Jesus was the ladder

JESUS WAS THE LADDER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 1:51 51He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you
will see 'heavenopen, and the angels of God ascending
and descendingon' the Son of Man."
New Living Translation
Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see
heaven open and the angels of God going up and down
on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway
between heaven and earth.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Angels ascending and descending
J. Fawcett, M. A.
Some of these angelic appearanceshadalready takenplace. An angel
announced the conceptionof Christ to His mother. An angel, accompaniedby
a multitude of the heavenly host, proclaimed His birth to the shepherds, and
after His temptation angels came and ministered to Him. These instances of

angels descending on the Son of man had takenplace before this period, and
Nathanaelknew them not; but there remained other manifestations of the
same kind, which were yet to be afforded. An angelappearedto Him, and
strengthenedHim in His agony. At His resurrection an angelrolled awaythe
stone from His sepulchre, and two angels sat, the one at the head, the other at
the feetwhere the Lord had lain. And, lastly, angels attended His ascension,
and as an angel had announced His first coming, so angels foretoldto the
witnesses ofthis greatevent that the same Jesus who had been parted from
them should come againin like manner as they had seenHim go up into
heaven.
(J. Fawcett, M. A.)
Jesus a ladder to heaven
To the north of Scotlandlies an island called Bressay. It is one of the Shetland
Islands, and its shores are very rocky. On the south coastofBressayis a slate-
quarry. The workmen had to descendthe cliff to it by means of a ladder. One
evening, a violent and sudden storm drove the quarrymen from their work.
The ladder was left fastenedto the cliff. The night was very dark and stormy.
A ship which was struggling with the waves was driven close to the island. Her
crew beheld with terror the white foam of the breakers as they dashed against
the rocks. Theyknew that, if their ship were stranded, they must be wrecked.
Still the howling winds drove her forward. The waves dashedover her, filled
the cabin with water, and drowned the wife of the captain. The sailors now
climbed into the rigging. They were at the mercy of the furious wind and of
the raging sea. Theygave themselves up for lost. Many prayers and cries for
deliverance were uttered. On came the ship, and struck againstthe shore. The
poor seamenfelt that death was almostcertain. On the summit of the cliff was
safety; but how could they reach it, who were helplessly dashedat its foot?
But just as the ship struck near the rock, their terror was changedto joy.
Close beside them, on the steep face of the cliff, was a ladder. It seemedas if
placed there on purpose for them. In haste they sprang from the rigging,

mounted the ladder, and reachedthe top of the cliff in safety. The vesselwent
to pieces so quickly that, by the next morning, hardly a trace of her was left.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(51) Verily, verily.—This is the first use of this formula of doubled words,
which is not found in the New Testamentoutside St. John’s Gospel. They are
always spokenby our Lord, and connectedwith some deepertruth, to which
they direct attention. They represent, in a reduplicated form, the Hebrew
“Amen,” which is common in the Old Testamentas an adverb, and twice
occurs doubled (Numbers 5:22; Nehemiah 8:6). In the Hebraic style of the
Apocalypse the word is a proper name of “the faithful and true witness”
(Revelation3:14).,
I say unto you . . . ye shall see.—The earlierwords have been addressedto
Nathanael. The truth expressedin these holds for all disciples, and is spoken
to all who were then present—to Andrew and John and Peterand James
(John 1:41) and Philip, as wellas to Nathanael.
Hereafteris omitted by severalancientauthorities, including the Sinaitic and
Vatican MSS., but there is early evidence for the insertion, and as the
omissionremoves a difficulty in the interpretation, it is probably to be traced
to this source. If retained, the better rendering is, henceforth, from this time
onwards.
Heaven opened.—More exactly, the heaven opened, made and continuing
open. The thought was familiar, for Psalmist and Prophet had uttered it to
God in the prayers, “Bow Thy heavens, O Lord, and come down” (Psalm
144:5); “O that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldestcome
down” (Isaiah64:1). The Presencethen before Nathanaelwas the answerto
these longings of the soul.

The angels of Godascending and descending.—Referring againto the history
of Jacob(Genesis 28:12-13).
The Son of man.—This is probably the first time that this phrase, which
became the ordinary title used by our Lord of Himself, fell from His lips; but
it meets us more than seventy times in the earlierGospels, and has been
explained in the Note on Matthew 8:20. It will be enoughto observe here that
it is suggestedby, and is in part opposedto and in part the complement of, the
titles used by Nathanael. He could clothe the Messianic idea only in Jewish
titles, “Sonof God,” “King of Israel.” The true expressionof the idea was not
Hebrew, but human, “the Sonof Man,” “the Word made flesh;” the Son, the
true representative of the race, the SecondAdam, in whom all are made alive;
the Sonof Man. The word is ἄνθρωπος, not ἀνήρ; homo, not vir. It is man as
man; not Jew as holier than Greek;not free-man as nobler than bond-man;
not man as distinct from woman: but humanity in all space and time and
circumstance;in its weaknessas in its strength; in its sorrows as in its joys; in
its death as in its life. And here lies the explanation of the whole verse. The
ladder from earth to heaven is in the truth “The Word was made flesh.” In
that greattruth heaven was, and has remained, opened. From that time
onwards messengerswere evergoing backwardand forward between
humanity and its God. The cry of every erring and helpless child to its Father
for guidance and strength; the silent appealof the wrongedand down-trodden
to the All-Just Avenger; the fears and hopes of the soulburdened by the
unbearable weight of sin, and casting itselfon the mercy of the Eternal
Love—allthese are borne by messengerswho always behold the face of God
(Matthew 18:10). And every light that falls upon the path, and strength that
nerves the moral frame; every comfort to the heart smarting beneath its
wrong; every sense offorgiveness, atonement, peace—allthese like angels
descendthat ladder coming from heaven to earth. Ascending precedes
descending, as in the vision of old, Heaven’s messengers are everready to
descendwhen earth’s will bid them come. The revelationof the fullest truth of
God is never wanting to the heart that is open to receive it. The ladder is set
up upon the earth, but it reaches to heaven, and the Lord stands above it. It
goes downto the very depths of man’s weakness, wretchedness, andsin; and

he may lay hold of it, and stepby step ascendit. In the Incarnation, Divinity
took human form on earth; in the Ascension, Humanity was raisedto heaven.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:43-51 See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus;devoting
ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objectionNathanael
made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices
againstplaces, ordenominations of men. They should examine for themselves,
and they will sometimes find goodwhere they lookedfor none. Many people
are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they
conceive. The bestway to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of
it. In Nathanaelthere was no guile. His professionwas not hypocritical. He
was not a dissembler, nor dishonest;he was a sound character, a really
upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us?
Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in
whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some things
weak, imperfect, and sinful, are found in all, but hypocrisy belongs not to a
believer's character. Jesus witnessedwhatpassed when Nathanaelwas under
the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking directionas to
the Hope and ConsolationofIsrael, where no human eye observedhim. This
showedhim that our Lord knew the secrets ofhis heart. Through Christ we
commune with, and benefit by the holy angels;and things in heavenand
things on earth are reconciledand united together.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Verily, verily - In the Greek, "Amen, amen." The word "amen" means "truly,
certainly, so be it" - from the Hebrew verb to confirm, to establish, to be true.
It is often used in this gospel. When repeatedit expresses the speaker's sense
of the importance of what he is saying, and the "certainty" that it is as he
affirms.

Ye shall see - Not, perhaps, with the bodily eyes, but you shall have
"evidence" that it is so. The thing shall take place, and you shall be a witness
of it.
Heaven open - This is a figurative expression, denoting "the conferring of
favors." Psalm78:23-24;"he opened the doors of heaven, and had rained
down manna." It also denotes that God was about to work a miracle in
attestationof a particular thing. See Matthew 3:16. In the language, here,
there is an evident allusion to the ladder that Jacobsaw in a dream, and to the
angels ascending and descending on it, Genesis 28:12. It is not probable that
Jesus referredto any particular instance in which Nathanaelshould literally
see the heavens opened. The baptism of Jesus had taken place, and no other
instance occurredin his life in which it is said that the "heavens were"
opened.
Angels of God - Those pure and holy beings that dwell in heaven, and that are
employed as ministering spirits to our world, Hebrews 1:14. Goodmen are
representedin the Scriptures as being under their protection, Psalm91:11-12;
Genesis 28:12. Theyare the agents by which God often expressedhis will to
men, Hebrews 2:2; Galatians 3:19. They are representedas strengthening the
Lord Jesus, and ministering unto him. Thus they aided him in the wilderness
Mark 1:13, and in the garden Luke 22:43, and they were present when he rose
from the dead, Matthew 28:2-4;John 20:12-13. By their ascending and
descending upon him it is probable that he meant that Nathanaelwould have
evidence that they came to his aid, and that he would have "the" kind of
protection and assistancefrom God which would show "more fully that he
was the Messiah." Thus his life, his many deliverances from dangers, his
wisdom to confute his skilled and cunning adversaries, the scenes ofhis death,
and the attendance of angels at his resurrection, may all be representedby the
angels descending upon him, and all would show to Nathanaeland the other
disciples most clearly that he was the Son of God.
The Son of man - A term by which lie often describes himself. It shows his
humility, his love for man, his willingness to be esteemed"as a man,"
Philippians 2:6-7.

From this interview with Nathanaelwe may learn:
1. that Jesus searchesthe heart.
2. that he was truly the Messiah.
3. that he was under the protectionof God.
4. that if we have faith in Jesus, it will be continually strengthened the
evidence will grow brighter and brighter.
5. that if we believe his word, we shall yet see full proof that his word is true.
6. Since Jesus was under the protectionof God, so all his friends will be. God
will defend and save us also if we put our trust in Him.
7. Jesus applied terms expressive of humility to himself. He was not solicitous
even to be calledby titles which he might claim.
So we should not be ambitious of titles and honors. Ministers of the gospel
most resemble him when they seek for the fewesttitles, and do not aim at
distinctions from eachother or their brethren. See the notes at Matthew 23:8.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
51. Hereafter, &c.—The keyto this greatsaying is Jacob's vision(Ge 28:12-
22), to which the allusion plainly is. To show the patriarch that though alone
and friendless on earth his interests were busying all heaven, he was made to
see "heavenopenedand the angels ofGod ascending and descending upon a"
mystic "ladderreaching from heavento earth." "By and by," says Jesus here,
"ye shall see this communication betweenheaven and earth thrown wide
open, and the Son of man the realLadder of this intercourse."
Matthew Poole's Commentary
These things he ushers in with a Verily, verily, and declareththem spokennot
to Nathanaelalone, but unto you; viz. all you that are my disciples indeed,
who are (like Nathanael)true Israelites, in whom there is no guile. For the
terms, Amen, Amen, (by us translated, Verily, verily), some of the ancients
accountedthem an oath; but the most learnedmodern writers have seenno

reasonto agree with them. Surely (see a large discourse about these particles
in our learned Fuller, his Miscellan. 1.1. cap. 2, to which nothing need be
added) if Amen is never used in the Old Testamentbut as a term of prayer or
wishing, in the New Testamentit is used to assertor affirm a thing, or as a
particle of wishing and prayer. The word in the Hebrew properly signifies,
truth, Isaiah65:16; whence Christ (the truth) is called the Amen, Revelation
3:14. As the prophets were wont to begin their discourses with The word of
the Lord, and Thus saith the Lord, to assertthe truth of what they were about
to say; so Christ, to show that himself was God, and spake from himself,
begins with Amen; and Amen, Amen, sometimes:it is observedthat John
constantly doubles the particle, and saith Amen, Amen, that is, Verily, verily;
either (as interpreters say) for further confirmation of the thing, or to getthe
greaterattention, or to assertas well the truth of the speakeras of the thing
spoken. Now the thing spokenfollowethas a thing promised, not to Nathanael
only, but to all believers, that they should
see the heavens opened, and the angels of Godascending and descending upon
the Sonof man. Some think that hereby is meant the spiritual, metaphorical
opening of heaven to believers by Christ. But it seems more properly to signify
such an opening of the heavens as we read of, Matthew 3:16. Some understand
it of the appearancesofangels to Christ at his passion, and resurrection, and
ascension;but it seems rather to refer to the day of judgment, when ten
thousands of angels shallwait upon Christ, as the Judge of the quick and the
dead, and minister unto him; which ministration, they say, is expressedby the
terms of ascending and descending, with reference (doubtless)to Jacob’s
vision, Genesis 28:12:Jacobsaw it sleeping, Nathanael and other believers
shall see it with open eyes. Others interpret it more generally, viz. You shall
see as many miracles as if you saw the heavens opened, and the angels
ascending and descending. Others think it refers to some further appearances
of the angels to Christ in their ministration to him than the Scripture records.
Christ doth not say, You shall see angels ascending and descending upon me,
but upon the Son of man; by which our learned Lightfoot saith, he did not
only declare himself to be truly man, but the SecondAdam, in whom what
was lostin the first was to be restored. It is observed, that only Ezekielin the

Old Testament, and Christ in the New Testament, are thus called; and that
Christ was never thus called but by himself. Ezekielwas doubtless so called to
distinguish him from those spiritual beings with which he often conversed:
Christ, to distinguish his human nature from his Divine nature, both which (in
him) made up one person. Christ’s calling himself so was but a further
indication of his making himself of no reputation, while he was in the form of
a servant. Others think, that the Son of man in the gospel, usedby Christ,
signifies no more than I, and me; (it being usual in the Hebrew dialect for
persons to speak of themselves in the third person); so, upon the Son of man,
is, upon me, who am truly man. Chemnitius thinks, that as the term Messiah
(by which the people commonly calledChrist) was takenout of Daniel; so this
term, by Christ applied to the same person, is takenout thence too, Daniel
7:13, where it is said, one like the Sonof man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of days, & c.; and that Christ did ordinarily so call
himself, to correspondwith the prophecy of Daniel, to asserthimself truly
man, and to declare himself his Father’s servant, according to the prophecy,
Isaiah42:1.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And he saith unto him, verily, verily, I sayunto you,.... Not only to Nathanael,
but to the rest of the disciples that were then with him; and to show himself to
be the "Amen", and faithful witness, as well as more strongly to asseverate
what he was about to say, he doubles the expression:
hereafteryou shall see heavenopen; either in a literal sense, as it had been at
his baptism; or, in a mystical sense, that there should be a clearer
manifestation of heavenly truths made by his ministry; and that the way into
the holiestof all should be made more manifest; and a more familiar
intercourse he opened betweenGod and his people; and also betweenangels
and saints:
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man; or to
the sonof man, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it;
meaning himself in human nature; the secondAdam, and seedof the woman;
and is expressive both of the truth, and infirmity of that nature. Reference

may here be had to the ladder Jacobdreamed of, in Genesis 28:12, whichwas
a representationof Christ, in his person, as God-man; who, as God, was in
heaven, whilst he, as man, was on earth; and in his office, as Mediator
betweenGod and man, making peace betweenthem both; and in the
ministration of angels to him in person, and to his body the church. And it is
observable, that some of the Jewishwriters (y) understand the ascent, and
descentof the angels, in Genesis 28:12, to be, not upon the ladder, but upon
Jacob;which makes the phrase there still more agreeableto this; and so they
render in Genesis 28:13, not"above it", but "above him". Or the, sense is,
that there would be immediately made such clearerdiscoveries ofhis person,
and grace by his ministry, and such miracles would be wrought by him in
confirmation of it, that it would look as if heaven was open, and the angels of
God were continually going to and fro, and bringing fresh messages, and
performing miraculous operations;as if the whole host of them were
constantly employed in such services:and this the rather seems to be the
sense, since the next accountwe have, is, of the beginning of Christ's miracles
to manifest forth his glory in Cana of Galilee, where Nathanaellived; and
since the word, rendered "hereafter", signifies,"from henceforward";or, as
the Persic versionrenders it, "from this hour"; though the word is left out in
the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions,
(y) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 68. fol. 61. 2. & sect. 69. fol. 61. 3, 4.
Geneva Study Bible
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I sayunto you, Hereafterye shall see
heaven open, and the angels ofGod {x} ascending and descending upon the
Son of man.
(x) These words signify the power of God which would appear in Christ's
ministry by the angels serving him as the head of the Church.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 1:51. Πιστεύεις is, with Chrysostomand most others (even Lachmann
and Tischendorf, not Godet), to be takeninterrogatively; see onJohn

20:29.[129]But the question is not uttered in a tone of censure, which would
only destroy the fresh bloom of this first meeting (Theophylact:“he had not
yet rightly believed in Christ’s Godhead”);nor is it even the expressionof
slight disapproval of a faith which was not yet basedupon adequate grounds
(De Wette, comp. Ewald); but, on the contrary, it is an expressionof surprise,
whereby Jesus joyfully recognisesa faith in Nathanaelwhich could hardly
have been expectedso soon. And to this faith, so surprisingly ready in its
beginning, He promises something greater(ἐς ἐλπίδα φέρτερον ἕλκων,
Nonnus) by wayof further confirmation.
τούτων]Plural of the category:“than this which you now have met with, and
which has become the ground of your faith.”
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ]speciallyintroduces the further statementof the μείζω τούτων
as a most significant word.
ἀμὴν ἀμὴνλέγω ὑμῖν] The double ἈΜῊΝ does not occurin other parts of the
N. T., but we find it twenty-five times in John, and only in the mouth of
Jesus,—therefore allthe more certainly original.
ὙΜῖΝ] to thee and Andrew, John, Peter(James, see in John 1:42), and Philip.
ἈΠΆΡΤΙ] from now onwards, for Jesus was aboutto begin His Messianic
work. See chap. 2. Thus, in this weighty word He furnishes His disciples with
the keyfor the only correctunderstanding of that work.
ὄψεσθε, κ.τ.λ.]The “openedheaven” is not intended to be takenin its literal
sense, as if it stoodalone, but is part of the figurative moulding of the sentence

in keeping with the following metaphor. Observe here the perfectparticiple:
heaven stands open; comp. Acts 7:56. The ascending and descending angels
are, according to Genesis 28:12, a symbolical representationof the
uninterrupted and living intercourse subsisting betweenthe Messiahand
God,—anintercommunion which the disciples would clearly and vividly
recognise,or, according to the symbolic form of the thought, would see as a
matter of experience throughout the ministry of Jesus which was to
follow.[130]The angels are not therefore to be regardedas personified divine
powers (Olshausen, De Wette, and several), oras personalenergies ofGod’s
Spirit (Luthardt and Hofmann), but as always God’s messengers, who
brought to the MessiahGod’s commands, or executedthem on Him (comp.
Matthew 4:11; Matthew 26:53;Luke 22:43), and return to God again
(ἀναβαίνοντας), while others with new commissions came down
(ΚΑΤΑΒΑΊΝ.), and so on. We are not told whether, and if so, to what extent,
Nathanaeland his companions now already perceivedthe symbolic meaning
of the declaration. It certainly is not to be understood as having reference to
the actualappearances ofangels in the course of the Gospelhistory
(Chrysostom, Cyril., Euthymius Zigabenus, and most of the early expositors),
againstwhich ἀπάρτι is conclusive;nor merely to the working of miracles
(Storr, Godet), which is in keeping neither with the expressionitself, nor with
the necessaryreference to the Messiah’s ministry as a whole, which must be
describedby ἀπάρτι ὄψεσθε, etc.
ἈΝΑΒΑΊΝ.]is placed first, in remembrance of Genesis 28:12, without any
specialpurpose, but not inappropriately, because when the ὄψεσθε takes
place, the intercourse betweenheaven and earth does not then begin, but is
already going on. We may supply ἈΠῸ ΤΟῦ ΥἹΟῦ ΤΟῦ ἈΝΘΡ. after
ἈΝΑΒΑΊΝ. from the analogyof what follows. See Kühner, II. p. 603.
Concerning Ὁ ΥἹῸς ΤΟῦ ἈΝΘΡ., see onMatthew 8:20; Mark 2:8, note. In
John likewise it is the standing Messianic designationof Jesus as usedby
Himself; here, where angelic powers are representedas waiting upon Him

who bears the Messianic authority, it corresponds rather with the prophetic
vision of the Son of man (Daniel 7:14), and forms the impressive conclusionof
the whole section, confirming and ratifying the joyous faith and confessionof
the first disciples, as the first solemn self-avowalonthe part of Jesus in their
presence. It thus retained a deep and indelible hold upon the recollectionof
John, and therefore it stands as the utterance of the clear Messianic
consciousnessofJesus unveiled before us at the outsetof His work. It is
exactly in John that the Messiahshipof Jesus comes outwith the greatest
precision, not as the consequence andresult, but as already, from the
beginning onwards, the subject-matter of our Lord’s self-consciousness.[131]
[129]As to the paratactic protasis, which may be read interrogatively or not
according to the characterof the discourse, see C. F. Hermann, Progr. 1849,
p. 18;Scheibe in Schneidew. Philolog. 1850, p. 362 ff. Comp. also Nägelsbach’s
note on the Iliad, p. 350, ed. 3.
[130]This expressiontells us nothing concerning the origin of Christ’s
knowledge ofGod, which ver. 18 clearlydeclares, and which cannot therefore
be attributed to a series of progressive revelations (Weizsäcker);the
expressionrather presupposes that origin. Comp. also Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 286
ff.
[131]The historic accuracyofthis relation, as testified by John, stands with
the apostolic originof the Gospel, againstwhicheven the objections of
Holtzmann in his investigation, which are excellentin a historicalpoint of
view (Jahrb. f. D. Theol. 1867, p. 389), canhave no effect.
Note.

The synopticalaccountof the call of the two pairs of brothers, Matthew 4:18
ff. and parallels, is utterly irreconcilable with that of John as to place, time,
and circumstances;and the usual explanations resortedto—that what is here
recordedwas only a preliminary call,[132]oronly a socialunion with Christ
(Luther, Lücke, Ebrard, Tholuck; comp. also Ewald and Godet), or only the
gathering togetherof the first believers (Luthardt), but not their call—fallto
the ground at once when we see how the narrative proceeds;for according to
it the μαθηταί,John2:2, are with Jesus, and remain with Him. See on
Matthew 4:19-20. The harmony of the two accounts consists in this simply,
that the two pairs of brothers are the earliestapostles.To recognisein John’s
accountnot an actualhistory, but a picture of the author’s own, drawn by
himself for the sake ofillustrating his idea (Baur, Hilgenfeld, Schenkel),—
that, viz., the knowledge ofthe disciples and that of Jesus Himself as to His
Messianic callmight appearperfect from the outset,—is only one of the
numerous self-deceptions in criticism which form the premisses of the
unhistorical conclusionthat the fourth Gospelis not the work of the apostle,
but of some writer of much later date, who has moulded the history into the
form of his own ideal. On the contrary, we must here speciallyobserve that
the author, if he wished to antedate the time and place of the call, certainly did
not need, for the carrying out of his idea, to invent a totally different situation
from that which was before his eyes in the Synoptics. Over and above this, the
assumption that, by previously receiving John’s baptism, Jesus renouncedany
independent action (Schenkel), is pure imagination. Weizsäcker(p. 404)
reduces John’s accountto this: “The first acquaintance betweenJesus and
these followers of His was brought about by His meeting with the Baptist; and
on that occasion, amid the excitementwhich the Baptist created, Messianic
hopes, howevertransitory, were kindled in this circle of friends.” But this
rests upon a treatment of the fourth Gospel, according to which it canno
longerclaim the authority of an independent witness;insteadof this witness,
we have merely the poet of a thoughtful Idyll. And when Keim (I. p. 553)finds
here only the narration of an age that could no longerendure the humble and
human beginnings of Jesus, but would transplant into the time of His first
appearance that glory which, as a matter of history, first distinguished His
departure and His exaltation, this is all the more daring a speculation, the
more closely, according to Keim, the origin of the Gospelverges upon the

lifetime of the apostle, and must therefore present the most vivid recollections
of His disciples.
[132]So, most recently, Märcker, Uebereinstimm. der Evang. d. Matt. u. Joh.,
Meiningen 1868, p. 10 ff. The τὸν λεγόμενον Πέτρον, Matthew 4:18, furnishes
no proof, as is plain from the parallel in Mark 1:16, which is the source of
Matthew’s account, but as not those words. They are simply a personal notice
added from the standing-point of the writer, as in Matthew 10:2.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 1:51. ἀπεκρίθη … ὄψῃ. In accordance withthe habit of this evangelist,
who calls attention to the moving cause offaith in this or that individual, the
source of Nathanael’s faith is indicated with some surprise that it should have
proved sufficient: and with the announcementthat his nascentfaith will find
more to feed upon: μείζω τούτωνὄψῃ.
John 1:52. What these things are is described in the words ὄψεσθε …
ἀνθρώπου, introduced by the emphatic ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, used in this
double form twenty-five times in this Gospel(always single in Synop.) and
well rendered “verily, verily”. Christ as the Faithful and True Witness is
Himself calledthe Amen in Revelation3:14. The words ἀπʼ ἄρτι are omitted
by recent editors. The announcement describes the result of the incarnation of
Christ as a bringing togetherof heaven and earth, a true mediation between
God and man, an opening of what is most divine for the satisfactionofhuman
need. It is made in terms of Jacob’s dream(Genesis 28:10 ff.). In his dream
Jacobsaw a ladder fixed on earth with its top in heaven, οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ
ἀνέβαινονκαὶ κατέβαινονἐπʼ αὐτῇ. What Jacobhad dreamt was in Christ
realised. The Son of Man, the Messiahoractualrepresentative of God on
earth, brings God to man and makes earth a Bethel, and the gate of heaven.
What Nathanaelunder his fig tree had been longing for and unconsciously
preparing, an open communication with heaven, a ladder reaching from the
deepestabyss of an earth submerged in sin to the highest heaven of purity,

Jesus tells him is actually accomplishedin His person. “The Son of Man” is
the designationby which Jesus commonly indicates that He is the Messiah,
while at the same time He suggests thatHis kingdom is not founded by earthly
poweror force, but by what is especiallyhuman, sympathy, reason, self-
sacrifice.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
51. Verily, verily] The double ‘verily’ occurs 25 times in this Gospel, and
nowhere else, always in the mouth of Christ. It introduces a truth of special
solemnity and importance. The single ‘verily’ occurs about 30 times in
Matthew 14 in Mark , , 7 in Luke. The word represents the Hebrew ‘Amen,’
which in the LXX. never means ‘verily.’ In the Gospels it has no other
meaning. The ‘Amen’ at the end of sentences (Matthew 6:13; Matthew 28:20;
Mark 16:20; Luke 24:53;John 21:25)is in every case ofdoubtful authority.
unto you] Plural; all present are addressed, Andrew, John, Peter(James), and
Philip, as well as Nathanael.
Hereafter] Better, from henceforth; from this point onwards Christ’s
Messianic work oflinking earth to heaven, and re-establishing free
intercourse betweenman and God, goes on. But the word is wanting in the
best MSS.
heaven open] Better, the heavenopened; made open and remaining so.
the angels ofGod] Like John 1:47, an apparent reference to the life of Jacob,
perhaps suggestedby the scene, which may have been near to Bethel. This
does not refer to the angels which appeared after the Temptation, at the
Agony, and at the Ascension:rather to the perpetual intercourse betweenGod
and the Messiahduring His ministry.

the Sonof man] This phrase in all four Gospels is invariably used by Christ
Himself of Himself as the Messiah, upwards of 80 times in all. None of the
Evangelists directour attention to this strict limitation in the use of the
expression:their agreementon this striking point is evidently undesigned, and
therefore a strong mark of their veracity. See notes on Matthew 8:20; Mark
2:10. In O.T. the phrase ‘Son of Man’ has three distinct uses;(1) in the
Psalms, for the ideal man; Psalm8:4-8; Psalm 80:17;Psalm 144:3;Psalm
146:3 : (2) in Ezekiel, as the name by which the Prophet is addressedby God;
Ezekiel2:1; Ezekiel2:3; Ezekiel2:6; Ezekiel2:8; Ezekiel3:1; Ezekiel3:3-4,
&c., &c., more than 80 times in all; probably to remind Ezekiel, that in spite
of the favour shewn to him, and the wrath denounced againstthe children of
Israel, he, no less than they, had a mortal’s frailty: (3) in the ‘night visions’ of
Daniel 7:13-14, where ‘One like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of Days … and there was given Him dominion, and
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages shouldserve
Him, &c.’That ‘Son of man henceforth became one of the titles of the looked-
for Messiah’may be doubted. Rather, the title was a new one assumedby
Christ, and as yet only dimly understood (comp. Matthew 16:13).
This first chapter alone is enough to shew that the Gospelis the work of a Jew
of Palestine, wellacquainted with the Messianic hopes, and traditions, and
phraseologycurrent in Palestine at the time of Christ’s ministry, and able to
give a lifelike picture of the Baptist and of Christ’s first disciples.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 1:51. Ἀμὴν, ἀμήν, verily, verily) Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the
speechesofJesus, are wont to set down ἀμήνonce, John twice [repeating the
word], upon which see Jac. Gaillius tr. de Filio hom. qu. 11, 12, p. 231–239.
The others indeed do so too in those passages, whichare not parallel; but yet
even in parallels too, Matthew 26:21;Matthew 26:34 [ἀμήν, once]; John
13:21;John 13:38 [ἀμήν, twice]: whence it appears, that the Saviour either
always used this prefatory affirmation, ἀμήν, once, or, as we rather think,

always twice. At the time of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it was not yet the
seasonable time to recordit [the double ἀμήν]: when John wrote, it was
seasonable. Butwhy [is it repeated] twice? Jesus spakein the name of the
Father and in His own: add the note on 2 Corinthians 1:20 [The promises of
God—are in Him, Amen]: and His Word is Truth with the Speakerand with
believers;1 John 2:8 [A new commandment,—which thing is true in Him and
in you]: [both] in substance and in words. Matthew 5:37 “Let your
communication be yea, yea; nay nay:” They are λόγοι ἀληθινοὶ καὶ πιστοὶ
[words], faithful and true: comp. Revelation19:11 [He that satupon the horse
was calledFaithful and True], This is a Hebrew epizeuxis, as Psalm 41:13;
Psalm89:52; Psalm72:19 [Amen and Amen]: as ‫דאמ‬ ‫,דאמ‬ very, very.—ὑμῖν,
you) [Plur.] To thee and the rest.—ὄψεσθε, ye shall see)Answering to ὄψει,
thou shalt see)John 1:50. Great faith, and [a decided] professionon the part
of one, obtains even for others greatergifts.—τὸνοὐρανὸνἀνεῳγότα, heaven
open) i.e. Ye shall see the greatestsigns, whichare to show, that heaven is
open. The Lord has descendedscendedfrom heaven, and now stays on
[“versatur in,” walks familiarly on] earth: and thence His heavenly
messengerswill have much to do; for they will have to attend on their Lord.—
ἀνεῳγότα, opened)The præterite, properly, comp. Matthew 3:16,
ἀνεῴχθησαναὐτῷ οἱ οὐρανοί;and with [i.e. implying also]continuance to the
time subsequent, John 3:13, “No man hath ascendedup to heaven, but He that
came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven;” Acts 7:56,
[The dying Stephen] “I see the heavens opened;” Revelation11:12, “A great
voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascendedup
to heaven in a cloud.”—τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ Θεοῦ, the angels of God) The same
beings, whom the Only-begotten Son of GOD has as His ministering
servants.—ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας,ascending and descending)
Ascending is put in the first place: therefore there will be a staving of angels
on earth. Jacobsaw some suchvision, Genesis 28:12. How much more [shall]
Israelites without guile under the New Testament[see it].—τὸνΥἱὸν τοῦ
ἀνθρώπου, the Son of man) See note on Matthew 16:13.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 51. - And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you. The
reduplicated Ἀμὴν occurs twenty-five times in John's Gospel, and is in this

form peculiar to the Gospel, althoughin its single form it occurs fifty times in
the three synoptists. The word is, strictly speaking, an adjective, meaning
"firm," "trustworthy," corresponding with the substantive ‫א‬‫,אממ‬ truth, and
‫ָא‬‫מ‬ ְ‫מ‬ָ‫א‬ and ‫ָא‬‫מ‬ ָ‫,אָמ‬ confidence, the covenant (Nehemiah10:1). The repetition of
the word in an adverbial sense is found in Numbers 5:22 and Nehemiah8:6.
In Revelation3:14 "Amen" is the name given to the Faithful Witness. The
repetition of the word involves a powerful asseveration, made to overcome a
rising doubt and meet a possible objection. The "I sayunto you" takes, on the
lips of Jesus, the place which "Thus saith the Lord" occupiedon those of the
ancient prophets. He speaks in the fulness of conscious authority, with the
certain knowledge thathe is therein making Divine revelation. He knows that
he saith true; his word is truth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, [From
henceforth] ye shall see the heaven that has been opened, and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Notwithstanding the
formidable superficial difficulty in the common reading, which declares that
from the moment when the Lord spake, Nathanaelshould see whatthere is no
other record that he ever literally saw;yet a deeper pondering of the passage
shows the sublime spiritual sense in which those disciples who fully realized
that they had been brought into blessedrelationship with the "Sonof man,"
saw also - that heaven, the abode of blessednessand righteousness, the throne
of God, had been openedbehind him and around him. The dream of Jacobis
manifestly referred to - the union betweenheavenand earth, betweenGod
and man, which dawned like a vision of a better time upon the old patriarchal
life. That which was the dream of a troubled night may now be the constant
experience of the disciples of the Lord. The ascensionof the angelic ministers
is here said to precede their descent. This is due to the original form of the
dream of Jacob, but must be supplemented by the Lord's own statement
(John 3:13), "No one hath ascendedinto heaven, but he that descendedout of
heaven." The free accessto the heart of the Father, and to the centre of all
authority in heavenand earth, is due only to those who have come already
thence, who belong to him, "who go and return as the appearance ofa flash of
lightning." They ascendwith the desires ofthe Son of man; they descendwith
all the faculty neededfor the fulfilment of those desires. He, "the Sonof man,"
is now on earth to commence his ministry of reconciliation, and is thus now
equipped with all the powers needed for its realization. The same truth is

taught by our Lord, when he said (cf. notes on John 3:13) that "the Son of
man is in heaven," even when he walkedthe earth. The angelic ministry
attendant upon our Lord is so inconspicuous that it does not fulfil the notable
description of this verse, nor fill out its suggestions. The miraculous energies,
the Divine revelations, the consummate heavenliness of his life, the power
which his personality supplied to see and believe in heaven - in heaven opened,
heaven near, heaven accessible,heavenpropitious, heaven lavish of love -
answers to the meaning of the mighty words. Thoma ('Die Genesis des
Johannes-Evan.')seesthe Johannine interpretation of the angels who
ministered to Jesus afterthe conclusionof his temptation. But why does he
call himself "the Son of man," in sharp response to, or in comment, on, the
ascription by John the Baptistand Nathanaelof the greatertitle "Sonof God"
(see Matthew 8:20; Mark 2:28)?
(1) The phrase is one that our Lord currently used for himself, as especially
descriptive of his position. It has been said that its origin must be lookedfor in
the prophecies of Daniel(Daniel 7:13), where angelic powers are seenin loving
lowly attendance on "one like to the Son of man," one whose human-hearted
force contrasts with the "beastforces,"the uncouth, sphynx-like blending of
animal faculties which characterizes allthe kingdoms and dynasties which the
empire of the one like the Son of man would supersede. The term, "Sonof
man," is used repeatedly by Ezekielfor humanity setover againstthe Divine
voice and power. There it corresponds with the Aramaic "Bar-Enosh," Sonof
man - a simple paraphrasis for "man" in his weakness, andoften in his
depressionand sin. The 'Book ofHenoch,' in numerous places, identifies "Son
of man" with the Messiah(ch. 46. and 48.), but it cannotbe clearlyproved
that the term was popularly current for the Messiah. Christseems, in one
place, to discriminate the two terms in popular expectation(Matthew 16:13,
16); and in Matthew 8:20 he discriminates his earthly ministry as that of Son
of man, from the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, though the dispensationof
his human life, and of his eternal Spirit, constitute that of the one Christ.

(2) Another very remarkable fact is that, though Jesus calls himself"the Son
of man" no fewerthan seventy times, the apostles never attribute the
favourite expressionto him. The only instances of its use by other than the
Lord himself, is by the dying Stephen, who thus describes his power and
exalted majesty (Acts 7:56), and John in the Apocalypse, who says the vision
of the Lord was of one like unto the Son of man - a phrase clearly built upon
the passage in Daniel7.
(3) The Saviour did not throughout the Gospelof John proclaim himself
openly to the people as the Christ, avoiding a term which was so miserably
degradedfrom his own conceptionof it; but he used a multitude of
expressions to denote the spiritual force and significance of the Messianic
dignity. Thus he describedhimself" as he that came down from heaven;" as
the "Breadof heaven;" as the "Light of the world;" as "the goodShepherd;
.... I am he;" "that which I said from the beginning," etc.; and therefore, when
he adopted the phrase, "the Son of man," he attributed to it very special
powers and dignities. The word seems to involve the Man, the perfect Man,
the ideal Man, the secondAdam, the supreme Flowerengraftedon the barren
stock ofhumanity, the Representative ofthe whole of humankind.
Chronologically, this must have been the primary revelation. Through
humanity that was archetypal and perfect, answering God's idea of man, the
thought of the race has risen to a conceptionof Divine sonship. But
metaphysically, logically, he could only fulfil the functions of Son of man, of
the Man, because he was essentiallythe Son of God.
(4) The dominant thought of the term has fluctuated betweenthat which
connotes his earthly ministry and humiliation, and lays stress onthe
privations and sufferings of the Sonof man, and that which recites his highest
claim to reverence and homage. Seeing that he claims to be the link between
heaven and earth, Judge of quick and dead, the Head of the kingdom of God,
who will come in his glory, with his holy angels, to divide sheepfrom goats,
etc., as Son of man; and seeing that, as Son of man, he gave himself for a

ransom, and was as one that serveth, and presented his flesh and blood as the
spiritual food of all that live; - the synthetic thought that issues from the
twofold survey is that his highest glory is basedupon his entire and utter
sympathy with man. His humanity is that which gives him all his hold upon
our heart; his sacrifice is his title to universal sovereignty. "He humbled
himself to the death of the cross, whereforeGodalso has highly exalted him,
giving even to him [humanity included] THE NAME that is above every
name." ArchdeaconWatkins, in loco, has calledattention to the fact that it is
not ἀνήρ, but ἄνθρωπος, "man as man, not Jew as holier than Greek, not
freeman as nobler than bondman, not man as distinct from woman, but
humanity.... The ladder from earth to heaven is in the truth, 'The Word was
made flesh.' In that greattruth heavenwas and has remained open." The
cries of earth, the answers ofheaven, are like angels evermore ascending and
descending on the Word-made-flesh. It is perfectly true, though in a different
sense than that which Thorns adopts it, that this prehistory (vorgeschichte)is
the vorgeschichteofChristendom, as of eachsoul becoming Christian, the
different eventualities which lead from one revelation to another betokenthe
severalstations on the blessedpilgrimage (heilsweg). (Cf. Introduction; the
excursuses ofGodet; Westcotton'The Son of Man;' Orme's dissertationon
'Sin againstthe Holy Ghost;' Schaff's note to Lange, on John, in loco;
Schmidt, 'Bibl. Theol. N.T.,'pp. 107, etc.;Weiss, 'Bibl. Theol. N.T.,'§ 144;
Liddon, 'Divinity of Our Lord,' lect. 1; Pearsonon the Creed, Oxford edit., p.
122;Andrew Jukes, 'The New Man,' lect. 2: "The Openings of Heaven in the
Experience of Christ and of Christians.")
Vincent's Word Studies
Verily, verily (ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν)

The word is transcribed into our Amen. John never, like the other
Evangelists, uses the single verily, and, like the single word in the Synoptists, it
is used only by Christ.
Hereafter(ἀπ' ἄρτι)
The best texts omit. The words literally mean, from henceforth; and therefore,
as Canon Westcottaptly remarks, "if genuine, would describe the communion
betweenearth and heaven as establishedfrom the time when the Lord entered
upon His public ministry."
Heaven (τὸν οὐρανὸν)
Rev., giving the article, the heaven.
Open (ἀνεῳγότα)
The perfectparticiple. Hence Rev., rightly, opened. The participle signifies
standing open, and is used in the story of Stephen's martyrdom, Acts 7:56.
Compare Isaiah 64:1. The image presentedto the true Israelite is drawn from
the history of his ancestorJacob(Genesis 28:12).
Angels
With the exceptionof John 12:29 and John 20:12, John does not use the word
"angel" elsewhere in the Gospelor in the Epistles, and does not refer to their
being or ministry. Trench ("Studies in the Gospels")cites a beautiful passage
of Plato as suggestive ofour Lord's words. Plato is speaking of Love. "He is a
greatspirit, and like all spirits he is intermediate betweenthe divine and the
mortal. He interprets betweengods and men, conveying to the gods the
prayers and sacrificesofmen, and to men the commands and replies of the
gods;he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and in him
all is bound together, and through him the acts of the prophet and the priest,
their sacrifices andmysteries and charms, and all prophecy and incantation
find their way. For God mingles not with man, but through Love all the
intercourse and speechof God with man, whether awake orasleep, is carried
on" ("Symposium," 203).
Son of man

See on Luke 6:22. Notice the titles successivelyapplied to our Lord in this
chapter: the greaterSuccessorofthe Baptist, the Lamb of God, the Son of
God, the Messiah, the King of Israel. These were allgiven by others. The title
Son of man He applies to Himself.
In John's Gospel, as in the Synoptists, this phrase is used only by Christ in
speaking ofHimself; and elsewhere only in Acts 7:56, where the name is
applied to Him by Stephen. It occurs less frequently in John than in the
Synoptists, being found in Matthew thirty times, in Mark thirteen, and in
John twelve.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
WILLIAM BARCLAY
It may be that Jesus smiled. He quoted the old story of Jacobat Bethelwho
had seenthe golden ladder leading up to heaven (Genesis 28:12-13). It was as
if Jesus said:"Nathanael, I can do far more than read your heart. I canbe for
you and for all men the way, the ladder that leads to heaven." It is through
Jesus and Jesus alone that the souls of men can mount the ladder which leads
to heaven.
BRIAN BELL
.(51)Christ alludes to Jacob’s ladderGen.28:10-17.1. Christ reveals the glory
of heaven & opens it for us to enter in. KK.Christ is “God’s ladder” between
earth & heaven. (Like bridge analogy)1. Jesus replaces the ladder; Jesus is

God’s link w/earth; Jesus is the new Bethel (God’s dwelling place). 2. He
reveals God to men & takes men to God. 3. He opens the way to heaven & is
the wayto heaven. 4. Christ is God’s “stairwayto heaven!” (or if Led
Zeppelin comes to mind); Christ is God’s “staircaseto glory!” 5. He bridges
the gapbetweenearth & heaven. (Morris; LKGNT)
CALVIN
Verse 51
51.Youshall see heavenopened. They are greatlymistaken, in my opinion,
who anxiously inquire into the place where, and the time when, Nathanaeland
others saw heaven opened; for he rather points out something perpetual
which was always to exist in his kingdom. I acknowledgeindeed, that the
disciples sometimes saw angels, who are not seenin the present day; and I
acknowledge also thatthe manifestationof the heavenly glory, when Christ
ascendedto heaven, was different from what we now behold. But if we duly
considerwhat took place at that time, it is of perpetual duration; for the
kingdom of God, which was formerly closedagainstus, is actually openedin
Christ. A visible instance of this was shownto Stephen, (Acts 7:55,) to the
three disciples on the mountain, (Matthew 17:5,) and to the other disciples at
Christ’s ascension, (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9.) But all the signs by which God
shows himself present with us depend on this opening of heaven, more
especiallywhen God communicates himself to us to be our life.
Ascending and descending on the Son of man. This secondclause refers to
angels. Theyare said to ascendand descend, so as to be ministers of God’s
kindness towards us; and therefore this mode of expressionpoints out the
mutual intercourse which exists betweenGod and men. Now we must
acknowledge thatthis benefit was receivedthrough Christ, because without

him the angels have rather a deadly enmity againstus than a friendly care to
help us. They are saidto ascendand descendon the son of man, not because
they minister to him, but because — in reference to him, and for his honor —
they include the whole body of the Church in their kindly regard. Norhave I
any doubt that he alludes to the ladder which was exhibited to the patriarch
Jacobin a dream, (Genesis 28:12;) for what was prefigured by that vision is
actually fulfilled in Christ. In short, this passageteachesus, that though the
whole human race was banished from the kingdom of God, the gate of heaven
is now opened to us, so that we are fellow-citizens of the saints, and
companions of the angels, (Ephesians 2:19;) and that they, having been
appointed to be guardians of our salvation, descendfrom the blessedrest of
the heavenly glory (43) to relieve our distresses.
TOM CONSTABLE
Verse 51
Jesus then made a very important statementthat He identified as such with
the phrase "Truly, truly, I say to you" or "I tell you the truth" (Gr. amen
amen lego humin). This phrase occurs25 times in John"s Gospel, and it
always introduces an especiallyimportant affirmation.
Jesus usedthe imagery of Jacob"sdream at Bethelto describe the greater
revelation that Nathanaeland his fellow disciples-the "you" in the Greek text
is plural-would receive. The opening of the heavens pictures the insight that
people on earth receive into what God is doing in heaven (cf. Acts 10:11;
Revelation4:1; Revelation19:11). Jesus wouldrevealheavenly things, a
theme that John developed throughout this Gospel. The angels ofGod are His
agents that assisthumans by taking their communications up to Godabove
and by bringing knowledge ofdivine things down to them (cf. Hebrews 1). The

role of the Sonof Prayerof Manasseh, Jesus" favorite title of Himself that He
used over80 times ( Daniel7:13), was to make this contactpossible.
"In this Gospelthe term [Son of Man] is always associatedeither with
Christ"s heavenly glory or with the salvation he came to bring." [Note:Ibid,
p151. Fora good summary of the meaning of the "Sonof Man" title, see
Carson, p164 , or Morris, pp150-52.]
Similarly a staircase makestraveland communication betweentwo physical
levels possible. Jesus was promising Nathanaelthat He would prove to be the
key to access to Godand communication with God (cf. John 14:6; 1 Timothy
2:5). God had revealedHimself to Israel, the man and the nation, in a dream
at Bethel previously ( Genesis 28:10-22). Now Godwould revealHimself to a
true Israelite, Nathanael, to all Israel, and to the world, directly through
Jesus.
This first sub-sectionin the body of the fourth Gospel( John 1:19-51)contains
the prelude to Jesus" public ministry. [Note:See Stephen S. Kim, "The
Relationshipof John 1:19-51to the Book ofSigns in John 2-12 ," Bibliotheca
Sacra165:659(July-September2008):323-37.]JohnstressedJohnthe Baptist"s
witness to Jesus" identity, first in a veiled manner and then openly. Then he
recordedthe response ofsome of John"s disciples, whichwas to follow Jesus.
Philip"s witness resulted in Nathanael"s declarationoffaith in Jesus, limited
as it may have been, and Jesus" claimto be the revealerof God and the way
to God. The "greaterthings than these" that Jesus promised ( John 1:50)
follow providing an even more solid foundation for faith in Him (cf. John
20:31).
At least16 different names and titles of Jesus appearin chapter one: the Word
( John 1:1; John 1:14), the light ( John 1:7-9), the only begottenof the Father(

John 1:14), Jesus Christ ( John 1:17), the only begottenGod ( John 1:18), the
Lord ( John 1:23), the Lamb of God ( John 1:29; John 1:36), a man ( John
1:30), the Son of God ( John 1:34), Rabbi (Teacher, John1:38; John 1:49),
Messiah( John 1:41), Jesus ofNazareth ( John 1:45), the son of Joseph( John
1:45), the Son of God ( John 1:49), the King of Israel( John 1:49), and the Son
of Man ( John 1:51). Clearly one of John"s purposes in this Gospelwas to
draw attention to who Jesus is.
Angels Ascending and Descending
John 1:43-51
Dr. S. Lewis Johnsonexpounds Jesus'calling of Nathanieland his self-
identificaiton as the promised mediator betweenGod and man.
SLJ Institute > Gospelof John > Angels Ascending and Descending
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[Message]This morning we are turning to the last of the paragraphs in the 1st
chapter in the Gospelof John, and our subject is the “Angels Ascending and
Descending.”And we will be reading for our Scripture reading verse 43
though verse 51. John chapter 1, remember after the prologue the apostle
gave the testimony of John the Baptist and now he is dealing with the
gathering of the early disciples and apostles ofthe Lord Jesus and in this
accountwe shall read of Philip and Nathanaeland our Lord’s encounterwith
them. Verse 43 continues the story, this is the fourth of the days of testimony
that John the Apostle is setting forth.
“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and
saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew
and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him,
of whom Mosesin the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus ofNazareth, the
son of Joseph. And Nathanaelsaid unto him, Can there any goodthing come
out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesussaw Nathanael
coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile! Nathanaelsaith unto him, How knowestthou me? Jesus answeredand
said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wastunder the fig tree, I
saw thee. Nathanaelansweredand saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of
God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answeredand said unto him, Because I
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believestthou?”
Now those words, “Believestthou?” may be takenas a declarative statement
rather than as a question, and I’m inclined to think that that is preferable.

Although this is possible as well, and if it is the preferable rendering, then we
should translate it this way, “BecauseIsaid unto thee, I saw Thee under the
tree, thou believest. Thou shalt see greaterthings than these. And he saith
unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you.” I’d like to stop just a moment. Some
of you have the Authorized Version. You’ll notice that in the preceding
statementhe said, “BecauseI saidunto Thee,” and now he says, “Verily,
verily I say unto you.” That was the way the Authorized Version translators
distinguished betweenthe singular and the plural, and in verse 50 the
statementis a direct address to a singular person, “BecauseI said unto Thee,”
that’s singular in the Greek text. But now in verse 51 he says, “Verily, verily I
say unto you,” that’s plural. Here after ye, plural, so what he is saying is now
sent out to a wider audience than Nathanaelalone. Let’s read it with that
understanding. “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I sayunto you,
Hereafterye shall see heavenopen, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Sonof man.”
Last night I was trying to find a stanza of the hymn “Beneaththe Cross of
Jesus,” and, not knowing it was the hymn to be sung today, but I had made a
notation in my notes to see the secondstanza of the hymn “Beneaththe Cross
of Jesus.” WellI don’t have every book in my library where I am now and so I
went to two hymnals that I poses and lookedup “Beneaththe Cross ofJesus”
and they had the three stanzas that we are going to sing in just a moment. But
I knew that I had seenanother stanza of this hymn that had a slightly
different wording that fitted in very well with what we are going to be talking
about this morning, and I knew I had seenit here in Believers Chapel. So
when I got here this morning I lookedat our own red hymnal and it was not
there. And being of having a brilliant mind [Laughter] I thought well it must
be in that other hymnal, and of course that’s where it is. Right in the middle
of singing a hymn this morning, Mark, I walkeddown off the platform. The
audience probably thought I was sick and gotone of these hymnals, and this is
the secondstanza which you won’t be able to sing in a moment. “Oh, safe and
happy shelter!Oh, refuge tried and sweet!Oh, trysting place where heaven’s
love And heaven’s justice meet. As to the pilgrim patriarch,” that’s Jacob, “As
to the pilgrim patriarch That wondrous dream was given, So seems my
Savior’s cross to me A ladder up to heaven.” And the stanza of is built on this

passagethat we have just read here and is important for the exposition that
follows.
Well, may the Lord bless this reading of his word and the antidote as well.
[prayer removed from audio]
[Message]The subjectfor today in the continuation of the expositionof the
Gospelof John is the “Angels Ascending and Descending.” Two men in this
paragraph, Philip and Nathanaelidentify themselves with the call of God, the
call of the nature of God. When we speak ofthe call of this or the call of that
we are referring to the nature of the one who calls. We speak, for example, of
the callof the sea, and by that we mean that there is something within us that
answers to the nature of the sea. The individual who grows up by the side of
the Atlantic Oceanorthe Pacific Oceanknows exactlywhatwe’re talking
about when we speak of the call of the ocean. There is something in the ocean
to which you respond. That’s the call of the ocean. The callof the mountains,
there are individuals who love mountains. There is something about the
essentialnature of a mountain that answers to their essentialnature, the call
of the mountains. The call of the great ice barriers or the call of football, there
are some who when Saturday comes around they experience the callof
football. There is something about it that they respond to. So, there they are
sitting in front of the televisionor out at the field cheering on their favorite
team. After Alabama lost the other day, I’ve given up football for twenty-four
hours. [Laughter] But the next seasonwillbe here, I hope, before too long.
Isn’t it interesting how people are? The elders of this church, you would think
that they would be compassionate andfriendly and nice and uphold an
individual when he was in bereavement [Laughter], but the game had hardly
finished until my telephone rang and it was one of the elders asking me if I
had seenthe game. [Laughter] Being a graduate of the University of Texas he
had no idea of course that I had perhaps seenthe game. I saidof course,
“What game?” [Laughter]I said I left my hand in the family room on the TV
and I’m back in my study right at the presenttime, but comfort, no comfort
what so ever. Reminded me of the way in which they outsmarted Alabama. I
agreedwith them. They did, and that’s the kind of comfort you get from the

elders of the church at Believers Chapel. The callof football, it’s too bad
really that I have that nature that answers to football.
Well the callof God is similar. It is the callthat expresses the fact that there is
something about the Lord God to which we in our ownessentialbeing
respond. The Lord Jesus puts it in slightly different words in chapter 8 when
he says in the 47th verse, “He that is of God hears God’s words. Ye therefore
hear them not because ye are not of God. He that is of God hears God’s
voice.” So there is an essential identity betweenthe individual who is of God
and the words of God. Later the Lord Jesus says in the 10th chapter, “But ye
believe not because ye are not of my sheep, as I saidunto you.” So there is
something about the callof God which answers to the individuals own basic
nature. Now that is something that God gives a person. He gives a personthat
kind of nature which responds to the word of God. It’s a gift of grace.
Naturally no one of us has that. It is something that is given by him.
Now in this passage, we have two men, Philip and Nathanaelwho answerthe
call of God. They have been prepared by the Holy Spirit of God. They are
ready for contactwith him. And we have therefore a very beautiful picture of
the seeking Saviorand the call of God in this paragraph. The time connection
is given in the opening phrase, “The day following.” These are the opening
days of testimony which John the Apostle records in the beginning of his
gospel. Theyanswerin one sense to the final days before the cross nearthe
end of this gospelwhenthe events of the last days of our Lord’s life are so
fully describedfor us. The first personwho answers the callof Godis Philip.
And we read, “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and
findeth Philip.” Evidently all of this took place in the vicinity of Bethany
beyond the Jordan where John had been baptizing, and Philip must have been
somewhere nearand as the Lord Jesus made his plans to leave Judea and go
north to Galilee he found Philip.
Now Philip is a very unimpressive individual. He appears in the 6th chapter in
the incident of the feeding of the five thousand. He also appears in the 12th
chapter when the Greeks come seeking the Lord Jesus. He appears in the 14th
chapter as one of the apostles, andhe asks the Lord, “Show us the Father,”
and the Lord replies, “Philip have I been so long time with you and yet hast

Thou not known me? He that hath seenme hath seenthe Father, and how
sayestThou then show us the Father.” He’s a very unimpressive person, but
there is one thing significant about Philip. He was a student of the word of
God. The Scots like to speak ofa person like this as a person who was slow in
the uptake, but in spite of the factthat Philip was just an ordinary individual,
he was a student of the Bible. When he finds Nathanaelhe said unto him, “We
have found him, of whom Mosesin the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the sonof Joseph.”
So, Nathanaelwas a student of the Bible. He had studied Moses.He knew the
Law of Moses andwhat it taught concerning the coming redeemer. He knew
what the prophets said about the coming redeemer. He was actually looking
for a coming redeemer. There are some individuals who like to tell us that the
Old Testamentsaints did not have a conceptof a personalredeemer, but that
is not true. There were men who did and in fact the Lord Jesus said, “Ohfools
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written. Ought not the
Messiahto have suffered these things and to have entered into his glory?” So
he consideredit a sinful thing not to be responsive to the things that the
Scriptures spoke. Ofcourse they didn’t have the detail knowledge ofthe
coming of the Lord Jesus Christand the events of his life from the Old
Testamentbut they were looking. “We have found him, of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets, did write, and Philip was student enough of the
Scriptures to know that. An unimpressive man, just an ordinary man, but a
student of the Bible, and that of course is good.
We read here that Jesus, “FoundPhilip.” There are two kinds of ways of
finding things. We may stumble over them. Last night I was looking for that
stanza of that hymn, and this morning in effect, I just kind of stumbled upon
it thinking well perhaps it’s in that other hymn book, or perhaps you got a few
Christmas presents and as you unwrap those presents you took the little label
that told you from whom the present came and you put it with the gift that
you receivedbut somehow or another it got misplaced, and you were looking
around and you had this gift before you and you just could not remember
from whom that gift came. Now it’s possible to stumble acrossit. Maybe a
week ortwo later, you still don’t know whom to thank for that gift and
cleaning out things you happen to come across thatlittle notation about who

the gift came from. Well that’s one way to find something to stumble over it.
And then the other wayis to seek it and find it. Well that’s the sense of“He
found Philip.” It was not that he stumbled over Philip. He found Philip. And
in finding Philip we have an expressionof the sovereignprevalent grace of
God. It was the Lord Jesus Christ following the directions of the Holy Spirit
and finding Philip who would become one of the apostles. Itwas a magnificent
meeting for Philip of course and he heard the Lord Jesus give him a very
simple command. “Follow me.”
Now notice he says, “Follow me.” He does not say, “Follow the theologythat
you have been reading about in the Old TestamentScriptures,” althoughhe
could have said that. There are some people who like to say, “He said, ‘Follow
me,” not follow those things that you read about in the Old Testament.”
Nothing could be more foolishthan that. We cannot follow him if we do not
know who he is and what he has done. Who he is and what he has done
explained by propositions enables us to identify the person that we are to
follow, the understand him. So when we read, “Follow me,” we’re not to think
that this means simply forgetall that you’ve read in the study of the Bible, all
of your theologyand just follow me. That’s foolish, foolish. But there are just
people who do that constantly, and there are people who sit in the audiences
like you and you let people getby saying things like that, just stupidity
theologically. “Followme.” It’s perfectly proper to say, “Follow me,” a
person, not a proposition, but we do follow a personas he has set forth in the
propositions. The Bible as I’ve often said is just simply a collectionof spiritual
propositions from Genesis 1:1 on through Revelationchapter 22 and verse 21.
That’s all it is, a collectionofstatements about spiritual things.
Now Philip, “Follow me,” but follow me as you have been finding me in the
word of God. And “Follow me” as you discovermore about me from following
me. “Follow me,” that is as I am revealedin Scripture. When a person says, “I
don’t follow the doctrines. I follow the Lord personally,” I always like to say
to them, “Who is the Lord?” and immediately they begin to describe to me
this person, and proposition after proposition flows from their mouth, but
they have realized that they’re now speaking about following him as he is
revealedin propositions. Oh I hate to have to labor this, but every time I do
this, it won’t be another week, another week will not go by before I hear

someone say, “Now God’s not interestedin theology. He’s interested in
personalthings.” And the audience sits and says, “Wasn’tthat good? Wasn’t
that great?” And I want to stand up and say, “Waita minute. That’s
heretical.” So I have to keeplaboring the point, until finally when they lay me
in the grave, you’ll say, “He’s the person who used to say, [Laughter] that to
‘Follow me’ without the propositions is wrong.” You’ll remember me that
way.
Now the Lord said, “Follow me.” I imagine that what he meant by that was
life in its entirety. There is not explanation given to Philip. It’s “Follow me.”
Now of course Philip already had some conceptof what following him meant
because he has identified him as “The one of whom Moses andthe one of
whom the prophets wrote.” So, “Follow me,” it was a call for unconditional
devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. I gather that Philip was already a believer,
but now he is attachedto the Lord as an apostle and as a disciple. The call of
God is always an embarrassing thing because it presents us with sealed
orders. We like to say, “Why? Where are you going? Why should I follow
you?” We’re like little children. Little children when you ask them to do
something, they will say, “Why?” And you will say, “So and so and so and so,
that’s the reason.” “Why?” “Well, so and so and so and so.” “Why?” “So and
so and so and so.” “Why?” Now you ought to encourage thatbecause they’re
on the way to becoming theologians. [Laughter] Don’t stop them. But there
comes a time when you just have to say, “Justgo ahead and do it because I
said it.” And grumpily then, they go aheadand do it, but they’ve learned a
little bit of a lessoneventhere.
Now the Lord does not give any reasons. He does not give any explanations.
He just says simply, “Follow me.” And so Philip is presentedwith sealed
orders. He does not really know what’s involved in that. He’s like Abraham.
Abraham when he was calledwent out to go to a land that he didn’t know
anything about. God didn’t explain to him. He didn’t give him a map of the
land. He didn’t tell him the kind of temperature that it had, the kind of
topography, what he might expect there by wayof people that were in the
land, he just said, “Abraham you’re going to go out to a land of which you
don’t know and follow me.” And so, Philip is given sealedorders, but it’s a
vast venture just like Abraham’s venture was so vast a venture that every

believer after Abraham is a child of Abraham. So, Philip here is calledupon
by the Lord Jesus to follow him. It is a vast venture to follow the Lord Jesus
and most exciting. A young person has no more exciting opportunity than to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ not knowing where he may lead you particularly,
what usefulness you may have in your life, but you can be sure it will be good
and greatand exciting. And Philip would certainly say if he were here, “Amen
to that.” It was exciting.
Now what does a man do when he comes into contactwith the Lord Jesus
Christ, a vital contact. Well one of the first things the most of us do is to find
someone else to tell them of the blessings that have come to us. And so we read
of the finding of Nathanaelin the next section. In the first sectionthe Lord
Jesus appears as a shepherd, here as a sovereignKing. Godetsays, “One
lighted torch serves to light another.” “Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith
unto him, We have found him, of whom Mosesin the law, and the prophets,
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Now Nathanaelis a different kind of person. He is a person who is evidently a
very frank kind of person. There is no guile. There is no descentin
Nathanael’s make up. That does not mean as we shall see in a moment that
there was nothing wrong with Nathanael. It just simply means that he was one
of those direct kinds of people, like the elder who calledme yesterdayright
after the game, very frank; just spoke and said, “What did you think of that
game?” WellNathanaelimmediately when Philip says to him, “We’ve found
the one of whom Moses andthe prophets wrote, Jesus ofNazareth, the son of
Joseph,” he said, “Why can anything goodcome out of Fort Worth?”
[Laughter] Well, now Nathanaelwas from Cana of Galilee, whereas ofcourse
Nazarethwas also in Galilee. So Nazarethand Cana both in the same tribal
territory, they naturally had a bit of rivalry? “Can anything goodcome out of
Nazareth?” Well, Philip is a goodapologete. He says, “Come and see.” That’s
really the best way to propagate Christianity is to simply proclaim it. This is
the simplest and profoundest systemof apologetics thatone may have. “Come
and see.” And in fact in the proclamation of the gospelof the Lord Jesus
Christ there is the simplest expansion of Christianity taking place.

I know that some of you have often wondered how it is that Billy Graham
finds the blessing of the Holy Spirit in his preaching because, as Billy, himself,
admits, and as many I’m sure would say, he’s not the greatestpreacherin the
world. His messagesare relatively ordinary messages.Theyare not filled with
very carefully reasoneddoctrinal teaching. The doctrinal teaching is relatively
simple. Mr. Graham is a man of greatintegrity, of skill, and he is a great
evangelist, but if you will listen to him carefully what he does is proclaim
Christianity. He doesn’t reasonChristianity. He’s not qualified to do that. He
does not really have theologicaleducation. He never went to theological
seminary. He went to a Christian school. He had a fine Christian father and
mother. I knew them personally, a very fine man, an elder in an independent
Presbyterianchurch in Charlotte, North Carolina. One thing that Billy does
that is outstanding is he proclaims the truth. That’s the bestsystem of
apologeticsand that is in my opinion one of the reasons thatGod has blessed
this man of God. A man of integrity, a man who boldly proclaims the gospel
message, andhe relies upon the truth. He preaches very simply, but the gospel
comes forth and there is no apologyfor the gospel.
I always think of a learned discourse that was once preachedby a bishop in a
large congregationin which he soughtto prove the existence of God at the end
of which a very simple old womanwho had not followedhis reasoning out
very intelligently thinking that he had really spokenabout something else said
at the end, “Well for all he says, I can’t help thinking there is a God after all.”
[Laughter] Well, Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see.” That’s whatwe
do. That’s what Billy does. He simply proclaims the word and says in effect,
“Come and see.”
Well, now in Nathanaelis on his way to see the Lord Jesus, Jesussaw
Nathanaelcoming to him. That incidentally tells you that he was not under
the fig tree at the time. When he saw him coming to him, he said, “Beholdan
Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.” Now what can we say about Nathanael?
Well he probably was a disciple of John the Baptist. He was acquainted with
all of these. They were very closelyconnectedwith one another. He probably
was a believer because he was sitting under the tree and in a moment we will
try to show that he was probably meditating on the word of God there, and he
understood some of the things that are found in holy Scripture already.

Furthermore he was meditating on Genesis chapter28 and Jacob’s unusual
dream that he had there. And I think that probably like Jacoband probably
that was the reasonhe was meditating on that passage, he was struggling to
come to a deeper knowledge ofthe Lord God. In those days men had time to
sit and think about spiritual things and these men were doing that. And so
here is Nathanael, a believer, a disciple of John the Baptistmeditating on the
Scriptures, meditating specificallyon the life of Jacob, andPhilip interrupts
him and says, “We’ve found him.” And Nathanaelnow is on his wayto meet
Jesus ofNazareth, the son of Joseph, and he hears this man say to him as he
approaches him, “Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.”
Now if you’ll remember Genesis 28, whichrecords the vision of the ladder
which obviously it seems to me Nathanaelhad been reading, immediately
preceding in Genesis chapter27 reference is made to the fact that Jacobwas a
man of deceit and had so deceivedEsau that his life was in danger, and
Rebeccaand Isaac had sent him off to Uncle Labon to get awayfor him and to
get awayfrom Esau. So he had been fleeing from Esauand had fled one full
day or so and had this vision.
Now Jacobwas a man who was knownfor his crookedness. In factsome have
thought even that that’s what his name means. So when the Lord Jesus saw
Nathanaelcoming, he said, “Beholdan Israelite indeed in whom there is (no
Jacob)no guile.” Now of course he does not saythat he was sinless. He said he
was guileless, veryfrank and open. Now Nathanaelrecognizedthat this was
something that was true of him. He said, “How knowestThoume?” How have
you become acquaintedwith me? He uses the Greek expressionfor knowledge
which suggests acquaintance. How have you come to know me? And there was
brought to his inner inmost being a convictionthat the Lord had insight into
the unclothing of his soul before God, guileless. Jesusansweredand said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wastunder the fig tree, I saw
thee.” Not only do I know about you Nathanael, I know where you were.
Now he knew that nobody else was around him because atthat moment he
knew that this personwas no ordinary person, and so he replies in verse 49,
“Rabbi, thou art the Sonof God.” That’s why John wrote his gospelthat men
might come to know him as the Sonof God, the Messiahand that they might

believe in his name. So he said, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the
King of Israel.” And so the Israelite indeed has acknowledgedhis King of
Israeland Christ has captured the soul of Nathanael. How? Well there was a
messagethat came from Philip. There was an invitation, “Come and see,” and
there was the response of personalcontact. The faith of Nathanaelwill never
possessanymore than it possesses now. Although it will possessthe knowledge
of him much better as time goes on. After this if you ask Nathanael, “Canany
goodthing come out of Nazareth?” He would say, “The only goodthing came
from Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ,” suchis the difference that the Lord
Jesus makes.
Now the final words of this chapter are most exciting words to me. Jesus
answeredand said unto him, “Jesusansweredand said unto him, BecauseI
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, you believe? You shall see greater
things than these.” That’s a greatpromise, and Nathanaelwould be the first
to admit that he saw greaterthings than these. Incidentally the term Israelite,
some have thought the term Israelcomes from three Hebrew words, “ish,”
“raeh” “el” “ishraeh el.” And that really means something like a man who
sees God. So here is an Israelite indeed. He’s studying Genesis chapter28 and
he’s studying about Jacob, and Jacobis the one who saw the ladder on which
the angels ascendedand descended.”
Now he goes on to add to this, “Verily, verily, I sayunto you,” and now the
word of our Lord broadens out to include a wider company, inclusive of all it
would appear, “I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heavenopen, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Sonof man.” What is
referred to here? Angelic visitations in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, “You
shall see greaterthings,” “You shall see heavenopen,” “Angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Does he refer to that
incidentally in the Gethsemane accountwhere the angels came and ministered
to him? Does he refer to the ascensionwhenthe angels addressedthe disciples
afterwards? Does he refer to other events in our Lord’s life? Does he refer to
the continual intercourse that the Lord had with the Father, being the
revealerof the Father? Does he refer to that? Or does he perhaps refer
incidentally in this gospelto the signs that John has collectedwhich revealthe
Lord Jesus as the one true mediator betweenGod and men, such as, “I’m the

bread of life;” “I’m the light of the world;” “I am the door;” “I am the
resurrectionand the life;” “I am the way, the truth, and the life;” “I am the
true vine.” All of those miracles associatedwith those great statements may be
included, “You shall see heavenopen, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Sonof Man.”
But now notice something that has happened here and in order to do this I’m
just going to briefly remind you of Genesis 28. Now in Genesis 28 Jacobhas
been sent out by mama who is so concernedthat Esaumight do damage to
Jacob. And so Jacobis sent off to acquire a wife, but he’s also sent off in order
to escape Esau. He was afraid of Esau. Esausaid I he got hold of him he was
going to kill him. And so he fled with dispatch and he got out and was fifty or
sixty or eighty miles awayfrom his home and night had come and gods in
those days weren’t like our conceptof Godtoday. We have greatconcepts of
God because ofthe spreadof Christianity. But in those days they had local
deities. There was the god of Fort Worth. There was the godof Dallas. There
was the god of Houston, and there was the god of Austin, and there was the
god of Waxahachie.” He was not a big God, [Laughter] but…
In other words, they had gods of all of these territories. All the Baal’s were
associatedwith some particular place. Now this was a question in Jacob’s
mind, you see? Here I am now awayfrom home where God, my God, Yahweh
gave the promises to Abraham and to Isaac and does the powerof my God
prevail when we get this far awayfrom home because those gods hadlocal
territories, and so here he is. He’s fleeing and no doubt he was troubled and
disturbed and wondering what the future held. The future held some
interesting things. He’s going to find old Labon’s is going to Gentile him out of
sevenyears or fourteen years of work in order to get those ladies.
But nevertheless here he is, so he collects some rocks. He puts them on the
ground. He puts his head down and no doubt he’s wondering about the
situation and when he does he has a dream. And in this dream that he has, he
sees a ladder, and this ladder is one setup on the earth. Its top reaches to
heaven, and the angels ofGod are ascending and descending on it. And then
the Lord stoodby the side of that ladder. Now the Authorized Version text
says “above it,” but it’s likely the Hebrew means “by the side of it,” for later

Jacobwill say, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.” Now listen
to the things that God tells him. God says to him,
“I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac:the land
whereonthou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;And thy seedshall be
as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seedshallall
the families of the earth be blessed.” (He reiterates the promises made to his
grandfather and to his father,) “And, behold, I am with Thee.”
No matter how far away you get from home, I am no localtribal deity, Jacob.
I am Yahweh. “I am the Lord thy God. I will keepthee in all places to which
thou goestand I will bring thee againinto this land for I will not leave thee
until I have done that which I have spokento thee of.” In other words, he is a
God who perseveres andwho accomplishes allhis intentions. As we sayin the
New Testament, “The same Godwho has brought us to the knowledge of
Jesus Christ will confirm us unto the day of Christ. If he has begun a good
work in us, he will finish it.” And so here, “I am going to be with you Jacob
until I have done what I have told Thee about.” And Jacobawakenedout of
his sleepand said, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.” How
awesome is this place and this is none other than the house of God and this is
the gate of heaven.
Now I submit to you that the meaning of this essentiallyis that there is
communication betweenheaven and earth, the latter suggesting that, that
there is communication betweenthe Lord God, Yahweh in heaven, and Jacob
his servanton the earth, and he may expect that no matter where he goes
there is communion betweenthe true God and his greatpatriarch Jacob. That
was the message to Jacob. It was intended to comfort him, encourage him, to
give him strength for what he was doing. But now when the Lord Jesus refers
to this and I think that that is preciselythe passage thatNathanaelwas
meditating upon under the fig tree. The fig tree, incidentally, was known in
Jewishrabbinic literature as a proper place for meditation. That’s why I
planted a fig tree last spring. It’s this high right now. It’s not so big at the
moment and I canhardly get under it, but you’re going to be amazed at the
spiritual revelation that will come from me when that thing grows high

enough for me to sit under it and getsome spiritual meditation, spiritual
truth.
Well anyway, Nathanaelis under the tree and he’s reading this particular
passage. I’m sure he’s reading this passagebecause the Lord said, “I saw you
under that fig tree and he couches his words in language takenfrom Genesis
28, but notice the thing that he does that is different. He says, “Verily I say
unto you, hereafter ye shall see heavenopen and the angels ofGod ascending
and descending (not upon the ladder but) upon the Son of Man.” So he has
substituted for ladder, which is the place of contactbetweenearth and heaven,
the means of contact, the mediating thing. He as substituted the Son of Man,
for he is the mediator betweenearth and heaven.
Now he claims then to be the ladder. This is really one of the greatconcepts of
the GospelofJohn. He is the one mediator betweenGod and men. He is the
one revealerof truth. “No man hath seenGodat any time. The only begotten
son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declaredhim.” He’s the contact
that we have with heaven. He’s the ladder. And so in effecthe’s saying I am
the revelationof divine things. Jacob’s ladderhas become Nathanael’s Sonof
Man. And the movement of the angels is the certificationof contactbetween
the earthly and the heavenly. And if we wanted to be somewhatsymbolic in
exposition we could talk about the rungs of the ladder, for the rungs of the
ladder are just simply the exposition of what the Sonof Man came to do.
Rung number one, incarnation, rung number two, the temptation and its
significance, rung number three, etcetera,transfiguration, death, burial,
resurrection, this is God’s mediator betweenheaven and earth, and it’s the
way by which we come to know the truth, the Lord Jesus Christ as the
revealerof God. So, Nathanaelyou shall see and the others with you, “The
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Sonof Man. Finally it is the
cross by which we have life.
Now let me conclude for our time is up by just commenting upon the fact that
there are three titles given to our Lord in this section. One is a title suggesting
deity, Son of God. One is a title that includes his humanity, Sonof Man. One
is a title that represents his royalty, King of Israel. And isn’t it interesting that
Christ desires the unimpressive. Philip is an unimpressive man, but the Lord

Jesus captures his soul and he will enroll him in the city of God. On that great
city are the names in the foundation of the twelve apostles and there is the
name of Philip. So from this we learn that Jesus Christ measures us when we
are under the fig tree. I would imagine that probably the last thing that
Nathanaelhad in his mind was that the Messiahofwhom he was speaking
might be looking at him at that very moment, but he was. No matter where we
are, we are being measuredby the ladder, the Son of Man, the King of Israel.
Oh the terror of being measuredby the Lord God at those times when we
leastexpectit, but oh the wonder of it, and oh the comfort of it as it meant to
Jacoband it ultimate meant to Nathanaelto know that a sovereignGodhad
us in his eyes.
And finally God’s blessing comes to those who are at the foot of the cross.
Like Jacobat the foot of the ladder and we at the feet of the Son of Man. If
you are here this morning and you’ve never believed in Christ, we invite you
again, invite you very simply today, “Come and see.”
[Prayer] Father, we are grateful for these magnificent descriptions of
encounters with the Lord Jesus with simply unimpressive men whom he made
apostles ofthe Lamb of God. O God continue Thy work and today take of us
unimpressive men and women, and…
ALEXANDER MACLAREN
THE FIRST DISCIPLES:V. BELIEVING AND SEEING
John 1:50 - John 1:51.
Here we have the end of the narrative of the gathering togetherof the first
disciples, which has occupiedseveralsermons. We have had occasionto point
out how eachincident in the series has thrown some fresh light upon two main

subjects, namely, upon some phase or other of the characterand work of
Jesus Christ, or upon the various ways by which faith, which is the condition
of discipleship, is kindled in men’s souls. These closing words may be takenas
the crowning thoughts on both these matters.
Our Lord recognisesandaccepts the faith of Nathanaeland his fellows, but,
like a wise Teacher, lets His pupils at the very beginning get a glimpse of how
much lies aheadfor them to learn; and in the act of accepting the faith gives
just one hint of the greattract of yet uncomprehended knowledge ofHim
which lies before them; ‘BecauseI said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig
tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greaterthings than these.’He accepts
Nathanael’s confessionand the confessionofhis fellows. Human lips have
given Him many great and wonderful titles in this chapter. John calledHim
‘the Lamb of God’; the first disciples hailed Him as the ‘Messias, whichis the
Christ’; Nathanaelfell before Him with the rapturous exclamation, ‘Thou art
the Sonof God; Thou art the King of Israel!’ All these crowns had been put
on His head by human hands, but here He crowns Himself. He makes a
mightier claim than any that they had dreamed of, and proclaims Himself to
be the medium of all communication and intercourse betweenheaven and
earth: ‘Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of Man.’
So, then, there are two greatprinciples that lie in these verses, and are
containedin, first, our Lord’s mighty promise to His new disciples, and
second, in our Lord’s witness to Himself. Let me saya word or two about each
of these.
I. Our Lord’s promise to His new disciples.
Christ’s words here may be translatedeither as a question or as an
affirmation. It makes comparativelylittle difference to the substantial
meaning whether we read ‘believestthou?’ or ‘thou believest.’In the former
case there will be a little more vivid expressionof surprise and admiration at
the swiftness ofNathanael’s faith, but in neither case are we to find anything
of the nature of blame or of doubt as to the reality of his belief. The question,
if it be a question, is no question as to whether Nathanael’s faith was a

genuine thing or not. There is no hint that he has been too quick with his
confession, andhas climbed too rapidly to the point that he has attained. But
in either case,whetherthe word be a question or an affirmation, we are to see
in it the solemn and glad recognitionof the reality of Nathanael’s confession
and belief.
Here is the first time that that word ‘belief’ came from Christ’s lips; and
when we remember all the importance that has been attachedto it in the
subsequent history of the Church, and the revolution in human thought which
followedupon our Lord’s demand of our faith, there is an interest in noticing
the first appearance of the word. It was an epoch in the history of the world
when Christ first claimedand accepteda man’s faith.
Of course the secondpart of this verse, ‘Thou shalt see greaterthings than
these,’has its proper fulfilment in the gradual manifestation of His person
and character, whichfollowedthrough the events recorded in the Gospels. His
life of service, His words of wisdom, His deeds of power and of pity, His death
of shame and of glory, His Resurrectionand His Ascension, these are the
‘greaterthings’ which Nathanaelis promised. They all lay unrevealed yet, and
what our Lord means is simply this: ‘If you will continue to trust in Me, as
you have trusted Me, and stand beside Me, you will see unrolled before your
eyes and comprehended by your faith the greatfacts which will make the
manifestation of God to the world.’ But though that be the original
application of the words, yet I think we may fairly draw from them some
lessons that are of importance to ourselves;and I ask you to look at the hint
that they give us about three things,-faith and discipleship, faith and sight,
faith and progress. ‘Believestthou? thou shalt see greaterthings than these.’
First, here is light thrown upon the relation betweenfaith and discipleship. It
is clearthat our Lord here uses the word for the first time in the full Christian
sense, that He regards the exercise offaith as being practically synonymous
with being a disciple, that from the very first, believers were disciples, and
disciples were believers.
Then, notice still further that our Lord here employs the word ‘belief’ without
any definition of what or whom it is that they were to believe. He Himself, and

not certainthoughts about Him, is the true objectof a man’s faith. We may
believe a proposition, but faith must graspa person. Even when the personis
made known to us by a proposition which we have to believe before we can
trust the person, still the essenceoffaith is not the intellectual process of
laying hold upon a certainthought, and acquiescing in it, but the moral
process ofcasting myself in full confidence upon the Being that is revealedto
me by the thought,-of laying my hand, and leaning my weight, on the Man
about whom it tells me. And so faith, which is discipleship, has in it for its very
essencethe personalelement of trust in Jesus Christ.
Then, further, notice how widely different from our creedwas Nathanael’s
creed, and yet how identical with our faith, if we are Christians, was
Nathanael’s faith. He knew nothing about the very heart of Christ’s work, His
atoning death. He knew nothing about the highest glory of Christ’s person,
His divine Sonship, in its unique and lofty sense. Theselay unrevealed, and
were amongstthe greaterthings which he was yet to see;but though thus his
knowledge was imperfect, and his creedincomplete as compared with ours,
his faith was the very same. He laid hold upon Christ, he clave to Him with all
his heart, he was ready to acceptHis teaching, he was willing to do His will,
and as for the rest-’Thou shalt see greaterthings than these.’So, dear
brethren, from these words of my text here, from the unhesitating attribution
of the lofty notion of faith to this man, from the way in which our Lord uses
the word, are gatheredthese three points that I beseechyou to ponder: there
is no discipleship without faith; faith is the personal graspof Christ Himself;
the contents of creeds may differ whilst the element of faith remains the same.
I beseechyou let Christ come to you with the question of my text, and as He
looks you in the eyes, hearHim say to you, ‘Believestthou?’
Secondly, notice how in this greatpromise to the new disciples there is light
thrown upon another subject, viz. the connectionbetweenfaith and sight.
There is a greatdeal about seeing in this context. Christ said to the first two
that followedHim, ‘Come and see.’Philip met Nathanael’s thin film of
prejudice with the same words, ‘Come and see.’Christ greetedthe
approaching Nathanaelwith ‘When thou wastunder the fig tree I saw thee.’
And now His promise is castinto the same metaphor: ‘Thou shalt see greater
things than these.’

There is a double antithesis here. ‘I saw thee,’ ‘Thou shalt see Me.’‘Thou
wastconvinced because thoudidst feelthat thou wert the passive objectof My
vision. Thou shalt be still more convincedwhen illuminated by Me. Thou shalt
see evenas thou art seen. I saw thee, and that bound thee to Me; thou shalt see
Me, and that will confirm the bond.’
There is anotherantithesis, namely-betweenbelieving and seeing. ‘Thou
believest-that is thy present; thou shalt see, that is thy hope for the future.’
Now I have already explained that, in the proper primary meaning and
application of the words, the sight which is here promised is simply the
observance with the outward eye of the historicalfacts of our Lord’s life
which were yet to be learned. But still we may gathera truth from this
antithesis which will be of use to us. ‘Thou believest-thou shalt see’;that is to
say, in the loftiest regionof spiritual experience you must believe first, in
order that you may see.
I do not mean, as is sometimes meant, by that statement that a man has to try
to force his understanding into the attitude of accepting religious truth, in
order that he may have an experience which will convince him that it is true. I
mean a very much simpler thing than that, and a very much truer one, viz.
this, that unless we trust to Christ and take our illumination from Him, we
shall never behold a whole set of truths which, when once we trust Him, are
all plain and clearto us. It is no mysticism to say that. What do you know
about God?-I put emphasis upon the word ‘know’-What do you know about
Him, howevermuch you may argue and speculate and think probable, and
fear, and hope, and question, about Him? What do you know about Him
apart from Jesus Christ? What do you know about human duty, apart from
Him? What do you know of all that dim region that lies beyond the grave,
apart from Him? If you trust Him, if you fall at His feet and say ‘Rabbi! Thou
art my Teacherand mine illumination,’ then you will see. You will see God,
man, yourselves, duty; you will see light upon a thousand complications and
perplexities; and you will have a brightness above that of the noonday sun,
streaming into the thickestdarkness ofdeath and the grave and the awful
hereafter. Christ is the Light. In that ‘Light shall we see light.’ And just as it
needs the sun to rise in order that my eye may behold the outer world, so it
needs that I shall have Christ shining in my heaven to illuminate the whole

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