“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 1:47-51, English Standard Version).

The scene in John 1:47-51, Jesus’ first meeting with Nathanael, is very similar to His first encounter with Peter. Both men were introduced to Jesus by a friend or brother. In each case, Jesus saw something special about the man and described it.

Upon meeting Nathanael, Jesus recognized his character and his history. He was “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.” That is ironic since the patriarch Israel’s original name was “Jacob,” which means “supplanter” or “usurper.” His early life story was a cycle of him deceiving his brother, father, etc. Perhaps Jesus saw an honesty in Nathanael that personified everything God wanted to see in His people.

There must have been something significant about the fig tree. Jesus probably could have said, “I saw you under the fig tree” to almost anybody, and they would have said, “What’s so special about that? Everybody sits under a fig tree sometimes!” Perhaps he had been meditating about the life of Jacob one day while sitting under a fig tree. Jesus had already mentioned Israel, and He now compared Himself to the ladder that the angels ascended and descended in Jacob’s vision (Genesis 28:12).

Jesus knows your history. He knows your character. He will make you the person you should become, and He will reveal all of His glory to you if you are willing to see it.

Copyright © 2024 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.