A Study of John's Gospel

John 1:45-51: The Son of God, and the King of Israel

The Son of God, and the King of Israel

A study of John 1:45-51

"Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.""

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭45‬-‭51‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Nathanael: "Nathanaēl", "Ναθαναήλ"; proper masculine noun - Nathanael = "gift of God"; an intimate disciple of Jesus Christ, he is commonly thought to be the same person as Bartholomew.

-Nazareth: "Nazara", "Ναζαρά"; proper locative noun - Nazareth = "the guarded one", the ordinary residence and home town of Christ.

-Joseph: "Iōsēph", "Ἰωσήφ"; proper masculine noun - Joseph = "let him add", the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

-Indeed: "alēthōs", "ἀληθῶς"; adverb - truly, of a truth, in reality; most certainly.

-Deceit: "dolos", "δόλος"; masculine noun - craft, deceit, guile.

-Do You Know: "ginōskō", "γινώσκω"; verb - denotes a discriminating apprehension of external impressions, a knowledge grounded in personal experience.

-Rabbi: "Rabbi", "ῥαββί"; masculine noun - my great one, my honorable sir; a title used by the Jews. To address their teachers (and also honor them when not addressing them).

-The King: "basileus", "βασιλεύς"; masculine noun - leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king.

-Truly: "amēn", "ἀμήν"; participle indeclinable - at the beginning of a discourse, surely, of a truth, truly; the repetition of the word employed has the force of a superlative, most assuredly.

-Angels: "angelos", "ἄγγελος"; masculine noun - angels are employed, by a beautiful image borrowed from Genesis 28:12, to represent the divine power that will aid Jesus in the discharge of his Messianic office, and the signal proofs to appear in his history of a divine superintendence.

-Son of Man: "Huios ho Anthrōpos", "υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου"; - used by Christ himself, doubtless in order that he might intimate his Messiahship and also that he might designate himself as the head of the human family, the man, the one who both furnished the pattern of the perfect man and acted on behalf of all mankind. Christ seems to have preferred this to the other Messianic titles, because by its lowliness it was least suited to foster the expectation of an earthly Messiah in royal splendor.

Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

After being found by Jesus and invited to follow Him, Philip found his friend Nathanael and told him they had found the one prophesied of by Moses and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael asked if anything good could come from Nazareth and Philip invited him to "come and see". When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, He spoke as if He knew Nathanael, saying that Nathanael was an Israelite in whom there was no deceit. Nathanael asked Jesus how He knew him, and Jesus told him of an event that happened under a fig tree of which He could not have known if He were merely a man. Whatever it was that happened under the fig tree, Jesus' knowledge of this was enough to convince Nathanael that He was the Son of God and the King of Israel foretold of long ago by Moses and the prophets. Jesus then told Nathanael he would see even greater things such as the angles of heaven ascending and descending on the "Son of Man."