“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael was not a hypocrite like the Pharisees. He did not merely wear a mask or a persona of religiosity or devotion. Indeed, his question, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" bespoke one who was sincere, and said what he thought, rather that what he believed would be pleasing to others.
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Because Nathanael was sincere his desire for the Messianic age was not mere pretense. Sitting under a fig tree represented his prayerful and genuine desire for the coming of the Messiah, when, as Micah prophesied:
Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken (see Micah 4:4).
Jesus read this deep and sincere desire in the heart of Nathanael, who was surprised to find that his heart was an open book to Jesus. Perhaps too Jesus made Nathanael aware of the full magnitude of the Messianic desire in his heart. He had at least dimly desired the coming of the Messiah, to be sure. But now, in the presence of the fulfillment of that desire, Jesus, who was himself the answer to it, revealed to Nathanael a fulfillment that surpassed his expectations.
You will see greater things than this.
Lest he be content to merely bask in the presence of the savior Jesus invited Nathanael to not only maintain but elevate his expectations and hope for the work of salvation that he would accomplish.
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Jesus would himself unlock the gates of heaven and become the bridge between these realms which had been divided and isolated since the fall of our first parents. Much more than the ladder Jacob saw in a dream, Jesus himself, by means of his cross, would provide access to heaven for those who reached the end of their journey on earth, and access to heavenly aid for those still on the way.
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man (see John 3:13).
The victory of Jesus over the dragon and its angels has opened heaven and made the boundaries between the Kingdom of God on earth and those of the heavenly realm to be porous. Already in this life we enter heaven in the Spirit, in particular on the Lord's day at mass. It is then that we come before the Ancient One's throne, brought inside the veil by the Son of Man. Already in this life the full army of the hosts of heaven is helping us to fight our battle against the unseen enemy.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 6:12).
The Feast of the Archangels calls us to remember that we are in an unseen battle, but that the final victory is already won for us by Jesus himself. Yet we too are called to conquer, to avail ourselves of the victory of the Lamb.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.
To that end, we can have no better help than the archangels whose power is from the Ancient of Days himself. What chance have we against the fearsome dragon on our own? But what chance does he have against this full power of the armies of God?
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (see Colossians 2:15).
Let us make sure we understand our circumstances and align ourselves with the allies given to help us in the battle that, for us, still continues for yet a little while.
In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
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