Disciples the beginning- Pt. II
So that you may believe - Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 53:48
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The calling continues
The calling continues
Calling, pointing to the One who would come after, to identifying Him, to the calling of the disciples, the early disciples who would become Apostles.
Some quick reminders:
John Baptist called as forerunner (Jn1:6-8)
John Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God (Jn1:29)
John Baptist called Jesus the Son of God (Jn1:32-34)
Jesus called Andrew and Peter to be followers (disciples) (Jn1:38-42)
Notice it was John the Baptist that testified and by his testimony men started to follow Jesus, our passage today will continue with the early disciples.
Gleaning from the scripture:
43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
Who sought and found who (v.43)?
What were the instructions given (v.44)?
Where was Phillip from (v.44)?
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
What did Philip do (v.45)?
What evidence did Philip offer (v.45)?
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Focus back on Philip again, what did Philip do in response to Nathanael’s doubt (v.46)?
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
What did Nathanael do in response to Philip’s request (v.47)?
What was the convincing fact for Nathanael to believe? And, what did he believe (v.49)?
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
What did Jesus say was going to happen because of Nathaniel's belief (vv.50-51)?
So, now we have pulled facts from the scripture, now we will go and look at these two disciples, two friends to be added to the two brothers we looked at last week.
Philip
Philip
As you will see, Philip was a man of action, and questions too. Let’s see what we can learn about the history, the call and the calling of Philip.
Background: He was from Bethsaida of Galilee (1:44, 12:21)
This is the same place that Andrew and Simon came from, who were fisherman. So the chances are he too was a fisherman.
The call as a disciple: Jesus found Philip (vv.43-44)
Jesus sought Philip, called Philip, Philip trusted Him, believed Him.
Maybe should give the verses again to be safe
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.
While he was from Bethsaida, the call came in Bethabara beyond the Jordan.
The calling as an apostle and some other facts: (Lk6:13-14, Jn6:5-7, 12:20-22, 14:8-11)
He was a disciple before he was an apostle the calling as an apostle is seen here
13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;
As an apostle he was questioned by Jesus at the feeding of the 5000
Jn6:5-7 “5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6 This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.””
As an Apostle was asked to show others to Jesus who wanted to see Him.
Jn12:20-22 “20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.”
Yes, the disciple, the apostle who was with Jesus had questions check this out.
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
In the Apocrypha it states that he was from the tribe of Zebulun and that he spent the latter part of his life in Phrygia and it was there that he was crucified.
(Transition) wait, hold on, there is more to see and learn for application from Philip.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
There is significance in actions and words of Philip.
He believed that Jesus was the Prophet, the one the Prophets wrote about (v.45).
He believed and acted on that belief (v.45) He went and found Nathanael and shared his belief and invited him to come and see (v.46)
46 “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” answered Philip.
Philip is a good example of personal evangelism, a personal invitation to come and see! (expand for application purposes here)
(Transition) We have seen the invitation offered to Nathaniel, we know from the passage we read before that Nathaniel accepted the invitation, but now may we turn to the history, the call, the calling and some application from Nathanael.
Nathaniel
Nathaniel
Nathaniel while opinionated was still open and honest (hence why no guile). Let’s journey together and look at Nathaniel.
Background: He was from Cana of Galilee (Jn21:2)
2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
Notice that he was with Peter and with Thomas the brother fishermen, so a good chance he was a fisherman too who became of fisher of man.
Background: Occupation, Fisherman (Jn21:1-3)
1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
The call (1:46); the convincing (1:47-48); the conversion (1:49)
We know it was Philip who called Nathaniel, “come and see”
It was expressed that his belief was nothing good could come out of Nazareth.
In another place it is stated Jn7:41
41 Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?
So it was not uncommon belief that the Christ would come, just not from Galilee; and the reason given
Jn7:52 “52 They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”” - there had been no others from this little insignificant place, they were expecting one to come from royal line, kingly line, to Jerusalem, not from outline area Galilee.
It was Jesus who did the convincing
47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” 48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
Jesus said he was a man of no deceit, of complete integrity, why? Because he was honest.
The convincing was from Jesus, how He say him before Philip called him. - God saw you, and sent His Spirit to draw you even before you were called through the gospel message to Him.
That brought Nathanael to place of response!
49 Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
Because of the response by Nathanael look what Jesus had to say to Him
50 Jesus said, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!” 51 And he said to them, “I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
Now a side note: the angels going up and down, this can be a reference back to Jacob’s dream Gen28:12 “12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”
Can this be the an implication that Jesus is the ladder (Jn14:6)?
One more quick note: look at (v.51) again, you see Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man, he emphasizes his humility and humanity.
(Transition) from the history, to the call, to the calling, now you need to bear with me.
The calling (Mt10:3; Lk6:14)
Nathanael may have been Bartholomew, one of the apostles.
3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
You can see the tie with Philip here in the apostolic list. In the synoptic gospels they never mention Nathanael, and John never mentions Bartholomew. - many historians, commentators draw the conclusion that this is the same person. It was common to have two name is the culture at that time.
Some commentators believe that it was Nathaniel/Bartholomew who was the bridegroom in Cana, which we will get to, Lord willing next week. (source ISBE; Fausett’s Bible Dictionary)
The call, the calling of Nathanael reveals more about Jesus than about Nathanael himself.
(transition to conclusion)
(Insert - come and see picture here)
The first disciples offered their testimony
We have found the Messiah (Jn1:41)
Come and see (Jn1:46)
He is the Son of God (Jn1:49)
So, continue to have faith, belief, grow your faith and share you faith fulfilling the Great Commission. May we be prepared to share the hope that is in us, JESUS.
(Prayer) (Exit)