We Have Found Him

KEY VERSE: “He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” —John 1:41

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: John 1:35-40

JOHN THE BAPTIST knew that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. (John 3:30) Therefore, some of the many disciples that followed him had their attention called to Jesus by John. The day after John had been interrogated by priests and Levites from Jerusalem, he was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passed by. John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) After the disciples heard John say this, they followed Jesus, and were invited by Jesus to come to his dwelling.

One of these disciples was Andrew. The other is unnamed, though presumed to be John, the writer of this Gospel. The conversation that transpired in the introductory visit of the two to the dwelling of Jesus was not recorded. But we can speculate that it might have been about our Lord’s Messiahship. It must have been inspiring, because both went to tell their respective brothers, although the only visit recorded was to Andrew’s brother Simon, and both said, “We have found the Messiah.” (John 1:41) They brought Simon to Jesus, who told him that his name would be changed from Simon to Cephas, or Peter. Although it is not recorded, it seems reasonable that both, or perhaps all three, went to James, the brother of John, and told him that they had found the Messiah.

Although all of these disciples were from Galilee, they had come to the area around Jordan to work with John the Baptist. Then they returned home. They may have invited Jesus to come to their town. In any case, Jesus did go, and when he went to Bethsaida, the city where Andrew and Peter lived, he found Phillip and told him, “Follow me.” In the short acquaintance that Phillip had with Jesus, he too became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. He found Nathanael—believed to be Bartholomew, another version of that name—and excitedly told him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45) Nathanael’s answer indicated skepticism: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (vs. 46) Nazareth was a lowly place in Jewish society, and the Messiah was not expected to come from that city. But Jesus had been born in Bethlehem! Nevertheless, Phillip said to him, “Come and see.”—vs. 46

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” This statement puzzled Nathanael, who asked Jesus, “Whence knowest thou me?” (vs. 48) to which Jesus responded, “Before that Phillip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” This comment by Jesus brought a spontaneous exclamation from Nathanael, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel!”—John 1:43-51

What caused such an immediate response by Nathanael to the comment made by Jesus? We cannot be sure, but it may have been related to what he was doing at the fig tree. It is reasoned that Nathanael was praying under the fig tree, because the tree had enough foliage to give him privacy for prayer. If so, what might have been the prayer that Nathanael was offering? It has been suggested that he was praying for Israel’s welfare, and the coming of Messiah.

In John, we are told about the first meeting of these six apostles with Jesus: Andrew and Peter, James and John, Phillip and Bartholomew. Later Jesus called all of them to apostleship. (Matt. 4:18-22; 10:1-5; Luke 5:1-11; 6:12-16; Mark 3:13-19) It is noteworthy that these six were always paired in the same manner, and were among the first in Israel to have found the Messiah.

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