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.
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.
Philip (for reasons not given) knows a lot about Jesus and believes he is the Messiah. All of these followers are from Bethsaida. (It is not clear where Bethsaida was; there may have been two towns with this name, one near Capernaum in Galilee.)
Why does Nathanael respond, as he does, to Philip's invitation? Nathanael has a poor view of Nazareth, which presume some knowledge. Philip's response is mild, "Come along and check him out."
John 1: 47-50, Philip and Nathanael
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.”
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.”
We are never given any indication as to why Jesus chooses certain men to be his closest followers. But each, when called, responds quickly. Here Nathanael is impressed that Jesus seems to have some special sight, able to see things that happened yesterday, from far away.
Nathanael, in his awe, identifies Jesus with the Messiah ("Son of God") and future king. In this, he affirms Philip's earlier statement.
Jesus's response to Nathanael's awe is essentially, "That's nothing...." It is one thing to see small miracles; it is another thing to walk with the eternal Messiah.
The statement in verse 51 of the heavens opening and "angels ... ascending and descending" is most likely from Genesis 28: 12, the night vision of Jacob (Israel), in which God confirms with Jacob his early promise to Abraham.
A meditation question: What do you think Jesus really looked like? Was he completely ordinary? Attractive? Did he glow, have a halo, always have a euphoric smile? Would you have noticed him in the crowd? Did John the Baptist?
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