…And we know, because he gives us this account, that the
other one was John, son of Zebedee. Regarding Andrew, John tells us:
He first found his own
brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means
Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You
are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which
means Peter). John 1:41-42
These men knew about the coming Messiah (Christ, the
anointed One), and had been anticipating His appearance. Andrew’s first action
after meeting the Lamb of God was to find his own brother, Simon and share this
new experience. Jesus was waiting for them. He renamed Simon Cephas,
which in Aramaic means “the Rock.” Peter (Petros) is the Greek form of
that word, and means “a piece of the rock.” We’ve all heard teachers expound on
the implications of this name in its various forms, and those are fascinating
studies. I, personally, am not qualified in the original languages to
fully exegete it, but the Holy Spirit has seen fit to record this conversation
in the Bible, so it is of great significance regarding Jesus’ knowledge of
Simon and the work he would do. The name will be emphasized in a later
conversation between Jesus and this disciple. We’ll have more to examine in that
study, about Peter’s name.
Think about it. These men had grown up in legalism, probably
doing the best they knew how to satisfy the letter of the Law. That is an
impossible undertaking. Now comes John the Baptizer, insisting that they repent (change
their attitude about the Messiah and His Kingdom) and bring with them evidence
of that change. Obviously, they did that, and then John points out the Lamb of
God, suggesting that they go with Him. What a shock to their sense of destiny
this must have been. This changed everything, but they were ready. I see no
hesitation in these men, to go with what they knew to be real. What a stunning
awakening, to meet the Word of God in human form.
The next day Jesus
decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow
me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and
Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of
whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John
1:43-45
Hard-working young men from the same small town would be
quite familiar with each other and share similar occupations as well as similar
beliefs and customs. When someone makes a personal discovery of the magnitude
John, Andrew and Peter just did, the natural inclination is to go tell family
and friends. Such was also the case with Philip, when Jesus found him at
Galilee. Immediately, Philip went to tell Nathanael about him of whom Moses and
the prophets wrote. They knew Him as Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. This indicates to me that Jesus didn’t just pop
up in their lives without any prior acquaintance. Small towns, remember.
Similar living conditions. In some cases, family connections. Joseph and Jesus
were carpenters, or building contractors. Such an occupation would have
provided goods and services for surrounding townspeople. They knew who he was,
they just had never known Who He Was, until the Baptist introduced the Lamb.
John 1:46 Nathanael
said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him,
“Come and see.”
This question has at least two implications: 1) having
studied the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, he was unaware of any
messianic prophecy concerning Nazareth. 2) Nazareth was not known for highbrow
culture or refinement, but had a reputation for roughness. How can the Messiah
come from a place like that? Philip didn’t quibble about the details. The focus
was on Jesus (“come and see”), not on himself. Geography is not the issue. Come
and meet the Savior.
Jesus saw Nathanael
coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him,
“How do you know me?” Jesus answered him,“Before Philip called you, when
you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” John 1:47-48
We can believe it, because if there had been any deceit (KJV
– guile) in Nathanael, Jesus would have seen that. The expression seems to
be one of amazement – “a thoroughly honest Israelite? Really?” I love that
evaluation of Nathanael by our Lord. I know a man in whom there is no deceit,
and it might surprise you to know who he is. It is a rare characteristic in any
human. It seems we all have something to hide sometime, or something we aren’t
facing squarely, ourselves. This is not to say such a person is perfectly
righteous, but he is not trying to kid anyone about who he really is. What you
see is what you get. That man can be trusted. He’s honest.
This is not something Jesus “devined” upon meeting Nathanael
face-to-face. Our omniscient Lord had known Nathanael his whole life, and had
seen him under the fig tree before Philip had asked him to come and meet Jesus.
He always knew you and me, too.
Nathanael answered
him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under
the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And
he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven
opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of
Man.” John 1:49-51
Nathanael had no guile, but he was thoroughly human, as
evidenced by his ecstatic outburst when Jesus demonstrated His omniscience. He
may have initially been a bit skeptical; we can almost hear a sneer in his tone
when he questioned Nazareth, but Jesus’ personal prior knowledge of him snapped
him to attention.
Now it was Jesus’ turn to gently jab this guileless man. “Is
that all it takes to convince you?” Well, fasten your seatbelt, Nat, because
you are going to see things you’ve never dreamed of.
We’re going to see those things too, as we move with Jesus
and His disciples through the Gospel of John, and they will bring us to the
point of ecstasy again, just as they did the first several times we saw them.
No comments:
Post a Comment