JOHN 1:47-51
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 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. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 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.
Jesus sees; He sees our beginning, and our ending; He sees when we rise up in victory and fall in defeat. He sees our times of joy and sorrow - there is nothing about us that He doesn't see and know in His omniscience and omnipresence:
PSALM 139:1-6
O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
This is why the LORD was able to make such a declaration of Nathanael; He foreknew him because He created him and gave him his personality, character traits and behavioral tendencies. Even more so, He knew Nathanael as an "Israelite indeed" - that is, one who like those to whom God promised the land of Israel, here was a man of faith, a man "without guile". The LORD recognizes His own, and His own know His voice and respond to it:
JOHN 10:14-15
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
Nathanael asked the LORD how was it that He knew him and the answer given already above is essentially the answer, but here in this passage, the LORD merely states that He saw him sitting under the fig tree - an act of divine clairvoyance (not at ALL related to that sort typically associated with occult practices!) - in perceiving Nathanael's location without actually being there.
Nathanael exclaims that this Man standing before him must be the Son of God, the King of Israel - and he is absolutely correct on both counts! This soon-to-be disciple speaks with alacrity and in a no-nonsense manner these things!
Yet the LORD seems almost incredulous at this bold statement and assures him that he will see greater things than these; namely that he will " . . . see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." This harks back to Genesis 28 and a scene in the life of Jacob:
GENESIS 28:10
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it [that is, the ladder] and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it [that is, the ladder] and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
The LORD Jesus Christ declares to Nathanael, concerning Himself, that He is the ladder that leads to heaven, the very gate of heaven; that bequeaths His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Twelve Patriarchs, that leads us sinners to and on the road of righteousness via His own propitiatory sacrifice and indwelling Spirit to become saints and citizens of heaven!
Since Jesus Christ is the ladder, then "the LORD" in this passage would be the Father - and to this agrees what the LORD Jesus declared in,
JOHN 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Yet all the while Nathanael recognized something of the truth in what he declared regarding this Man from Galilee being the King of Israel, and the Son of God - it was by gradual revelation that he came into greater understanding of these truths.
So it is with us: With every gift of understanding we receive by the Holy Spirit in those mysteries of the Word, our doctrinal clarity becomes sharper and more refined within the framework of all Scripture, and as these various areas become clearer, we see more readily the "ladder of heaven", the gateway to the LORD GOD - and it is the portrait of Jesus Christ that we see, reflected in the mirror of the Word!
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Yet all the while Nathanael recognized something of the truth in what he declared regarding this Man from Galilee being the King of Israel, and the Son of God - it was by gradual revelation that he came into greater understanding of these truths.
So it is with us: With every gift of understanding we receive by the Holy Spirit in those mysteries of the Word, our doctrinal clarity becomes sharper and more refined within the framework of all Scripture, and as these various areas become clearer, we see more readily the "ladder of heaven", the gateway to the LORD GOD - and it is the portrait of Jesus Christ that we see, reflected in the mirror of the Word!
1 CORINTHIANS 13:12
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (See also JAMES 1:22-25; note vs. 23)
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (See also JAMES 1:22-25; note vs. 23)
There are many verses in the Bible that are absolutely mind-blowing. I have to include this as one of those. To think that one Day I shall know even as I am known of the LORD! There is nothing about me that GOD doesn't know - and the Day is coming when I shall know the LORD to this degree of intimacy?! Take away the New Jerusalem, the streets of gold, the angels and saints, and everything else - this alone, to know the LORD to these depths, THAT is heaven! Everything else is 'icing on the cake' as it were!
He is Himself the very House of God, that is the body that He was given, housing the whole of Deity and the Person of God the Son (HEB. 10:5). He is the realization of 'Bethel' ("house of GOD") and the vision that Jacob saw there.
May we, the saints of God, resort to that heavenly domain by the LORD Who is the ladder and gateway, to the very throne of God and His grace, in blessed fellowship, communing in the House of God: the LORD Jesus Christ!
The next JEWEL in JOHN's GOSPEL is from JOHN 2:1-2, entitled MARRIAGE INVITE to the MESSIAH! Until then, may the LORD bless us all - way too much! And we'll see you here, There or In The AIR!
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