In the Gospel Reading (John 1:43-51), Jesus continues to reveal himself publicly in Galilee, where he began his ministry.
The describes that it was John the Baptist’s
confirmation of Jesus as the Christ, by identifying him as the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; cf. Exodus 12:5-14; Revelation
7:14), that prompted two of his disciples began to follow Jesus (John 1:29-39).
One of these two who began following Jesus, was Andrew (John 1:40). It was him
who brought his brother, Simon (Peter) to Jesus (John 1:41-42). Then, Jesus found
Philip and said to him, “Follow me” (John 1:43). So, Philip followed Jesus
and joined with Andrew and Peter (Simon) (John 1:44).
According to John, this is how the first three men of
Galilee, Andrew, Peter (Simon), and Philip, began to follow Jesus.
Now it is Philip to reach out to his friend from the
same hometown, Bethsaida, Nathaniel (Bartholomew(Matthew 10:3)), and brought
him to Jesus (John 1:45-51).
There is a similarity between the way Andrew brought
his brother, Peter (Simon), to Jesus, and the way Philip brought his friend,
Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus. Just as Andrew first told Peter (Simon), “We
have found the Messiah”(John 1:41), Philip said to Nathaniel (Bartholomew),”
We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the
prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth”(John 1:45). Instead of
calling Jesus, “the Messiah”, Philip called him, “the one whom Moses
wrote in the law, and also the prophets”. Basically, Philip was pointing to
description of the Messiah, which means, “the anointed one”, and its Greek
equivalent is “the Christ”. But, he was also referring Jesus as a prophet ,
like Moses, to rise from the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:15). So, Moses wrote:
A prophet like me will the Lord, your God,
raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall
listen. This is exactly what you requested of the Lord, your God, at Horeb on
the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let me not again hear the voice of the
Lord, my God, nor see this great fire any more, or I will die.” And the Lord said
to me, What they have said is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you
from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet;
the prophet shall tell them all that I command. Anyone who will not listen to
my words which the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will hold accountable
for it (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).
Through these words, Moses prophesized to Israelites
that God would raise a prophet, like him, to keep them with God, so that they
would not fall into idolatry and other sins, and not to be fooled by false
prophets, when they would settle in the promised land, which is surrounded by
pagans (cf. Deuteronomy 18:9-14).
Philip obviously knew that Jesus was from Nazareth,
carpenter Joseph’s son. But, he also knew that he was not just Joseph’s son but
the prophet to keep the Israelites straight with God and His Law, after Moses.
But, Nathaniel (Bartholomew) did not respond so
positively, as he said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”(John
1:46). He was obviously skeptical of
Philip’s statement about Jesus, because of his negative stereotype of Nazareth.
In fact, Nazareth was not a town of high regard.
Therefore, it was not surprise that Nathaniel (Bartholomew) made such a
negative statement about Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, and kept that stereotype from
believing that Jesus was the new prophet, whom Moses wrote about.
But it was Jesus himself to prove that Nathaniel’s (Bartholomew’s) assumption was wrong so that he would believe.
So Jesus came toward Nathaniel (Bartholomew) and said
to him:
Here is a true Israelite. There is no
duplicity in him (John 1:47).
To this, Nathaniel (Bartholomew) was surprised that
Jesus knew him and wondered how (John 1:48a). So Jesus said:
Before Philip called you,
I saw you under the fig tree (John 1:48b).
Then, Nathaniel
(Bartholomew) said to Jesus:
Rabbi, you are the Son of
God; you are the King of Israel (John 1:49).
Now, his initial
skepticism about Jesus is gone completely. He really believes Jesus, calling
him, “rabbi”, and “the King of Israel”.
What convinced Nathaniel
(Bartholomew) that Jesus is, indeed, the Christ (Messiah), and the prophet
after Moses, to keep the Israel in God’s Law, and the King of Israel, and
rabbi, is the fact that Jesus called him a “true Israel but no duplicity” and
saw him “under the fig tree”. It means that Jesus, with his divine power,
foresaw that Nathaniel (Bartholomew) was on the verge of trouble, as the fig
tree symbolizes sin, because of the fig leaves that Adam and Eve used their
fall to sin (Genesis 3:7). This foresight of Jesus was also demonstrated to the
Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar and made her believe (John 4:7-19).
So Jesus said to
Nathaniel (Bartholomew):
Do you believe because I
told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than
this. Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of
God ascending and descending on the Son of Man
(John 1:50-51).
Now Jesus assures
Nathaniel (Bartholomew) for beginning to believe that his discipleship will
lead to greater encounters such as seeing the angels coming down from heaven
and going up through an opening of the sky, as Jacob saw (Genesis 28:10-17) and
Daniel did (Daniel 7:13).
In regard to Nathaniel’s
(Bartholomew’s) transformative encounter with Jesus, moving from skepticism to faith
(John 1:46-49), St. Augustine of Hippo preached as in these words:
Accordingly in the
Gospel, when the Lord saw Nathanael, He said, Behold an Israelite indeed, in
whom is no guile. And that Israelite not yet knowing who it was that talked
with him, answered, Whence knew Thou me? And the Lord said to him, When you
were under the fig-tree I saw you; as though he would say, When you were in the
shadow of sin, I predestinated you. And Nathanael, because he remembered that
he had been under the fig-tree, where the Lord was not, acknowledged His
Divinity, and answered, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel. He
who had been under the fig-tree was not made a withered fig-tree; he
acknowledged Christ. And the Lord said to him, Because I said, When you were
under the fig-tree I saw you, do you believe? You shall see greater things than
these. What are these greater things? Verily I say unto you (for he is an
Israelite in whom is no guile; remember Jacob in whom was no guile; and
recollect of what he is speaking, the stone at his head, the vision in his
sleep, the ladder from earth to heaven, the Angels ascending and descending;
and so see what it is that the Lord would say to the Israelite without guile);
Verily I say unto you, You shall see heaven opened (hear, you guileless
Nathanael, what guileless Jacob saw); you shall see heaven opened, and Angels
ascending and descending (unto whom?) unto the Son of Man. Therefore was He, as
the Son of Man, anointed on the head; for the head of the woman is the man, and
the Head of the man is Christ. Now observe, He did not say, ascending from the
Son of Man, and descending to the Son of Man, as if He were only above; but
ascending and descending unto the Son of Man (Sermon 39).
Augustine reminds that
Jesus juxtaposed Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jacob (Israel). Jesus first called
him “a true Israelite”(John 1:47) , meaning “a true descendant of Jacob”.
Then, he said characterized him, “no duplicity in him”(John 1:47),
meaning that Nathaniel (Bartholomew) is not a twin though Jacob was (Genesis
27:35-36; 32:29).
He was once under the fig
tree, meaning that he was to be guiled, perhaps, by a false prophet, Nathaniel
(Bartholomew) did not believe, at first. But now, this man is as guileless as
Jacob, according to St. Augustine. And this is Nathaniel’s (Bartholomew’s)
conversion through his encounter with Jesus.
Now this is the twelfth day of Christmastide. The Christ has been made visible in the human flesh of
Jesus for 12 days and he has been revealing himself.
Have you encountered him?
Perhaps, you are blessed
to have a friend, like Philip, or a brother, like Andrew, who introduces you to
Jesus. Or, you can be a person, like Andrew or Philip, who bring another person
to Jesus.
As for the First Reading
(1 John 3:11-21), John reminds that your encounter with Jesus and belief in him
transforms you into a great lover, by observing his new commandment to love one
another as he has loved (John 13:34). This is a reiteration of 1 John 2:7-11,
and also touches upon Paul’s teaching of love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13) and Jesus’s
teaching on how practicing love in acts of compassion can make you stand in the
judgement (Matthew 25:31-46).
Now, are you becoming a
better lover, observing Jesus’ new commandment of love better?
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