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Saints & Sinners

Philip & Nathanael

Primary Text: John 1:43-51:                                                                                     May 2 & 3, 2026

 1)  Follow Me

 John 1:43-45:  The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.  Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”  Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

 John 14:8-10:  Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”  Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” 

 DQ 1) Philip recognized Jesus as the Messiah.  Why then did he ask Jesus to reveal the Father?

2)  Nazareth!

 John 1:46:  “Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.  “Come and see,” said Philip.

 DQ 2) Why do you suppose Nathanael had a negative view of the city of Nazareth?

3)  A True Israelite

 John 1:47-48:  When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”  “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 

DQ 3) What did Jesus’ statement “in whom there is nothing false” reveal about Nathanael?

4)  The King of Israel

 John 1:49:  Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 

 DQ 4) What does it mean that Jesus is the “Son of God” and “King of Israel”?

5)  Greater Things

John 1:50-51:  Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.  You shall see greater things than that.”  He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 Genesis 28:10-15:  Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran….  Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.  He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.  I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.  Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.  All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 

DQ 5) How did Nathanael and others witness “the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”?