beneath the fig tree
Noel K. Anderson
First Presbyterian Church of Upland
Text: John 1: 35-51 New Revised Standard
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated 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 about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”†
4 evangelisms
This text is about evangelism and calling—how the Disciples come to follow Jesus. It is also about our collective calling here at First Pres and how we carry out the Church’s plan to make Christ known. And we need to be clear that all evangelism is a matter of calling; specifically, God calling us to faith and following.
Evangelism 1: Preaching & Prophecy
John the Baptist (or, as Presbyterians tend to say, “John the Baptizer” because we want to be clear that John was no Baptist! It would be like calling Paul “Paul the Presbyterian,” but we’re not going to do that) was not only the greatest prophet—the spirit of Elijah announcing God’s promised Messiah—but he is the perfect preacher, the model for all constant preaching and prophecy.
There is a subtle but intended parallel here between John the Baptizer and John the Evangelist, the author of the Gospel, for they do the same preaching in essentially the same way. John the Baptist has disciples and a thriving prophetic ministry, but when Jesus passes near, John surrenders all. Verse 36:
“Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
It is no longer about John but all about Jesus. His proclamation leads his disciples beyond himself to follow Jesus. All good preaching and true prophecy do just this: they point to Christ. This is the first evangelism: pointing people to Jesus as John did—as both Johns do.
As these two disciples come to Jesus, he asks them, “What are you looking for?” This is the first time Jesus speaks in John’s gospel, and it is more significant than it may appear. We’ll come back to that connection later.
The two disciples ask Jesus where he is staying, which amounts to asking, “How might we follow you?” Jesus calls them forward by saying, “Come and see.”
Evangelism 2: Good News to Our Loved Ones
Andrew, one of these two (we never learn who the other was), goes to his brother Simon. This is the second evangelism—taking the good news to your loved ones, the people who are most important to you. At least half the disciples had a brother among the twelve. Here are Andrew and Peter, there are James and John (sons of Zebedee), James and Matthew (sons of Alphaeus), and it’s possible that Jude was also a brother to James and Matthew. So, yes, we should evangelize within our own family.
The greatest single obstacle to entering the ministry was that my brother Kirt was a pastor. I don’t know why it seemed like such a wall, but maybe I felt threatened that my years of looking up to him and imitating a lot about him would somehow sully my authenticity, but a call from God is a call from God, and fight it as you may, God will have His way.
Evangelism 3: The Direct Approach of God
Next, Jesus goes to Galilee, walks right up to Philip, and says, “Follow me.” Sometimes the calling is very direct and not relational at all. I think most of us, in our stories of coming to faith, have significant mentors or leaders who helped draw and encourage us forward toward Christ. That is wonderful and excellent, but remember that God doesn’t need us to do His work—as we see here, he can do it without us. We are blessed and privileged to be included in that work, but make no mistake, we are not “needed.”
Enter Nathanael. Philip goes to him and says, in effect, we’ve found the promised Messiah. “Who?” Nathanael says excitedly. “Joshua Josephson from Nazareth.” I think Nathanael immediately looked disappointed. “Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was to Galilee what Topeka Kansas is to Californians—an insignificant place you wouldn’t go if you didn’t have to. n.
Evangelism 4: Say what Jesus says.
Now Philip says, “Come and see,” echoing the words and will of Christ who had called him. We evangelize by saying what Jesus says—doing it His way. We see here that those who Christ calls He also empowers to do as He does. This is the power of evangelism—it is God’s calling working through us. He certainly doesn’t need us, but God delights to include us in what He’s doing.
When Jesus sees Nathanael coming, he says, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” or, as we might put it today, “Now here is a great Jew with a truly good heart!” It is so affirming and so familiar! Nathanael naturally responds, “How do you know me?” And here we
shift into overdrive—we’re about to slip out of the Matrix into the strange world of Christ’s Kingdom!
Fig Trees
Connecting with Eden and Nathanael
We need to talk about fig trees. Fig trees are scripturally significant from cover to cover. First of all, fig trees grow fairly quickly with lovely, big leaves to provide shade, and they fruit twice a year—once in the spring and again in the fall. The spring fruit is known as Taaqsh. This spring fruit was considered inferior. The fruit was small, hard, and left on the trees for poor people to eat.
Also, it was fig branches burned on the altar in the Temple. No olive wood could be burned in the sacrifices. Poor families who could not afford an animal sacrifice could bring fig tree branches for the sacrifices.
The only tree we know was in the Garden of Eden is a fig tree.
“They sewed fig leaves together” —Genesis 3:7
Remember why? Yep, they had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They became naked and ashamed. In Rabbinical commentaries, fig leaves stand as a symbol for excuses. How great is that? Adam says, “It’s the woman’s fault—the woman YOU gave me!” Eve says, “The serpent did it.” Excuses are like the fig leaves they use to cover their shame. We pick up there:
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” —Genesis 3: 8-9
God is searching for the couple hiding behind fig leaves: “Where are you?”
Last week, with John 1, we noted how John begins with Creation and seems to be rewriting Genesis. Well, we see it in today’s text as well. What are Jesus’ first words? Remember? He says: “What are you looking for?” This is a play on the Garden. In Genesis, God is searching for Man; in John, Man (the two disciples) are searching for God. The words of seeking and searching are part of God’s calling and His self-revelation.
In case you’re thinking, “Okay, I see a play on images, but what am I supposed to make of it?” The first answer is that you’re supposed to notice the similarity and the connection so that you know Genesis and John are coming from the same place, namely, the Holy Spirit of God.
There’s a straightforward tie-in to Eden, but there is more to the fig tree. Several texts use the term “under their fig trees” to indicate wholeness, peace, and security. To sit under one’s fig tree meant to be at peace with God. It seems Nathanael had been under a fig tree thinking deep thoughts, looking for God, crying out for God to show himself, or just seeking God’s face and longing to be known by God.
[Clip of Nathanael from The Chosen]
Jesus says, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Nathanael responds: “You are the Son of God!” which is an unthinkable exclamation for any good Jew, of which Nathanael was one. This is fantastic stuff: Nathanael knows he’s not in Kansas anymore.
Jesus adds: “That impressed you? You will soon see much better.” And verse 51:
“Amen, Amen, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
This is most mysterious. What would Nathanael have made of that? What do we make of it? Son of Man is used only by Jesus in the four gospels and only about himself. It comes from Daniel 7:13-14:
13 As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
Red Pill Moment
There is no safe encounter with Jesus
John’s Gospel is an invitation to the strange and mysterious. And it is not a safe study about Jesus, but it is an invitation to an encounter with Him. Who among us has not, like Nathanael, sat in quiet solitude and called out to God, longing to see His face, hear His voice, or just feel His presence beside us? The Psalmist says it well:
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 “Come,” my heart says, “Seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, do I seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me. —Psalm 27: 7-9
And we, you and I, are met as Nathanael is met, with the promise of more—more mystery going deeper. The invitation to follow Christ is no simple matter; it is the Rabbit Hole; it is a Red Pill moment of decision. Christ calls, will you live with delusions, or do you want to know the truth?
Coming face to face with Jesus drops us out of the Matrix into Christ’s Kingdom, which operates under very different terms than the world we know and love, perhaps too much.
The calling is presented to all of us, but why do you follow?
Perhaps a prophet or preacher pointed you in the right direction,
Maybe your brother or another family member led you along,
Perhaps something about Jesus Himself drew you,
Maybe He has revealed Himself to you directly,
But the Rabbit Hole awaits, and the Lamb of God leads.
Shall we follow?
†
Questions
- How does John the Baptist announce Jesus and who hears his testimony?
- What was Andrew’s role in the Calling and why did he call Jesus the Messiah?
- Why did Philip follow Jesus and what was Phillips’s testimony?
- What caused Nathanael to follow Jesus?
- Jesus addresses the followers collectively in verses 50,51. What did he mean when he said, “You shall see…”?
- What did it mean that Jesus asked his disciples to come and follow?
- How does Jesus call his disciples to come and follow now?
- What has been your experience when Jesus says, “Come and follow?
- Why do people resist or deny Jesus?
- What can we learn from the disciples’ experience? ( why, how, where, and what)
- What has Jesus asked of you that makes it difficult to say yes to Jesus?