Philip Brings Nathanael, A Righteous Jew (J7)

"Greater things by far than this will you see,
Than that I saw you under the fig tree,”
Jesus told Nathanael when he first came,
Astonished, that he was known, and his name!
“Then you are the Son of God, and the King!”
Jesus is God, Who knows every thing—
All the thoughts, and acts, and what’s in the heart,
Of ev’ry one living on earth, in ev’ry part!
“You shall see heav’n open her pearly gate,
And angels descending, early and late,
Ascending to and fro the Son of Man!”
This Jesus said as Nathanael began.
Philip brought Nathanael, a righteous Jew,
Of whom there were only a precious few!

“Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was born in the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said to him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.’ ‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus said, ‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than this.’ “ (John 1:44-50) (The complete text of this poem is John 1:43-51.)

So Philip and Andrew began as disciples of John the Baptist, but switched to Jesus upon His starting His public ministry; the first thing each of them did was to go and bring another disciple to Jesus—Andrew brought his brother Peter, and Philip brought Nathanael, a righteous Jew, who would have been saved to heaven anyway, even if he had never met Jesus. That is exactly what each one of us who is a believer is commanded to do—go and bring Jesus another disciple. Notice that Jesus made no secret of His miraculous power from the beginning; He revealed to His disciples His ability to “see” and “know” everything, without being present. He knew which disciples He would call ahead of time, because He knows whose names are already written into the Final or Lamb’s Book of Life. He also knew which disciples would become apostles. A “disciple” means “a student of”; also a “believer” or “follower”. An “apostle” was a very special disciple, appointed by Jesus to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. They didn’t choose Jesus, so much as He chose them. An apostle also is a follower who has seen Jesus Himself. Nathanael believed Jesus to be the Son of God when he saw that Jesus had divine power to see him under the fig tree before Nathanael had ever been in His presence. That power is a “sign”, as Jesus called His miracles; He told the Jews (and everyone else, too) that they ought to believe by the signs or miracles that He did, if they would not believe by what He said. So should we believe because of the miracles (See John 10:38)

In the scripture quoted above, the reference to “the one Moses wrote about in the Law” refers to the prophecy found in Deuteronomy 18:14-22. This is one of the 340 or more prophecies about the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament, every one of which was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. That very fact means the Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah have no excuse.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)