“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Nathanael had just been derogatory toward 'anything from Nazareth.' He wasn't immediately receptive to what Philip told him about Jesus. Yet Jesus praised him for his lack of duplicity, even though this was apparently their first meeting. To what could Jesus be referring? It seemed, given Nathanael's initial dismissal of the claims about Jesus, that Jesus really could have any basis for saying what he did.
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Jesus was aware of the conversation between Nathanael and Philip even though he wasn't present. He saw it with his divine awareness, from above, as it were. Further, he not only saw the words, but he saw Nathanael's heart. Jesus saw that the fact that Nathanael didn't jump immediately on his messianic bandwagon stemmed from legitimate concerns, from his integrity as a true child of Israel. From one who wasn't given to flattery, this was high praise. To one who now felt exposed to divine knowledge, and who had just said something to Philip he might now wish to take back, this must have felt like an act of mercy.
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus often demonstrated such supernatural knowledge of others. It was the same sort of revelation that would later convert the woman at the well. Her testimony that "He told me all that I ever did" (see John 4:39) converted many of the Samaritans in the town. Jesus displayed a deep and intimate knowledge of others. It was this intimacy, this personal relationship, that ultimately took precedence in how they understood Jesus. He was not just the leader of a movement, not just a messiah. He was someone who knew them personally in a way that no one else could.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me (see John 10:14).
It was just this sort of knowledge that helped Mary Magdalene to recognize Jesus after his resurrection.
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher) (see John 20:16).
Jesus also has this intimate knowledge of each one of us. He wants us to feel just as seen and known by him as do any of the disciples. "[H]e calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (see John 10:3). He calls each of us by name, just as he does Mary Magdalene. He knows each of us, just as he knows Nathanael and the Samaritan woman. He even knows our past sins and failings. Yet he welcomes and calls us no less on their account.
Today's feast is an invitation to intimacy with Jesus. And this intimacy is only the beginning, because it leads ever deeper into the realities of heaven, and even the hidden life of the Trinity.
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.”
Because Jesus himself is the bridge uniting heaven and earth we can see that there is no way to the Father except through Jesus. He is the ladder that was first dimly intimated in the dream of Jacob. But there is no climbing this ladder that bypasses the personal aspect of our relationship with Jesus. It isn't systems, practices, or ideas that are essential for our ascent. It is a person who knows us, flaws and all. He himself is the one in whom heaven are earth are united.
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God.
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