Ref; John;1;43-51.
Jesus leaves for Galilee. He finds Philip and says to Him, "Follow me."Philip like Andrew and Peter was from the town of Bethsaida. One of the most potent words Jesus used to invite people to join Him in what h had come to do was "Follow me." We need to come to the point where we learn to follow. Most of us want to be followed and they have no idea how to follow. If believers are to live to the purpose of which Jesus calls them into, we need to learn to follow Him. This is not walking side by side with Him it is to follow where He leads. When we learn to follow we will always find others who are willing to follow. Phillip finds Nathaniel and tells him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the Prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.." When you learn to follow Jesus you will come to know him in the light of the Scriptures. According to Philip, Jesus is the one the Mosaic law and the prophetic writings in the old testament wrote about. Nathaniel asks, can anything good come from Nazareth? Then Philip tells him to come and see. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."When Nathaniedesired to go see Jesus, Jesus saw him through to his roots. Jesus recognizes that Nathaniel is a true Israelite. Why did Jesus make this conclusion? Nathaniel was skeptical about what he had been told by Philip. Nathaniel also wanted to confirm the prophetic and Mosaic teaching in the life of Jesu for all Israelites were careful in observing the Law and the prophetic. Nathaniel wonders how Jesus knows him. Then Jesus declares to him, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Where Nathaniel was sitting under the fig tree, is symbolic. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they picked fig trees to cover themselves. The nation of Israel is likened to a fig tree. So Nathaniel was sitting under the fig tree waiting for the revelation of what the fig tree meant. Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbi, you are the son of God; you are the king of Israel." After Nathaniel gets the revelation of the fig tree, he realizes who Jesus is, that Jesus is not just a Rabi, He is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Jesus responds to this declaration and says, "you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that. I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."This statement by Jesus to Nathaniel, seeing angels ascending and descending draws a parallel in the life of Jacob at Bethel when he had a sleepover and used a stone for a pillow. He saw angels ascending and descending and said that the place was the house of God. Israel is also referred to as the house of God. So Jesus is the Son of God the Father who created all things and that he is the king of the house of God.
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