NOTES for Joh 1:43-51
43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. |
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. |
45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. |
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. |
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! |
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. |
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. |
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. |
51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. |
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This Gospel passage is endlessly precious as an example of very personal relations with God. What happened there under the fig tree? We do not know, and this is very important, because this mystery is known only to Nathanael and God; here there is the sharpest personalism. And for Nathanael it was something very important. There is no need to guess what it was, but we should notice that as soon as he talked with Jesus about it, he believed. This means that this fig tree becomes a symbol of conversion.
Each of us has his own fig tree, and we treasure it and draw spiritual strength from it. But it is not the only thing that matters; what became fundamentally important for Nathanael's conversion was that he and the Lord spoke about it. Moreover, the Lord was the first to speak. This too is very important. Our prayer is always a response to the Lord's call. Until this is so, it is not prayer, but rather self-persuasion.
Few believers can say that their faith is their choice. If that is so, then it is not faith but a system of convictions. We are always found by the Lord, as the apostles were found by Him, and, obeying an unknown power, we leave everything and follow Him.
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