As we go down the lists of the 12 apostles, we notice a regression in the amount of information that we have about them. That is to say, there is less and less recorded Scripture about some of the apostles than others. When we mention some of them, few of us may be able to recall anything about them at all, as may be the case with at least one of the two that stand before us today. We begin with Philip, and we will end with Nathanael.
Philip
He is number five on the lists of the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts, but the lists are the only mention of him in these books. Ironically, even though John doesn’t make a list, he does write about Philip.
Jesus calls Philip in John 1:43. Here’s what it says: “The next day [Jesus] decided to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’” Jesus finds Philip, which may indicate that Jesus was searching for Philip, that He was looking for this man, and not that Jesus just happened across Philip like one would a penny in the Walmart parking lot. That seems to fit with John’s later writing in John 15:16, where Jesus tells His disciples, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
We like It’s-a-Small-World stories, and this may be one. Back in 1:44, John indicates that Philip is from Bethsaida, which is also Andrew’s and Peter’s home town. It’s highly likely that these three know each other. In fact, Philip may also be a fisherman.
There is an interesting interaction between Philip and Nathanael that we’ll investigate when we get to Nathanael, but suffice it to say that when Nathanael wavers and hesitates in his own belief, Philip encourages Nathanael. That’s what we see in verse 46, when Nathanael infamously and sarcastically asks, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip responds to him, “Come and see.”
Other times we hear from Philip and about Philip include the time that Jesus tests him during the feeding of the 5,000. That’s when Jesus specifically asks Philip where they are going to get bread to feed the crowd. John 6:5f says that Jesus only asks Philip the question in order to test him.
Another moment is when Philip encounters a couple of Greeks who want to meet Jesus. Philip doesn’t take them to Jesus but to Andrew instead, and it is Andrew who brings them to Jesus.
And then, when Jesus states in John 14:7, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him,” Philip asks Him in the next verse to show the Father to them and they will believe. We take the time now to see the immediate response that Jesus provides (John 14:8-14): “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?’” When I read that, I read it with a tone that might be a little harsh, with an emphasis on the name Philip. I read a bit of annoyance in Jesus’s voice: Philip?
Then Jesus continues (verse 9): “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves [Look at the evidence, Philip.]. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.”
He just doesn’t seem to be certain of his faith in Jesus. With Peter, I said, Before there is a Doubting Thomas, there is a Doubting Peter, but the same is true here: Before there is a Doubting Thomas, there is a Doubting Philip.
Jesus says, How can we feed the 5,000? Philip doesn’t know even though he has seen what Jesus has done in the past.
Some Greeks want to see Jesus, and Philip doesn’t know if that’s a good idea or not. He puts the decision in Andrew’s lap instead.
And he still needs proof, even after hearing the teaching of Jesus directly and seeing the miracles and goodness of the Christ.
I think we can see in Philip how a lack of confidence can affect walking with Jesus. We see others in the world and in other religious bodies, and we wonder how they can’t see the importance of a believer’s obedient baptism. Why can’t they see past the sinner’s prayer? Why do they choose not to understand the Biblical approach to worship without mechanical instruments, observing the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, etc.? But then we can look at Philip, who is walking and talking with Jesus directly, and maybe we can understand a bit more about our friends and neighbors and their reluctance to understand.
In all of this, we learn to lean our own understanding on Jesus and not on ourselves and our limitations. We learn that we must have an open mind when studying about the Savior and His church. We learn to ask questions when we have doubts and difficulties understanding. We must be willing to follow Jesus even when our confidence is shaken, even when we don’t quite understand every minute detail of Scripture. We will, at times, have the wrong answer, but we must not stop searching for the answers in Inspiration.
The first thing Philip does is run to his friend Nathanael to tell him about his discovery of Jesus. That’s another thing we should be doing, as well. It also brings us to the second apostle to discuss in this lesson. And by the way, if you’re thinking there must be more about Philip, you may have also missed that there is a Philip the apostle as well as an evangelist with the same name.
Nathanael
You may also have never made the connection that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts call the next guy Bartholomew, but that John calls him Nathanael. Some think they are two different men, but most think he is one and the same.
John says Nathanael is from Cana in Galilee (John 21:2). He goes with the others to fish after Jesus appears on the beach after His resurrection, so Nathanael may also be a fisherman. Most of you know him from John 1:45-51, when Philip finds him to say “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!” After his question about nothing good coming from Nazareth, Nathanael encounters Jesus for the first time. Jesus says of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael is taken aback. They’ve never met each other. He asks Jesus, “How do You know me?” and Jesus says, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” I don’t know if that would be enough proof for Philip, but it’s more than enough for Nathanael. He answers Jesus (verse 49): “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”
I think Jesus sees the difference in these two. I imagine He snickers delightfully at the ease with which Nathanael is convinced. He says, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” In other words, You ain’t seen nothing yet! “Truly, truly,” Jesus says. “I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
From Nathanael, we get a clear picture of what it is like to completely accept Jesus with awe. There is a deeply personal embrace of Jesus when he says “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”
A fig tree is a traditional place of rest, study, prayer, and meditation. There is so much more we could say about this tree, but we’ll leave that for another time. For now, just understand that Nathanael is not under that tree just to daydream and wonder how the lawn is going to mow itself. He is seeking. He may not be certain about the direction of his own life, but he turns to God and tries with all his might to understand the will of God.
Tradition
It is said, outside of Biblical proof, that Philip traveled throughout Greece, Turkey, and Syria. Supposedly, he is eventually killed in the city of Hierapolis because he converted the wife of one of the leaders there. Traditionally, it is believed that he is crucified upside-down. Others think that he is beheaded instead.
As for Nathanael, perhaps it is true that he spread the Word in India, Ethiopia, parts of Iran, and Turkey. He is said to have been killed in Turkey by being split open with a whip and then beheaded. Others say that he is another who is crucified upside-down.
We are not at first impressed with Philip or Nathanael, but when we dig into the little that is recorded about them, there is something there to admire, understand, and apply in our lives. They really are great examples to us of what it means to put ourselves aside and follow Christ.
Philip
He is number five on the lists of the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts, but the lists are the only mention of him in these books. Ironically, even though John doesn’t make a list, he does write about Philip.
Jesus calls Philip in John 1:43. Here’s what it says: “The next day [Jesus] decided to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’” Jesus finds Philip, which may indicate that Jesus was searching for Philip, that He was looking for this man, and not that Jesus just happened across Philip like one would a penny in the Walmart parking lot. That seems to fit with John’s later writing in John 15:16, where Jesus tells His disciples, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
We like It’s-a-Small-World stories, and this may be one. Back in 1:44, John indicates that Philip is from Bethsaida, which is also Andrew’s and Peter’s home town. It’s highly likely that these three know each other. In fact, Philip may also be a fisherman.
There is an interesting interaction between Philip and Nathanael that we’ll investigate when we get to Nathanael, but suffice it to say that when Nathanael wavers and hesitates in his own belief, Philip encourages Nathanael. That’s what we see in verse 46, when Nathanael infamously and sarcastically asks, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip responds to him, “Come and see.”
Other times we hear from Philip and about Philip include the time that Jesus tests him during the feeding of the 5,000. That’s when Jesus specifically asks Philip where they are going to get bread to feed the crowd. John 6:5f says that Jesus only asks Philip the question in order to test him.
Another moment is when Philip encounters a couple of Greeks who want to meet Jesus. Philip doesn’t take them to Jesus but to Andrew instead, and it is Andrew who brings them to Jesus.
And then, when Jesus states in John 14:7, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him,” Philip asks Him in the next verse to show the Father to them and they will believe. We take the time now to see the immediate response that Jesus provides (John 14:8-14): “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?’” When I read that, I read it with a tone that might be a little harsh, with an emphasis on the name Philip. I read a bit of annoyance in Jesus’s voice: Philip?
Then Jesus continues (verse 9): “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves [Look at the evidence, Philip.]. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.”
He just doesn’t seem to be certain of his faith in Jesus. With Peter, I said, Before there is a Doubting Thomas, there is a Doubting Peter, but the same is true here: Before there is a Doubting Thomas, there is a Doubting Philip.
Jesus says, How can we feed the 5,000? Philip doesn’t know even though he has seen what Jesus has done in the past.
Some Greeks want to see Jesus, and Philip doesn’t know if that’s a good idea or not. He puts the decision in Andrew’s lap instead.
And he still needs proof, even after hearing the teaching of Jesus directly and seeing the miracles and goodness of the Christ.
I think we can see in Philip how a lack of confidence can affect walking with Jesus. We see others in the world and in other religious bodies, and we wonder how they can’t see the importance of a believer’s obedient baptism. Why can’t they see past the sinner’s prayer? Why do they choose not to understand the Biblical approach to worship without mechanical instruments, observing the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, etc.? But then we can look at Philip, who is walking and talking with Jesus directly, and maybe we can understand a bit more about our friends and neighbors and their reluctance to understand.
In all of this, we learn to lean our own understanding on Jesus and not on ourselves and our limitations. We learn that we must have an open mind when studying about the Savior and His church. We learn to ask questions when we have doubts and difficulties understanding. We must be willing to follow Jesus even when our confidence is shaken, even when we don’t quite understand every minute detail of Scripture. We will, at times, have the wrong answer, but we must not stop searching for the answers in Inspiration.
The first thing Philip does is run to his friend Nathanael to tell him about his discovery of Jesus. That’s another thing we should be doing, as well. It also brings us to the second apostle to discuss in this lesson. And by the way, if you’re thinking there must be more about Philip, you may have also missed that there is a Philip the apostle as well as an evangelist with the same name.
Nathanael
You may also have never made the connection that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts call the next guy Bartholomew, but that John calls him Nathanael. Some think they are two different men, but most think he is one and the same.
John says Nathanael is from Cana in Galilee (John 21:2). He goes with the others to fish after Jesus appears on the beach after His resurrection, so Nathanael may also be a fisherman. Most of you know him from John 1:45-51, when Philip finds him to say “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!” After his question about nothing good coming from Nazareth, Nathanael encounters Jesus for the first time. Jesus says of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael is taken aback. They’ve never met each other. He asks Jesus, “How do You know me?” and Jesus says, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” I don’t know if that would be enough proof for Philip, but it’s more than enough for Nathanael. He answers Jesus (verse 49): “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”
I think Jesus sees the difference in these two. I imagine He snickers delightfully at the ease with which Nathanael is convinced. He says, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” In other words, You ain’t seen nothing yet! “Truly, truly,” Jesus says. “I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
From Nathanael, we get a clear picture of what it is like to completely accept Jesus with awe. There is a deeply personal embrace of Jesus when he says “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”
A fig tree is a traditional place of rest, study, prayer, and meditation. There is so much more we could say about this tree, but we’ll leave that for another time. For now, just understand that Nathanael is not under that tree just to daydream and wonder how the lawn is going to mow itself. He is seeking. He may not be certain about the direction of his own life, but he turns to God and tries with all his might to understand the will of God.
Tradition
It is said, outside of Biblical proof, that Philip traveled throughout Greece, Turkey, and Syria. Supposedly, he is eventually killed in the city of Hierapolis because he converted the wife of one of the leaders there. Traditionally, it is believed that he is crucified upside-down. Others think that he is beheaded instead.
As for Nathanael, perhaps it is true that he spread the Word in India, Ethiopia, parts of Iran, and Turkey. He is said to have been killed in Turkey by being split open with a whip and then beheaded. Others say that he is another who is crucified upside-down.
We are not at first impressed with Philip or Nathanael, but when we dig into the little that is recorded about them, there is something there to admire, understand, and apply in our lives. They really are great examples to us of what it means to put ourselves aside and follow Christ.
