John 1: 35-51

I vowed to read John as if it were the first time I had done so, but it's harder than I imagined.

I read passages like the following and my only thought is "Uh huh. yes. Indeed. Go on."

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi (which translatedmeans Teacher), where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come, and you will see." So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Ideas such as "Lamb of God" and "Messiah" are too familiar to me. At least, my immediate understanding of the words makes it difficult to force myself to dig deeper; to take the role of one who has never heard.

Why is it important to understand the reference to lamb of God here? Well, lambs are sacrificed unto God as a sin offering and Jesus is God's own sacrifice to erase the sin of the world and fulfill the promise of the law of Moses. If we know that, then the reference in this chapter is a foreshadowing of what's to come.

But what does it mean to us if we don't know? Nothing?

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of 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 any good thing 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 there is no deceit!" Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to 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 and said to him, "Because I said to you that 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 the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

All it takes for Nathanael to believe that Jesus is the Son of God is that Jesus says he saw him under the fig tree? A little clairvoyance. That's the least of the miracles we'll see! Jesus says as much to Nathanael. "You will see greater things than these.

I know that Jesus' first miracle is understood to be the changing of water to wine, but this is the first one in the book of John and I think it's important. Some people don't need much convincing. There's something to be said for knowing and it's clear that Nathanael knows what's what.