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John Lesson 3 (2012)

YOU SHALL SEE GREATER THINGS THAN THAT! 

John 1:35-51
Key Verse: 1:50-51

“Jesus said, ‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.’ He then added, ‘I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’”

Today’s passage records personal encounters between Jesus and his first five disciples. After each encountered him, they came up with their own unique confession of Jesus. Andrew confessed, “We have found the Messiah.” (41) Philip said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”(45) Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.”  Simon’s confession is not found in today’s passage, but Jesus gave him new name, “Cephas”, which when translated is “Peter.”(42) Jesus also anticipated that Nathanael would see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. (50-51) Let’s think about why Jesus said “You shall see greater things than that” and what it means to us today.

Look at verses 35-36. “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’” During his ministry of the baptism of repentance, John had drawn nationwide attention. He also had several close followers. We don’t know much about them, except these two disciples, mentioned in today’s passage. One of them was Andrew, the brother of Simon (40-41) and the other was most likely John the author, the brother of James. We are not sure why, how and when these young people began to follow John the Baptist. We can only use our sanctified imagination.

In those days, Israel’s national situation was pretty bad and the nation’s future wasn’t bright at all. Israel had been under the yoke of foreign nations, like Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Macedonia, Egypt, Syria and Rome, for more than 600 years until Jesus came to this world. By the time John the Baptist began his ministry of baptism the nation was completely broke. Yet the Jews still had to pay heavy taxes. In addition to their temple tax in Jewish currency (2:14), they also had to pay taxes to the Roman government in Roman currency. You can imagine how hard it was for an average citizen in Israel just to survive day to day.

In their frustration and discouragement, a lot of people couldn’t deal with their problems. They turned to unhealthy lifestyles and indulged in drinking, partying and probably gambling, while some became extremely religious. Some people became opportunists, like tax collectors, who took advantage of their fellow citizens. Others were determined to change their situation by joining to the political extremists, like the Zealots, who were ready to fight against their oppressors, even the Roman government. It’s amazing to see that Andrew and John, who were young fishermen from Galilee, became disciples of John the Baptist who had lived in the wilderness, wearing camel’s hair, eating locusts and wild honey and delivering the fiery message of God’s judgment and repentance. Probably, they followed John the Baptist as their role model. It was also possible that they thought that John might possibly be the Messiah. But John clearly denied that he was the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet. (1:18-28)

In fact, when John saw Jesus coming toward him, he told people to pay attention to him by saying “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (1:29) He also introduced that Jesus was the Son of God who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. (1:32-34) Hearing John’s testimony, two of his disciples, Andrew and John, began to follow Jesus. At that time, John was a very popular national figure and Jesus was an unknown man, a carpenter from Nazareth. Unless John helped them to follow Jesus, these two young men might not have followed him. In fact, it was God who was working through John the Baptist in order to lead them to follow Jesus. God was already working in them even before they were aware of it.

Look at verse 38. Even though Jesus knew John and Andrew, John and Andrew didn’t know Jesus personally at that time. So it was very possible that they had a lot of questions about who Jesus really was. When Jesus saw them following him, he suddenly turned around and asked, “What do you want?” as if he didn’t know anything about them. They answered, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Obviously, John and Andrew wanted to talk with Jesus personally. Jesus willingly invited them to stay with him and said, “Come and you will see.” (39)

Look at verse 39b. “So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.” The tenth hour in Jewish time is 4 pm in our time. I am sure that they talked a lot and their talk was deep and intimate. Look at verse 41. “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” Although it sounds like Andrew had already put his faith in Jesus, it wasn’t so. Actually, it wasn’t until Jesus performed his first miraculous signs that they put their faith in him. (John 2:11) However, it is evident that Andrew began to acknowledge that what John the Baptist testified about Jesus wasn’t contradictory to his personal experience with him. It was an awakening experience and a moment of God’s personal revelation to him. So he said to his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah, the one you are also looking for. He is here! Let’s go to see him!”

Look at verse 42. “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter).” We don’t know how Simon responded to Jesus at this point. There is no record of anything Simon said about Jesus. We might assume that Simon said, “You are the Messiah!” But it was also possible that Simon wasn’t really convinced that Jesus was someone he was truly waiting for. Yet, surprisingly enough, Jesus gave Simon a new name “Cephas” which when translated is “Peter” meaning “Rock.” According to Luke’s account, it was only after experiencing a miraculous catch of a large number of fish in the Sea of Galilee by the help of Jesus that Simon Peter finally fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Lk 5:8) Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” (Lk 5:10b) Even though Simon’s initial response to him wasn’t sure, Jesus had a great hope for Simon.

In the following section, verses 43-51, we see Jesus’ encounter with Philip (43-44) and Nathanael (45-51). Look at verses 43-44. “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me!’ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.” John’s description of Jesus’ encounter with Philip was brief. It says “Finding Philip.” It means that

Jesus was actually looking for a guy, named Philip. It means Jesus already knew Philip by name even before Philip knew Jesus. And when Jesus found Philip, he said to him, “Follow me!” Philip followed Jesus.

Look at verses 45. “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’” Andrew’s confession was simple – “We have found the Messiah.” (1:41) Philip’s confession was a lot deeper. Instead of saying, “We have found the Messiah”, Philip said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” It was such profound information that Philip provided for Nathanael.

Yet, Nathanael’s heart became hardened as soon as he heard the word “Nazareth!” Look at verse 46. “‘Nazareth! Can anything good come there?” Nathanael asked.” Around 20 years ago, my wife and I bought a brand new car, made in Korea. At that time, Korean-made cars weren’t that great. But I was so happy to see Korean-made car in the US, I was compelled to buy it. And the interest for car-loan was 11%. But after a couple years, the car began to break down and gave me a lot of headaches. After 3 years, we had to sell it for a low price. Since then, my wife and I decided not to buy any Korean-made cars. Now, it’s a very different story. “Made in Korea” means something much better than before. Still it took almost fifteen years for us to overcome our preconceptions.

Nathanael was from Cana (Jn 21:2), which was not far from Nazareth, only about 5 miles away. It was possible that his preconception about Nazareth wasn’t just based on rumors he heard. He himself could have had bad experiences or some business relationships related to Nazareth. After that, whenever he heard the word “Nazareth”, he felt uncomfortable and negative. Now, hearing Philip saying that the Messiah was from Nazareth, he became even more cynical, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Probably, Jesus even heard Nathan saying that. If a man wants to be a leader, he should be free from preconceptions. Nathanael would not be a good candidate to be a leader. How he could be a shepherd for all different kinds of people if he could not even embrace people from the next village?

However, when he saw Nathanael approaching, Jesus said of him,“Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” (47) Nathanael must have been shocked by Jesus’ positive remarks about him. Perhaps, Jesus was the first person who recognized his genuineness and potential. Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.’” In fact, Jesus knew everything about Nathanael, including what he had thought, said and done, and his strength and weaknesses. Yet, Jesus viewed him as a true Israelite and a sincere person. It seems that Jesus understood that Nathanael became very cynical because of his sincere heart. People who have a clean conscience and truthful hearts tend to become easily hurt by the corruption in society. Sometimes, they become critical of everything. Perhaps, Nathanael fell asleep under the fig tree because he got drunk due to his broken heart. But when he had brief encounter with Jesus, he tasted the glory of God in Jesus and his heart was wide open.

Look at verse 49. “Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’”  His confession, along with the confessions of Andrew and Philip in today’s passage, represents who Jesus really is. Although their confessions seem to be premature and too quick to be fully credited, we can clearly see that through their personal encounters with Jesus they began to taste the glory of God in Jesus.

When we think of personal encounters between Jesus and his first five disciples, we learn something very important. Did you know that God knew you before you knew Him? Did you know that God knew you by name even before you were born? Did you know that you are always in His mind, and He has been working for the good of your life even before you began to seek Him? Did you know that unless God had first put an urge within us, we wouldn’t be able to seek and come to know Him?

In fact, our faith does not depend on our own understanding or our initiation. It depends on Jesus and what he does for us. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrew 12:2). In fact, Jesus came to this world to plant and grow our faith in him. This reminds us of what Jesus said in John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me. And I will raise them up at the last day.”

In Genesis 28, we read the story of Jacob when he was running for his life, away from his brother Esau who wanted to kill him. At that time, Jacob didn’t know God personally. But when he was in desperation, he had his first encounter with God in Bethel. In fact, God appeared to Jacob in his dream. Jacob saw a huge stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And he heard the Lord saying to him that he would bless him and protect him wherever he went. When Jacob woke up, he realized that God was with him even though he didn’t know. So he worshiped God there. And he also made a vow before God. However, Jacob often forgot about God and especially the vow he made to God, but God never forgot Jacob. God protected and provided for Jacob all along the way. Here, we learn that unless God calls us and works in us, we cannot have faith in God.

Our life is full of conflicts, trials, pain and suffering. Some are avoidable but most of them are not avoidable. We have many daily concerns. We worry about our life, health, school study, our life security, our children, our parents, our business, job and our ministry. We are not in control. Sometimes, we feel that God is so far away from us. We think that God has too many people to take care of and pay attention to, and therefore it would be impossible for Him to remember all of us at the same time, especially “me”- one person. But that’s a misunderstanding. Our God knew us even before we knew Him. Jesus said in Luke 12:6-7, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”  We actually don’t know God much. In fact, we will never know Him fully enough. However, a wonderful thing is that God knows us. So we can always trust him and not in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Our God will never ultimately fail us. If we experience a failure, it’s a time of encounter with God. Our God is good. He able to accomplish what concerns us today. He is able to do much more than we could ever dream and make us what he wants us to be.

In verses 50 and 51, Jesus anticipated that Nathanael would experience a lot greater things of God in the future. “‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.’ He then added, ‘I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” What did Jesus mean when he said that Nathanael would be able to see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man? Was this vision only for Nathanael? There is no record that Nathanael actually saw this vision in his lifetime. There are two interpretation of this vision. Firstly, it means that Jesus, the Son of Man, is the only mediator between God and men. Secondly, it means Jesus’ glorious second coming.

What is the ultimate hope for mortal man? It is the life everlasting. The everlasting life is God’s gift for us. It’s free because God paid the cost through the death of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. And that’s what Jesus promised to Nathanael in today’s passage when he said that he would see greater things than that. Seeing the glory of God is not something unrealistic and ambiguous. It is to have God’s life in our day-to-day life in this world, to be like him, and to receive the glorious resurrection when Jesus comes again. Of course, when our life ends, our body will go back to the dust because we are dust. But we will be raised to life. God does not make mistakes. We will surely see greater things than what we now see in this world. We will see the glory of the Son of Man coming down from heaven. How do we know it? It’s because God knew us before we knew Him. We are here, believing in Him, not because we chose Him because God first chose us. We are chosen out of billions. Sometimes, we may feel alone, abandoned and ignored. But we must know that we have someone who loves us and will always love us. He is now with us through the Holy Spirit. In fact, God is behind all things, and He works for the good of us. All we need to do is to trust Him who began a good work in us and will carry it on to completion until the last days. (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:28) Let us desire to see God’s glory in our life through Bible study and prayer.