Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Friday, 16 January 2015 - Scripture: John 1:43-51 Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. There he met Philip, who was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. Jesus said to Philip, “Come with me.”
45 Philip then found Nathanael and said, “We have found the one that Moses and the Prophets[a] wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
46 Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is a true descendant of our ancestor Israel. And he isn’t deceitful.”[b]
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49 Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God and the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered, “Did you believe me just because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see something even greater. 51 I tell you for certain that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”[c][Footnotes:
1.45 Moses and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.
1.47 Israel. . . isn’t deceitful: Israel (meaning “a man who wrestled with God” or “a prince of God”) was the name that the Lord gave to Jacob (meaning “cheater” or “deceiver”), the famous ancestor of the Jewish people.
1.51 going up and coming down on the Son of Man: When Jacob (see the note at verse 47) was running from his brother Esau, he had a dream in which he saw angels going up and down on a ladder from earth to heaven (see Genesis 32.22-32).][Contemporary English Version]
John's gospel has Jesus appear to be a mind reader in the first chapter as he sees Nathanael approaching for the very first time, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" However, it's not only or primarily Jesus seeming telepathic power or charisma that John wants us to bring to our attention. Rather, these events are all signs pointing us to the possibility of something even more remarkable. Eugene Peterson's translation here has Jesus saying, "You haven't seen anything yet!" (The Message).
Jesus now has our ears and our attention as he looks to the God's future among us: "You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." The fulfillment of God's promises for all of heaven and earth will be through Jesus himself. To see God identifying with those experiencing poverty in Palestine of Jesus' day is to believe and receive hope for living even yet today.
God of Hope, in Jesus Christ, you invited the first followers to follow. May we follow and take your lead into the possibilities of changed lives for your glory. Amen.
Matthew A. Maas
Pastor/Chaplain, Swedish Medical Center
Seattle, Wash.
Master of Divinity , 2010
John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."
46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"
48 Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
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."
51 And 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 Revised Standard Version]
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