John 1

45 Philip finds Nathanael and says to him, "We have found the One of whom Moses in the Law—and also the prophets—wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Natsareth."*The Hebrew spelling of the town’s name comes over into English as ‘Natsareth’, not ‘Nazareth’. This is crucial to a correct understanding of Matthew 2:23 (please see the note there). 46 So Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Natsareth?" Philip says to him, "Come and see!"*"Come and see." "Taste and see that the Lord is good." In the final analysis you have to decide for yourself. Check it out.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and says about him, "There, a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael says to Him, "From where do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 In answer Nathanael says to Him: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"*Wow, that was a real switch—from disdainful doubt in verse 46 to faith and submission in verse 49. What caused the change? A mature fig tree’s branches reach to the ground and form a curtain—there is a clear space around the trunk that is cool and private [I have been there]. It was a great place to be alone with God. But for Jesus to see Nathanael there (there were probably hills in between as well) meant that He was supernatural. That statement convinced Nathanael that he was looking at the Messiah, and he immediately declared allegiance. Of the four Gospels, only John uses the name ‘Nathanael’, the others do not; they all use the name ‘Bartholomew’, while John never does. Since Nathanael was one of the apostles, evidently (John 21:2), we may conclude that we have two names for the same person. 50 Jesus answered and said to him: "You believe because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater than these."*The demonstrative pronoun is plural but ambiguous as to gender. Since I would expect the singular (presumably it was the single statement that caused Nathanael’s belief) the plural leaves me in doubt. Is it greater things or people, or both? 51 And He says to him, "I tell you (pl) most assuredly, later on you will see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of the Man."*So far as I know, we have no record of when this took place, but no doubt it did. Jesus addressed Nathanael in particular, "He says to him", but used the plural, "ye", about seeing the heaven opened. "The Son of the Man" appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself; the Text does say "the son of the man", which does not make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if "the man" refers to pristine Adam and "the son" to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man.