John Chapter 1

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2. He was in the beginning with God.

3. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

8. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

11. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

12. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

13. who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

16. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

17. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

19. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews a [1] sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

20. He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21. And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

22. So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23. He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24. (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

25. They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26. John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,

27. even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

28. These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

30. This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

31. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Difficult verse:
Poole, that it means, "I knew him not perfectly and distinctly, though I had an impression when I first saw Him coming to be baptized, that He was One far greater than myself, and under that impression demurred to baptizing Him. After His baptism I saw clearly who He was."

32. And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

33. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

35. The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,

36. and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

37. The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

38. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

39. 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.

40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

41. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

42. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

43. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

44. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45. 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.”

46. Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

The whole idea of a Messiah coming from a place like Nazareth was a bit preposterous. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in Nazareth and bore that stigma (Matt. 2. :19–23). To be called “a Nazarene” (Acts 24:5) meant to be looked down on and rejected However, Philip did not argue the case but simply said, Come and see

47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Yeshua saw Nathanael coming, and before Nathanael could ask any questions, Yeshua referred to him not by name, but by description: Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48. Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Nathaniel asked, “How can you know what I am really like?” From Nathanael’s perspective, it was the first time the two had met. Yeshua answered: Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you (Jn. 1. :48b). 

49. Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Notice Nathanael’s response: Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Yisrael (Jn. 1. :49). That would appear to be a strange conclusion. Just because of Yeshua’s simple statement about seeing Nathanael under a fig tree, he declared Him to be the Messiah. Why would Nathanael come to such a strong conclusion based upon so little?

To understand the conversation, it must be taken in context. Yeshua did not call Nathanael by name, but by a title, an Israelite indeed, and then He added, in whom is no guile. Yeshua was making a contrast between this Israelite and Jacob, the first person to be called Israel. Church teaching has often portrayed the patriarch’s life as one of guile, but this is not supported by the book of Genesis. Jacob was guilty of only one act of guile—deceiving his father—and that was done at his mother’s insistence and over Jacob’s personal objections.

Because of this one act of guile, he had to flee from his father’s household to the land of Haran, where he spent the next twenty years of his life.

So in contrast to the first Israel, who committed one act of guile, this Israel, a descendant of the first one, is characterized as lacking guile. That is the first point which needs to be understood.

50. Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

The next point concerns Yeshua’s statement: When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Yeshua is not merely talking about having seen Nathanael under the fig tree; that could have been incidental. The ques¬tion is, what did Yeshua see Nathanael doing under the fig tree?

In those days, when it was impossible for everyone to have a written copy of the Scriptures, the Jewish people spent a lot of their time memorizing them, and then they would meditate upon what they had learned. The rabbis said that the best place to meditate upon Scripture was under a fig tree.

Nathanael did not conclude that Yeshua was the Messiah based upon the fact that He happened to have seen him under a fig tree. Rather, Yeshua’s comments (an Israelite indeed; in whom is no guile! and, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you) made Nathanael real¬ize that this man knew the exact passage of Scripture upon which he had been meditating.

51. And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Yeshua knew his very thoughts! This comes out clearly in the closing verse, in which Yeshua said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (Jn. 1. :51). Genesis 28:12 is the only passage in the Hebrew Scriptures which speaks about angels ascending and descending. The passage records the content of a dream that Jacob had: And behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and de¬scending on it. When did Jacob have this dream? On his first night away from home, after he had committed his one act of guile by deceiving his father.

In other words, this shows that Nathanael’s conclusion was cor¬rect: Yeshua had known the exact passage of Scripture he had been contemplating. Therefore, Yeshua had to be the Messianic King.