathanael came to see Jesus. The initiative in conversion remains with Jesus. 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, (the first title) you are (the second title) the Son of God! You are (the third title) the King of Israel!” The order seems odd to a believer today. Yet, in popular first-century Jewish thought, these two titles were synonymous, as the “Son of God” was a title of Israel’s kings (II Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7).[5] We also have an insight into the notion of conversion in John, where conversion (recognizing and acknowledging who Jesus is) occurs when the person (Nathaniel or Simon) has a personal encounter with Jesus.[6] 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” Once Nathaniel has believed, he receives a still greater promise from Jesus. The initial faith that Jesus has brought about is to grow through further revelations of Jesus. 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.” The segment concludes with what some scholars think of as a detached Son of Man saying that John uses here. Son of Man is a title Jesus most uses when he refers to himself. Ezekiel uses it nearly a hundred times to refer to a human being. Daniel 7:13 uses the term to refer to a more than human person. In the progression of titles, one would think of the final title, given by Jesus, would be the most important. It may unite the human and divine titles already given. Thus, the last two verses provide yet another title, or image of the identity of Jesus. Throughout the gospel, John shows how Jesus reinterprets the festivals of first-century Judaism. Thus, the Passover in John becomes a time to celebrate service. In addition, therefore, Jesus changes the understanding of the term “Son of God,” so that it takes on the more elevated sense of the only-begotten offspring of God.[7] However, the unfolding of that understanding has yet to come and it leaves the believing reader unsatisfied: No title in this segment yet captures Jesus as characters had identified him earlier.
John has clarified the identity of Jesus in what later theology would call the Incarnation. The Incarnation is simply a divine surrender to the axiom that “seeing is believing.” So, God decides that robing divinity in fleshly form is not only a good thing, but an absolute necessity. People need to be able to see and touch the Divine. And so, they do. Even the author of this gospel reports in 1 John that those who were with Jesus saw and believed: “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:1-3).
To conclude, an early Christian tradition honored Philip at Hierapolis, the place of his death, along with the death of his elderly virgin daughters. A third daughter died in Ephesus, the burial place of John the apostle as well. He mentions another tradition in which four daughters of Philip, designated as prophets, all died at Hierapolis. He mentions the tradition represented by Luke in Acts 21:8 as well, who refers to four virgin daughters of Philip in Caesarea as prophets.[8]
[1] (vid., e.g., Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John [NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 130).
[2] —From “Christ You Offer Us Your Welcome,” a hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2019. Tune: Beach Spring.
[3] --John Adams, in a letter to his sons, quoted by David McCullough, John Adams (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 608-09.
[4] Edwin H. Friedman, Friedman's Fables (Guilford Press, 2014), 112.
[5] (Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John [Sacra Pagina. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1998], 56).
[6] (Sandra M. Schneiders, The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture [Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1999], 193)
[7] (Raymond J. Brown, The Gospel of John v. 2 [Anchor Bible Library. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966], 1060).
[8] Eusebius, Church History, III. 31:3,
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