Schaffhausen City Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
“You Will See Greater Things”
John 1:43-51
Mari Ikeda
Today I’m going to continue the series of John’s Gospel, so I’ll read 1:43-51. This passage, continuing from last time, is the scene in which the first disciples met Jesus. It was Andrew and Peter last time. Today it will be persons called Philip and Nathanael. Let’s read a little at a time, starting with v.43-44.
A. Philip
1. Discovered by Jesus (43-44)
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
Here we have a difference between Japanese translation and English translation, but the English version is more faithful to the original text and therefore better than the Japanese version. I’d like to emphasize here, as the English translation rightly says, that Jesus did not just happen to meet Philip by a coincidence, but rather He actually went out to look for him, “found” him, and made him His disciple. This is different from how Andrew and Peter met Jesus, which we read last time. While Andrew and Peter went to see Jesus by their own will, this time for Philip, it is Jesus who went to see him. Does it mean Philip was special and more important to Jesus than Andrew and Peter were? No, I don’t think that was the case. Regarding Philip, we have a very limited amount of record in the New Testament. He is an obscure character. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is only his name that appears, while he also appears only in a few stories in this Gospel of John. Even from those few stories, we only find that Philip was a mediocre person, with no experience of receiving a compliment or a rebuke like Peter. Let’s pick up one of those stories, John 6:5-7.
2. A coward? (6:5-7)
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (6:5-7)
This is the scene just before Jesus performs a miracle of feeding the crowd of five thousand people. Philip’s answer was nothing wrong, as he only says a common sense and makes a realistic comment. But he does not seem to expect that Jesus may do something great. His weakness becomes even more evident when it’s compared with how Andrew brought before Jesus a boy who had just a small amount of food right after Philip made this comment. Similarly, in the other text (chapter 12), Philip did not know what to do and went to ask Andrew, when some foreigners asked him to let them see Jesus. From these accounts, perhaps we can assume that Philip was not good at handling the unexpected or urgent situations. We may also say safely that his faith has not yet grown enough to let him rely on Jesus in those situations. Although this is only a conjecture, Philip was perhaps a timid person with a weak mind. If the conjecture is right, however, it must have been the very reason why Jesus came to look for him and made him His disciple, because He knew very well that Philip was weak in that sense. Jesus told the timid Philip, “Follow me,” just as the same way as He said to Andrew and Peter, who came to see Him by their own will. What we can learn here is that what we need to do in order to follow Jesus is just to hear and obey the calling of Jesus, “Follow me,” rather than to try to have a strong mind and will. It is Jesus who knows the best suitable way to encounter with each of us, because He knows us very well. We can also learn more about this from the following story of how Nathanael met Jesus. Let’s read v.45-46 first.
B. Nathaniel
1. Caught up in prejudice, he did not try to know Jesus (45-46)
45 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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
The name of Nathanael only appears in this Gospel of John, and is not in the name list of the twelve apostles. So, we don’t know whether he was one of the twelve apostles, or if he was indeed one of them but called by a different name (most likely as Bartholomew). What we know for sure (according to John 21:2) is that Nathanael was originally from Cana, a town in Galilee. It is likely that he and Philip were friends. Here Nathanael reacts coldly to his friend, saying, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” I suppose he reacted like this because he knew the town of Nazareth well, as he was from Galilee, which made him caught up in prejudice all the more. He might have believed that no great person could come up from such a small rural town as Nazareth. In addition, he also might have reached the belief based on his knowledge of the Old Testament, in which Nazareth never appears. Nonetheless, we can see his faint hope in Jesus as he did follow Philip, who told him, “Come and see.” His faint hope was quickly turned into a great surprise and conviction by Jesus, as shown in v.47-49. Let’s read them.
2. Surprised by how much Jesus knew about him (47-49)
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
Jesus first praises Nathanael, saying, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” He means that He recognizes Nathanael’s heart is truly seeking God and is genuine. While Nathanael still doubted Jesus, Jesus knew and admitted his sincere heart. Nathanael was of course surprised, asking Jesus suspiciously, “How do you know me?” Jesus’ answer to him, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree,” is totally a puzzle to us, but it apparently gave Nathanael a shock and conviction. In their time, under the fig tree was a nice place of shade for the Jewish teachers taught people about the Bible and for individual people to meditate and pray. This is again only a conjecture, Nathanael was perhaps praying to God under the tree. In any case, Jesus knew what he was doing, and Nathanael was shocked and convinced that it was by the power that transcended human beings. He was convinced that this person called Jesus right before him knew him very well supernaturally. Do you also have the experience of getting surprised and asking Jesus, “How do you know me?” I believe anyone who follows Jesus consciously has experienced for several times that you are convinced that Jesus knows you very well. It is something that Jesus teaches each of us personally in a way that is sometimes a puzzle to other people, like it was in this case of Nathanael. Maybe it is the experience of your prayer being heard, or the experience of feeling Jesus’ presence real in the midst of your prayer unanswered.Perhaps it is when your problem is solved by the way you never even imagined, or it is when a miracle happens and no one can explain how it could. Jesus indeed teaches us in a way each of us can understand that He surely hears our questions and wishes, griefs and cries. If any of you has never experienced it, please ask Jesus personally in the following worship time, ask Him, “Teach me.” Or you can also ask someone of the church in the prayer time after the service to pray with you. I hope each of us can have a personal time with Jesus throughout the week. However, this is not the end of our encounter with Jesus. There is more! Let’s read the last remaining verses, v.50-51.
C. “You will see greater things” (50-51)
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
Jesus is not reproaching Nathanael here. Rather, He is encouraging him by declaring, “You must not be satisfied just to be known by Me, because what I want to show you is much greater than that.”
He says that it is “heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” There are a few different interpretations of this, but I think it means that God, who should be in heaven, came down to earth, and that Jesus is transforming this world by revealing His love among us.
Each of us starts walking with Jesus by hearing His call, “Follow me,” and understanding that He knows us even before we get to know him. That is a big relief and joy for us by itself, but what Jesus wants to show us is not just how He transforms each one of us.
We are invited to witness how Jesus transforms this world. It means that we are to witness that we learn to forgive and love each other, as we learn repeatedly how Jesus forgives and loves each of us. It also means that we don’t just focus on the transformation of personal relationships, but we take an active role in praying and working for the love of Jesus to be realized in our society and spread further to the world. It can never be done by our own power. It becomes possible only by Jesus’ love. As we have just heard, He declares to us, “You will see it,” and tells us, “Come, and you will see.” Therefore, let us listen well to His calling to each of us, “Follow me.” Let us not caught up in our own smallness and weakness, but rather look forward to what greater things Jesus will show us.
(Prayer)
Dear Jesus, we hear your voice “Follow me” and see you coming to find us where we are lost. You know us very well and keep calling us, when we doubt you. I ask you to speak to each of us’ heart now, in the way each of us can understand. Guide our heart by Your Spirit. Teach us that you are surely with us and you know us. Let us see how your love changes us and uses us by the means we cannot imagine. May your love be revealed more in this world. Dear our Lord Jesus, we pray in Your name. Amen.
Summary
Jesus knows each of us well before we know him. And even before we ask, he wants to walk with us. We are surprised and delighted to meet Jesus, who finds us and calls us, but Jesus wants to show us something even bigger. Believing in Jesus means repeatedly discovering that God’s love is far greater than we can imagine.
For Discussion
1. Have you ever asked Jesus, “How do you know me?”
2. What are the “greater things” that Jesus wants to show us?