Love God Greatly - Our Security for Eternity: The Gospel of John Sample

Read: John 1:43–51

SOAP: John 1:49

Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!”

At this point in the Gospel of John, the focus shifts from John (today he is frequently called John the Baptist), to Jesus. The story follows the two disciples who left John to become disciples of Jesus. Because of this, many scholars believe the unnamed disciple in John 1:40 was the apostle John. This is John’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus, so it makes sense that the narrative would follow his transition to following Jesus.

In today’s text, Jesus began to call more disciples. The first two, Andrew and John, followed Jesus because of John the Baptist’s testimony. Peter followed because Andrew, his brother, proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah. Philip followed when Jesus offered him an invitation saying, “Follow me,” and then Philip encouraged Nathanael to follow Jesus.

Nathanael’s response to Philip’s encouragement to follow a man from Nazareth shows some local jealousy or rivalry. It may have been either a common attitude in Galilee or a personal prejudice of Nathanael’s that nothing good could come from Nazareth. However, Nathanael put aside his bias and went to see Jesus.

Jesus showed His power and omniscience when He met Nathanael. Nathanael immediately believed Jesus and proclaimed that He was the Son of God. Nathanael had been instructed in the Scriptures and Jewish customs and knew a Messiah was coming. When he found Jesus, he recognized Him as the promised Messiah. Nathanael believed when Jesus told him something He could not have known unless He was the Son of God; Nathanael believed because of what He saw Jesus do.

Nathanael’s declaration of faith, as well as Jesus’ response, leads us to ask ourselves a similar question: Do we believe in Jesus because of miraculous answers to prayer or because of who He is? As we continue to discover that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to eternal life through John’s Gospel, we’ll come back to this question. May we believe because of who He is, and the testimony we have been given, in addition to the mighty works we have seen.