Come and See

John 1:43-51

Throughout the first chapter of John's Gospel, our author has established a theme of "witnessing Christ." Throughout church history, the means by which the gospel has spread has been through the witnessing of Christ through believers to non-believers. Don Carson opened up TGC19 Conference with these words, "You preserve the Gospel best by giving it away." In this passage Jesus calls on Philip to follow him, as he has been doing. Philip is convinced that he has found the "fulfillment of the Laws and Prophets" in the person of Jesus. One can only assume that he means to refer to Jesus as the Messiah. Philip may not have a proper theological grasp on what or who the Messiah is, but let's cut him some slack there. Nevertheless he is so enthralled that he calls on Nathanael and tells him of his discovery. Nathanael is a lot more skeptical and doubts whether any "good thing" can come out of Nazareth. Clearly indicating a discontent or tension that exists between Nazarenes and Galileans. Here is where the texts gets interesting, Philip's only rebuttal to the doubt of Nathanael is simply, "come and see."

So Nathanael goes to see for himself what all the fuss is about. And as he approaches, Jesus refers to Nathanael as an "Israelite with whom there is no deceit." He does not refer to him as a Jew or a Galilean but an "Israelite." Israelites are the chosen people of God, the nation of God, and in the Old Testament Israel is metaphorically referred to as a "son of God." (Hosea 11:1-7) The name Israel is given to Jacob as his new name following a vivid encounter with a heavenly figure in Genesis 32. The new name holds the meaning of "The man who sees God" among many other possible meanings. As Nathanael approaches Jesus following Philip's provocation to "come and see," Christ "sees" him coming and refers to him as an "Israelite." Jesus begins with the word "behold" and if you read Genesis 28, God states over and over again the word "behold" before proclaiming something monumental in Jacob's dream. And what exactly is in that dream? Well Jacob is shown a ladder that is set on earth but reaches heaven. And angels ascend and descend on this ladder. God then proclaims a promise that through Jacob's descendants the families of the world will be blessed. Do I need to connect all of these dots for you? Behold, Jesus is the Messiah. And as Jesus uses his supernatural knowledge to tell Nathanael, if he wasn't convinced already, that he saw him under the "fig tree." Nathanael is convinced, a man who thought there was nothing good that could come out of Nazareth, has come to see, and he has seen what he believes is the "Son of God, the King of Israel" by his own words.

But Jesus continues to proclaim that there are greater things to come than mere omniscience. In verse 50 he speaks to Nathanael in the singular "you" and then switches to the plural "you" in verse 51 to state that "all" will "see" the heavens opened up and angels ascending and descending on, not a ladder, but the Son of Man (Daniel 7). Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection will act as a ladder from earth to heaven so that the world will be blessed. This is John's emphatic articulation that the Christ has come. So, come and see.