The next day he decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 And he said to him, “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.”
Jesus invited Philip to follow him and become one of his disciples. Philip, Andrew, and Peter were all from Bethsaida. Philip went and told Nathanael that they had found the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about. Nathaniel and the whole of Israel were awaiting the fulfillment of the promised Messiah, the conquering hero, who would set all things right. Matthew’s inclusion of Philip’s reference to Moses and the Prophets could have stemmed from an early Christian post-resurrection experience of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:27). Nathanael’s question to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth (v. 46)” was similar to the response from the Pharisees and Jewish leaders who refused to believe in Jesus; “Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee (Jn. 7:52).” However, Nathanael responded immediately to Philip’s invitation to “Come and see.”
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he remarked that Nathanael was honest and without deceit and was an example of a sincere and genuine Israelite. When Nathanael realized that Jesus knew about him, he was impressed by Jesus’ apparent supernatural knowledge and acknowledged Jesus as the “Son of God” and the “King of Israel.” He believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, a king like David, but at that point in Jesus’ ministry, he could not have understood the full meaning of what he confessed. Jesus’ followers only understood who the Messiah truly was after his resurrection. Jesus told Nathanael that he would see greater revelations of his divinity. Jacob’s Ladder (Gen. 28:12) was being replaced by the Son of Man. From that point on, Jesus Christ would be the communication between heaven and earth.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to be free of deceit, the faith to eagerly follow when called, and the conviction to proclaim our belief that Jesus is your Son. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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