UBF Daily Bread

FOLLOW ME

Passage: John 1:43~51

Key verse: 43

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,^(A) he said to him, “Follow me.”^(B)

⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.^(C) ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael^(D) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,^(E) and about whom the prophets also wrote^(F)—Jesus of Nazareth,^(G) the son of Joseph.”^(H)

⁴⁶“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”^(I) Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite^(J) in whom there is no deceit.”^(K)

⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi,^(L) you are the Son of God;^(M) you are the king of Israel.”^(N)

⁵⁰Jesus said, “You believe^[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[b] you^[c] will see ‘heaven open,^(O) and the angels of God ascending and descending^(P) on’^[d] the Son of Man.”^(Q)

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Footnotes

John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
John 1:51 Gen. 28:12

1. Philip's testimony (43-45)

Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He invited Philip to follow him. As Philip travelled with Jesus back to Galilee, he realized that Jesus was the Messiah whom God had promised to send, the one for whom he had been searching and waiting. We can know who Jesus is only by following him, by spending time with him.

2. Nathanael's faith (46-51)

Philip found his friend Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Nathanael was a man without guile. He had Bible knowledge--and some provincial prejudice, so he knew that Nazareth could not be the birthplace of the Messiah. Philip said, 'Come and see.' Jesus knew Nathanael's heart. He knew about one private event in his life. (Perhaps he had been reading about Jacob in Genesis under the fig tree.) Nathanael felt Jesus' love and power, and made a great confession of faith; his confession was correct, but still he needed to grow. His life of faith was just beginning.

Prayer: Lord, I want to know you better. Help me to give first priority to following you.

One Word: Follow Jesus

Daily Bread

FOLLOW ME

Passage: John 1:43~51

Key verse: 43

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

Footnotes

Cross references

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