In his book Mere Christianity author, C.S. Lewis famously put forth an argument for the identity of Jesus. What is now called the Lewis Trilemma, posits three possible identities for Jesus: Lunatic, Liar, or Lord. Lewis argues that Jesus has to be one of these three things. If he is either of the first two, we are to run away quickly. If he is the last, we are to run toward him quickly. Therefore, it is important for us to wrestle with the Lewis Trilemma. Do not fail to recognize who Jesus truly is. There are no other questions you will ever answer as important as this one is.
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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 to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” 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 shall 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 upon the Son of man.” John 1 : 43-51
Scriptural Analysis – The Calling Of Phillip
John’s Gospel now transitions into the fourth day. After having gathered his first disciples, Jesus travels north to Galilee. John the Evangelist now breaks from the recognition and pronouncement pattern. Jesus will directly call the disciple Phillip, “Follow me.” Phillip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter, on the north end of the Sea of Galilee.
Phillip finds Nathanael and declares to him that the Messiah has been found. Something in Phillip’s encounter with Jesus was sufficient for him to draw this conclusion. What precisely that was is not recorded for us.
Nathanael responds in a very earthly way. He asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He is judging Jesus’s qualifications based on Jesus’s human origin. Phillip’s response back to him is the same invitational phrase Jesus used to call the first two disciples, “Come and see.”
Scriptural Analysis – Jesus Encounters Nathanael
We once again return to the recognition and pronouncement pattern. Jesus sees Nathanael coming and pronounces of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Jesus recognizes Nathanael as a faithful son of Israel. He is one of whom the Psalmist says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (Psalms 32:2)
Nathanael, taken aback by Jesus’s pronouncement about him, questions how Jesus knew this. Jesus gives a curious response, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Clearly, there has to be more to this statement than Jesus simply saying I saw you sitting down over there. This phrase points to certain biblical texts that speak of a fig tree as a symbol of peace ushered in by the Messianic age:
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. – Micah 4:4
In that day, says the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree. – Zechariah 3:10
The words of Jesus stirred Nathanael, striking him as a prophetic announcement. Nathanael believes he will have a place in the age of the Messiah. He responds to Jesus proclaiming him as the Messiah, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” It won’t be until Jesus’s resurrection that Nathanael will truly understand these words but he has made strides in understanding who Jesus is.
Scriptural Analysis – The Promise Of More To Come
Jesus rewards Nathanael’s pronouncement by telling him that he will see greater things than what he witnessed today. Jesus tells Nathanael, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” This statement represents the final revelation of who Jesus is in this opening chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus has been given a series of successive titles:
God 1:29, 1:36
Son Of God 1:34, 1:49
Rabbi 1:38
Messiah 1:41
The One About Whom Moses Wrote 1:45
King Of Israel 1:49
Son Of Man 1:51
This final title is critical because it is the one that Jesus ascribes to himself. All of the other titles were spoken about him.
The imagery of angels ascending and descending alludes to the story of Jacob at Bethel. God appeared to Jacob there and the covenant he had made with Abraham and Isaac was extended now to Jacob. Jacob responded to this encounter by stating, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:17) Jacob anointed a stone with oil and name the place Bethel which means house of God, “He called the name of that place Bethel … shall be God’s house.” (Genesis 28:18-22)
The title, Son of Man combines two important themes from this encounter of Jacob. The first theme is revelation. God revealed himself to Jacob and he again reveals himself directly and plainly in Jesus. The second theme is the idea of the dwelling place of God. Jacob referred to the site as the house of God. Now, God dwells with us in the word made flesh, in Jesus.
Daily Application
There is debate among scripture scholars regarding the identity of Nathanael. He only appears in the Gospel of John. There is no mention of him in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. However, in those Gospels, there is mention of Bartholomew, a disciple that John does not mention. Bartholomew is more akin to a last name as it means son ofTholmai. Additionally, in both Matthew and Mark’s Gospels the names of Philip and Bartholomew comes together. Therefore, identifying Nathanael with Bartholomew makes sense.
Whether or not that is true what we see in Nathanael is a man whose heart was cleansed of pride and prejudice. This is vitally important. There was nothing inside of Nathanael blocking him from being able to see the truth. Therefore, he was a man who was able to see Jesus for who he was. In doing so, the longing in Nathanael’s heart is satisfied the way only God can satisfy it.
Do we see Jesus for who he is or do we see Jesus for whom we want him to be? Are there things in our life that we are clinging to that make it difficult for us to see Jesus’s true identity? Every one of us has our own biases and blinders. These are things that make it difficult for us to recognize Jesus at times. We have to be able, as Nathanael did, to set these aside so that we can come to a true understanding of Jesus’s identity.
Jesus demands many things from his followers. Chief among these is the call to take up our cross daily. I don’t want to take up my cross for a lunatic or a liar. If Jesus is any of these things we should not hang around him, we should run away. However, if we truly believe, as I do, that he is Lord, then we embrace the cross because he is God and God has commanded us to do so.
If we get this decision wrong, we risk everything. If Jesus is truly Lord but we fail to realize that and fail to follow him completely, we risk our souls. That is a precious thing to risk with uncertainty. Take the time to study and learn. Examine your prejudices and biases and eliminate them. Then really look at Jesus and recognize him for who he truly is, Lord!
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