John 1:43-51
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. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Tell a friend to come and see!
A fig tree
Today's Gospel invites us to refer to the context to better understand both the text and the message. The whole scene takes place in Galilee, in the small village of Cana, which is a few miles northeast of Nazareth.
Galilee is one the most fertile areas in the country. From old it was, and still is, a land of different cultures, religions and denominations. This fact gave the region the nickname "the Galilee of nations," while Samaria was the land of the Samaritans and Judea the land of Jews. For this reason, the people of Israel expected the Messiah to come from Judea, where the population has "pure Jewish blood," and not from Galilee or Samaria.
We are reminded of the hard discussion about Jesus between the Pharisees and Nicodemus, when the latter asked, "Does the Law not condemn the accused without hearing what he has to say, and finding out what he has done?" "Are you a Galilean, too?" they answered him. "Look where you will - you won't find that any prophet comes out of Galilee!" John 7:50-52.
The whole Galilee district was considered an unsuitable area for a prophet, or Christ in particular, to emerge from. Nazareth is a Galilean town. Due to the prophecies, they expected the Messiah to be from a Davidic lineage and born in Bethlehem-Ephrata in Judea.
This is why, and no wonder that, Nathanael is surprised to hear that the expected Messiah would come out of Nazareth!
More important is to concentrate on the core of the encounter between Jesus and Nathanael, and learn from the implicit message at least the following:
Watch Jesus' powerful love and approach attracting others to become His disciples;
Avoid prejudgments and preconceived ideas about people and facts;
Consider all the facts and realities to dispel wrong assumptions;
Share our faith with others as Philip did in verse 45, inviting them to come to Jesus, and to "taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8;
Be a person-to-person teller about Jesus in your own life and how He can transform your being in this life, ensuring others that they can come and see for themselves; and
Create opportunities to help people become Jesus' friends.
As Jesus revealed God's Trinitarian Essence by His Baptism, also as baptized Christians, we are called to reveal God's Presence, Love and Mercy around us. Pray that those we meet may become members of the sacred body of Jesus. Let us have the courage to tell others "We have found Him!"