John 1:43-50
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
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."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,
"Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.
You shall see greater things than that."
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
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."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,
"Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.
You shall see greater things than that."
Jesus answered Nathanael, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
This is one of the greatest paradigm shifts, I mean, to go from ‘can anything good come from Nazareth’ in v 46 to ‘You are the Son of God’ in v49. Quantum leap in a matter of moments. We don’t know everything that is going on here, and what Jesus meant when he said, you were still under the fig tree. Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly what this is referring to. But here’s the bottom line, I think Jesus was saying, ‘You don’t know Me but I know you, I know everything about you, but more than that, I don’t just see who you are, I see who you can become.’ Spoken like a true prophet, Jesus speaks to him and something changes. I love what He says next:
Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
What a statement! You shall see greater things than that! In other words, you haven’t seen anything yet, nothing. Simply follow me. We tend to celebrate what God has done in past tense. We celebrate what God has done. We also celebrate what God is doing present tense. Like, in my church, we are all celebrating what God is doing in our midst right now, with the recent church camp. We celebrate what God is doing past tense, we celebrate what God is doing present tense. Are you with me here? But we have not seen anything yet. The best is yet to come. I believe that for me and I believe it for you.
It is never too late to become who you might have been. If you are breathing, then God is not finished with you yet. This is not something you can teach, this is only something you can catch, but if you get this into your spirit, you will live your life with a sense of destiny, with a holy anticipation at what God has for you. He is not done with me, greater things than this.
But where does it start? Where does this celebrating a future with greater things start? It starts exactly where it started for Nathanael. There is a powerful profession of faith. If you want to become who God has designed and destined you to become, you need a dynamic relationship with the One who created you in the first place. I hope that logic makes sense. He is the One who dreams for you, He is the heavenly Father that has plans and purposes for you, but it starts by accepting that invitation. It is such a primal profession, Nathanael said, “You are the Son of God,” and there are different professions in the New Testament and they are as unique as each one of our fingerprints, but there comes a moment where we’ve got to make a decision that I’m going to profess my faith in Christ. And in the next breath Jesus gives the great invitation to greater things: Follow Me. Pursue after Me. Chase after The Spirit!
What does it look like for us to follow Him? It really comes down to this: become more and more and more like Jesus. That is what it means to follow Him. I would suggest that everybody is somebody’s disciple, consciously or subconsciously, everybody is modelling their life after someone.
A Christian is someone who has made a conscience decision that we believe Jesus is who He said He is, the Son of God and I want to live the way He lived, I want to pray the way He prayed, I want to make a difference the way He made a difference. I am going to follow Jesus, I’m going to go where He tells me to go, I’m going to do what He wants me to do. And it is about more than doing what He wants you to do, God is far more concerned about who you are becoming in the process. I want to become that person. When you pursue that zeal to be more and more Christ-like, you enter into a life of greater things.
Celebrate the future!
