Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?
Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• The verb “to follow” (akoloutheo) is used symbolically in John’s Gospel to indicate discipleship (examples 8:12; 10:4, 27; 12:26; 13:36).
• Philip finding Nathanael and bearing witness is a repeat of Andrew finding Peter in v. 40. All of this follows out of John’s witness in v. 35 (John who came to “testify to the light” v. 5). Nathanael is not part of any of the traditional lists of the Twelve, but in John’s Gospel there is no hard twelve, discipleship is more open-ended.
• Philip’s identification of Jesus is in two parts: 1) as the fulfillment of scripture (“whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote”), and 2) by his father (“son of Joseph from Nazareth”). This duel identification is the first introduction of a conflict that will run throughout the Gospel, Jesus’ divinity in tension with the knowledge of his human origin.
• In v. 46, Nathanael’s questioning of Philip is the first time testimony about Jesus is met with question. To resolve this, Philip offered the same invitation Jesus gave to Andrew and Peter, (“come and see,”).
• V. 47-50 is the longest conversation between Jesus and a disciple in chapter 1, which means Jesus revealed the most about himself to the one who expressed doubt and skepticism. Jesus called Nathanael an “Israelite.” This is the only time the term is used in the Gospel, and it seems to set Nathanael apart from the more complicated “Jew,” which can be a general term meaning “Judean” or a harsh label for religious leaders who do not accept Jesus. Jesus praised Nathanael for seeking him out even while he had doubts.
• Nathanael’s response to Jesus is a multi-layered confession of faith. “You are…” as opposed to “this is…” “Rabbi” echoes the first disciples in v. 38. “Son of God” (v. 34) is a central identity for Jesus in John’s Gospel. “King of Israel” is a term of derision on the synoptics, but in John’s Gospel it is a positive, highlighting Jesus’ importance to the people of God.
• Jesus responds to Nathanael’s confession in v. 50 not with criticism, but with promise that Nathanael is only at the beginning, he will experience “greater things.”
• “Very truly I say…” is a common start to Jesus’ speeches in John’s Gospel. The Greek is actually amen, amen. In John’s Gospel it introduces an important point. My Greek professor in seminary described it as Jesus saying, “what I’m about to say is going to be so great, that at the end you’re going to want to say Amen.”
• V. 51 draws on a lot of Old Testament imagery, including the descent of the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13 (“As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him.”) and Jacob’s ladder dream in Genesis 28:12 (“And [Jacob] dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”).
• There are a lot of different titles for Jesus introduced in the first chapter: Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (v. 29), Son of God (v. 34, 49), Lamb of God (v. 36), “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher) (v. 38, 49), “Messiah” (which translated means Anointed) (v. 41), Him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote (v. 45), Son of Joseph from Nazareth (v. 45), King of Israel (v. 49), Son of Man (v. 51). Each disciple saw something different in Jesus and bore witness to him in their own way, each came with different needs and expectations, and Jesus met all of them. “The imagery of v. 51 suggests that the reality of God in Jesus outruns traditional categories and titles.”
Works Sourced:
O’Day, Gail R. “The Gospel of John.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume IX. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
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