Why is Nathanael immediately convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel when Jesus tells him: "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you"?
John 1:47 - 50
NIV - 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. 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."
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Asked August 22 2013
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Julian Paschen
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Anonymous
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! [An Israelite indeed.] Compare it with Isaiah 63:8. "I saw thee (saith Christ) when thou wert under the fig tree." What doing there? Doubtless not sleeping, or idling away his time, much less doing any ill thing. This would not have deserved so remarkable an encomium as Christ gave him. We may therefore suppose him, in that recess under the fig tree, as having sequestered himself from the view of men, either for prayer, meditation, reading, or some such religious performance; and so indeed from the view of men, that he must needs acknowledge Jesus for the Messiah for that very reason, that, when no mortal eye could see, he saw and knew that he was there. Our Saviour, therefore, calls him an "Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile," because he sought out that retirement to pray, so different from the usual craft and hypocrisy of that nation, that were wont to pray publicly, and in the streets, that they might be seen of men.
Donald Woody
This passage takes the focus of the human aspect of the situation at hand and places it solely on the Lord Himself. This passage is a very early evidence of the Deity of Christ in 2 ways; 1) the supernatural/divine act of Jesus seeing Nathaniel and telling him about what he was doing and the Lord was not in his (Nathaniel) physical presence imports that Jesus is more than just a human being and 2) the fact that Nathaniel was engaging in an act of worship to God clearly shows that Jesus in God for only He could know and be truely receptive to a TRUE WORSHIPER, as the Lord clearing denotes in His remarks to (and about) Nathaniel. The lessons here to note is simply these; JESUS is God in the FLESH and He knows who His TRUE followers are. Not all religious people are true worshipers and Jesus knows who is and who is not by how we live out our day to day life. Whatever the activity Nathaniel was engaged in under the fig tree it got Jesus (GOD's) attention even as the two (the Lord and Nathaniel) were not in the same physical location together. Jesus/God KNOWS!
joyce whaley
Have you ever heard the saying ripe for the picking? Nathaniel didn’t need to witness Jesus healing the blind, raising the dead, feeding the 5000 plus men, women and children all of those acts were just icing on the cake for him. He was ready to receive any word Jesus had to say as the Gospel truth. He didn’t need any prodding or priming he was just ready. On another note perhaps no one was around when Nathaniel was the fig tree, or perhaps Jesus saw Nathaniel doing something under the fig tree before Phillip came. At any rate Nathaniel was ready to receive the engrafted words of Jesus. Nathaniel was ripe for the picking as the old folks use to say.
John McIntyre
Based on the preceding verses 45 and 46, Phillip had informed Nathanael he and others had. Met the Christ, Jesus. Later when Jesus recognizes Nathanael as he approached, Jesus' statement "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit" (John 1:47 NASB) could have been Jesus announcing His acknowledgement that Nathanael is honest and "tells it like he see it". Nathanael would recognize a person who had never met him before could not have know this about him. Jesus stating he saw him under the fig tree was probably a confirmation of this knowledge.
Leslie Coutinho
John 1:48: Nathanael saith unto him, “Whence knowest thou me?” Jesus answered and said unto him, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” This astonished Nathanael who had said to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He questioned Jesus, saying, “How do you know me?” Jesus, knowing what he was doing under the fig tree, astonished Nathanael just as the woman at the well was surprised to know that Jesus already knew everything about her. (John 4:39) Nathanael was amazed when the Lord said unto him, “An Israelite in whom is no guile.” He was amazed that Jesus knew what he was doing under the fig tree and said to Him, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God.” Heavenly Father knows our needs before we pray; as Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him,” yet He tells us that we need to pray for our needs. (Mat. 6:8-9) Father commands us to pray without ceasing. (1Thes 5:17) For the Lord knows the thoughts that He thinks towards us, thoughts of peace and not evil, so when we call upon Him and pray unto Him, He hearkens to our prayers; when we seek Him, we shall find Him. (Jer. 29:11-13) Being under the fig tree, the Lord Jesus knew and heard his prayer to the Father and He promised him he would see greater things done through Him by the Father. We also need to pray at all times because we have an enemy, the devil, who wants to rob us of the good things God wants to give us. Prayer is God’s way to stand firm against the devil’s tricks (Eph. 6:12,18). When we pray with thanksgiving God chases away our worries and fills our hearts and minds with His peace (Phil. 4:6-7). Jesus saw Nathanael “coming to Him” and said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that God wants us to come to Him, talk to Him and tell Him our needs? We all need to spend more time in prayer! John 1:51: And he saith unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
Jack Gutknecht
Good question, Julian. I don't know for sure, but I can speculate. "It has been speculated that there was something in Nathanael’s mind or actions under the fig tree that caused Jesus to refer to him as ‘an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. This would help explain Nathanael’s amazement, as simply having seen Nathanael under the fig tree does not necessarily denote spiritual foresight or anything miraculous. It is obvious that Jesus’ mention of ‘no deceit’ triggered amazement in Nathanael; it points to the fact that Jesus knew his thoughts." --S, Michael Houdmann
Roy Spears
As with the others I can only speculate why Jesus made mention of Nathanuel under the fig tree. I offer this. During those times the women would go out into the fields and gather the harvest and they would bring their little ones with them and would place them under the large leaves of the fig tree to protect them from the sun. So in essence what Jesus was saying to Nathanuel was that He had known him since he was baby. Nathanuel recognized this fact and it touched him deeply. Again this is purely a speculation that I read somewhere.
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