LISTEN TO JESUS - FASTEN YOUR SEAT-BELTS!

LISTEN TO JESUS

FASTEN YOUR SEAT-BELTS!

Follow me.

John 1:43

Behold an Israelite indeed,

 in whom is no guile!

John 1:47

Before that Philip called thee,

when thou wast under the fig tree,

I saw thee.

John 1:48

Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou?

 thou shalt see greater things than these.

John 1:50

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.

John 1:51

John 1:43-44 The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Susan: Philip was from the same home town as Andrew and Peter . . . 

Susie: . . . possibly one of their “homies.” We do not know if they knew each other prior to following the Lord, but they might have since John made a point to say they were from the same place. Why would Philip just leave and follow Jesus? 

Susan: The Bible does not really tell us, but perhaps seeing Andrew and Peter following Jesus, Philip knew there must be something special and worthy of following about this Man. Their endorsement gave him confidence in Jesus.

John 1:45-46. 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. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

Susie: We do not know how much interaction with Jesus Philip had before declaring to Nathanael that Jesus was the one foretold by the prophets. Still he refers to Jesus as the son of Joseph from Nazareth.   

Susan: Nazareth was a small town of no significant prophetic consequence. 

Susie: It was also a place looked down upon by those from Galilee. Therefore, Nathanael has a hard time believing the Messiah could come from such a place. But Philip persists and insists that he “come and see” for himself. Apparently these first followers believed that just a few moments in the presence of Jesus could convince their friends to follow Him as well. 

Susan: It is as if they were thinking, “When you hear Him, you will know without reservation that He is that One we have been awaiting so long!”

John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Susie: Nathanael was curious enough to follow Philip to Jesus. 

Susan: The first thing that Jesus says about Nathanael is that he is honest and above reproach. 

Susie: This is their first meeting, but Jesus makes a statement about his inner character.

John 1:48 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.

Susie: Nathanael demands to know how Jesus could know him so well. 

Susan: He is shocked and surprised because they have not spent any time together. To know that a person is honest usually means you have spent time with them and seen them in difficult situations when they are squeezed resulting in their true character oozing out. 

Susie: Jesus tells Nathanael that he saw him sitting under the fig tree before Philip even approached him. 

Susan: Jesus is not only saying, “I saw you with my eyes” even though He is omnipresent and omniscient (everywhere-present and all-knowing). When Jesus sees a person, he does not only view their physical shell. He sees right through them, into the core of their being.

John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Susie: Apparently, the fig tree was some distance away from Jesus so that He could not humanly, physically have seen Nathanael. So now Nathanael is convinced Philip was telling him the truth. 

Susan: Nathanael addresses Jesus as Rabbi which means Teacher. He is probably expecting Jesus to set up an earthly Kingdom where He rules and reigns in Israel as King. 

Susie: After meeting Him, Nathanael now believes enough to declare Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

John 1:50-51 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. 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.

Susie: I almost picture Jesus laughing heartily as he says, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe?” 

Susan: I picture Him having a good belly laugh as well. He basically says, “If that amazed you, you haven’t seen anything yet! You better put your seatbelt on!” 

Susie: Of course, they didn’t have seatbelts yet, but you get the gist. Jesus knew that Nathanael and the other disciples would be witnesses to incredible signs and wonders, up to and including raising people from the dead! As Jacob saw the angels descending and ascending on a ladder to Heaven (Genesis 28:12), the disciples would see many proofs that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

Susan: Jesus’s favorite term for Himself was “Son of Man” . . . 

Susie: . . . which referred back to Daniel’s prophecy concerning the end times:

Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV) “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Susie: The term “Son of Man” also indicates Jesus’s position as the bridge between God and man.  As the perfect God-Man, fully human yet fully divine, Jesus communicates with mankind on behalf of the Father.

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     Are we convinced that people will desire to follow Jesus if they can only see Him for themselves?

·     What are we doing to “show” people Jesus?

·     How did Jesus “reveal” Himself to you? Was it through reading the Bible? Hearing the word preached? A friend sharing the good news as Andrew and Philip shared? Are you willing to ask the Lord to use you to reveal Him to others?

·     Once we surrender our lives to follow Jesus, we can look forward to seeing Him do marvelous things as well!