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2.1.1 “First Day”⁵²: The Identity and Authority of John the Baptist – His Mission Declaration to the Jewish Authority of Jerusalem (vv. 19–28⁵³)

Where: the river Jordan near Bethany⁵⁴ near Jericho and Qumran (v. 28)

Who: John the Baptist (cf. vv. 6, 19a) as an individual versus the group of the Jewish delegation – probably the Temple “police”⁵⁵ – from Jerusalem (v. 19b) who was composed of priests⁵⁶, Levites⁵⁷ (v. 19b), Pharisees⁵⁸ (v. 24)

A delegation “from Jerusalem” (v. 19b) on behalf of the authority in Jerusalem questioned (cf. vv. 19e, 21b–c, f; 22b–d; 25b–d) “John the Baptist” who clearly answered them in the form of three⁵⁹ negative (cf. vv. 20d, 21e, h) and two positive sayings (note v. 23b–c as a quotation of the prophet Isaiah 40:3 [LXX] and vv. 26b–27c).

- The Identity of John the Baptist (vv. 19–23)

v. 19: Two comments of the Evangelist John in verses 19 and 28 come before and after the juristic hearing (cf. John 9:13–34; 10:22–30; 18:19–24, 28–19:16b) between the Jewish Temple authorities and John the Baptist. Verse 19 is the setting of the actors of the interview (cf. vv. 19–28) in the view of the judicial inquiry whether the public ministry of John the Baptist on behalf of God was allowed according the Law of Moses (cf. Leviticus 24:10–16, 23; Numbers 15:30; Deuteronomy 18:15–20): John the Baptist and the delegation of priests, Levites (cf. v. 19b), and Pharisees (cf. v. 24) as the Jewish Temple-“police” “from Jerusalem”.

Verse 28 located the place of this event. For the sake of the Law and inner peace (cf. John 11:47–53; 18:1–19:16), they tested John the Baptist whether he was authorized to preach the baptism of the repentance (cf. vv. 23, 26, 28). The first part of the interview is that they asked⁶⁰ him who called to account like a policeman for his identity on behalf of the Jewish authority⁶¹ in Jerusalem (cf. vv. 21–22):

“Who are you?” (cf. v. 22b and John 8:25; 12:34; 21:12 – cf. 19:9) – note the Greek interrogative pronouns “tís” (= who) in verses 19d, 22b and “tí” (= what) in verse 21b.

v. 20: John the Baptist clearly gave them an account. So he did not deny his special prophetic ministry, in contrast to Peter (cf. 13:38; 18:25, 27: “arnéomaɩ”) and “confessed” – note the Greek verbum compositum “homo-logéo” in John 9:22; 12:42 and 1 John 1:9; 2:23; 4:2–3, 15; 2 John 7), in a negative way: “I am not⁶² Christ” (Greek)/the “Messiah” (Hebrew) – cf. vv. 17b, 20c, 25c, 41b and especially John 20:31⁶³.

v. 21: Second, the delegation “from Jerusalem” (v. 19b) also asked him two questions which are like the first question of their interview in verse 19d:

“What (are you) now?” and the second one is a specifically refers to the prophet Elijah –

“Are you Elijah?” (in Greek “Elías” in vv. 21c, 25d and in Mark 6:15; 8:28; 9:4–5, 11–13; 15:35–36; Matthew 11:14; 16:14; 17:3–4, 10–12; 27:47, 49; Luke 1:17; 4:25–26; 9:8, 19, 30, 33).

Again He said “NO” that he is not the “prophet”⁶⁴ (cf. vv. 21e, 23d, 25d; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), the “new prophet Elijah”⁶⁵ (cf. v. 25 and Malachi 3:1, 23).

v. 22: Thirdly, they asked him in the context of their interview again:

“Who are you”? – note the question in verse 19d.

Then the delegation “from Jerusalem” – probably including some Pharisees⁶⁶ – explained to him why they had to ask him. They requested him to answer them with his own statement of his identity.

v. 23: He answered their question with the help of the quotation from Isaiah⁶⁷ 40:3⁶⁸. “Desert”⁶⁹ is the place of John the Baptist’s ministry – Bethany (cf. John 1:28) and/or “Aenon” near “Salim” (3:23) – from his youth (cf. Luke 1:80). He had his own disciples⁷⁰. He preached and called for the conversion or a renewal of life(-style) by a ritual washing in the Jordan as a visible sign of this, in combination with the public confession and the forgiveness of sins. His aim is to be the (eschatological) messianic “preacher of repentance”⁷¹. John the Baptist never tires of talking about [the Coming of] Christ and of preparing the Day of the Lord as well as the people to accept Jesus as the “Christ” and “God’s Son”. So his self-assessment is to be the “messenger” of [the Coming of] Christ as a precursor on earth. For this, the Evangelist John rereads and quotes the text of the Hebrew Bible – our so-called Old Testament – Isaiah 40:3⁷² as a fulfilled prophetic promise and prediction of the relationship between the “precursor”, John the Baptist and the “redeemer”, Jesus of Nazareth.

John the Baptist is the one who preceded the Lord, prepared His way, and pointed to Jesus as the Messiah – note the right side of the pictures of the so-called “Isenheimer Altar” by the painter Matthias Grünewald between 1506 and 1515 B.C.: Jesus said about Himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). His chief interest was the revelation of Jesus’ identity – “the Lamb of God” (v. 29). In this way, he is a model of total witness to Christ (cf. vv. 6–8). The sense of the quotation is also that people should give up their selfish way of living, renounce and repent their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and establish a good relationship with God. They, then in John’s time, and we, today, have to be ready for the Second Coming of Christ.

+ The Authority of John the Baptist (vv. 24–27)

v. 24: The job of the Pharisees was to test all people who were neither from the priestly class nor qualified in the Law, for all who preached and acted in the name of God YHWH in a public ministry. In this way the Evangelist suggests they straighten out the matter by order of Sanhedrim for the correct use of the Law, and also on behalf of the occupying power of the Roman Empire, for peace within Palestine. In Jesus’ time the Pharisees did not have this authority but in the Evangelist’s time they did. Especially the Pharisees are pictured in the Fourth Gospel as responsible controllers of the Law (cf. John 7:32, 45, 48; 8:3, 13; 9:13, 15-16, 40; 11:46–47, 57; 12:19, 42).

v. 25: The Pharisees sum up the first part of their investigation by saying that John the Baptist is neither the Christ of Daniel 9:25 (cf. v. 20b) nor the expected Elijah of Malachi 3:23 (cf. v. 21c) nor the Mosaic prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15, 18 (v. 21e), and they introduce the second part of the judicial inquiry with the question of his authority – for example, Jesus in John 2:18 after His cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem –: “Why then does he baptize?”

vv. 26–27⁷³: He answers them in a negative way (cf. vv. 26c, 27b) again – with the help of a self-confident “I” (vv. 20b, 23a, 26b) – and he testifies the Coming Christ (cf. v. 27a) – “unsaid” Jesus. The special actions of John the Baptist were: to preach and to “baptize”⁷⁴ (vv. 25b, 26b, 28b, 31c, 33b) (only) with “water”⁷⁵ (vv. 26b, 31c, 33b – cf. Acts 1:5) from the brook/river Jordan⁷⁶ in the desert. John’s baptism with water prepared the people to receive Jesus’ ministry in word and deed.

v. 27: Afterwards he describes the role of Jesus with the help of an understatement of himself. He replies in his self-assessment that he is unworthy⁷⁷ to “untie … the ( ) sandal⁷⁸ (strap⁷⁹)” (cf. Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; Acts 13:25) of the one coming after him – Jesus (cf. vv. 6–8). He wants to say that Jesus, the Christ, would be infinitely greater than he. This was the beginning of the spiritual process, and in this way, Jesus finished and fulfilled all that John had begun and prepared.

v. 28: The Fourth Evangelist had the questioning of John the Baptist by the delegation “from Jerusalem” and his answering (cf. 1 Peter 3:15) in “Bethany”⁸⁰ – take place not near Jerusalem (cf. John 11:1, 18; 12:1) but – “on the other side of/across the Jordan”⁸¹ (v. 28 and 3:26; 10:40).

2.1.2 “Second Day”⁸²: John the Baptist at Sight of Jesus (vv. 29–34⁸³)

- The Setting (v. 29a)

Who: John the Baptist, Jesus, the crowd of “Israel” (v. 31), a dove – symbol for the Holy Spirit (vv. 32–33), God who sent John the Baptist (v. 33)

Where: “Bethany on the other side of the Jordan” (v. 28) near Jericho and Qumran

When: during Jesus’ baptism – note Luke’s remark that Jesus of Nazareth “was about thirty years old when He began His” public “ministry” (3:23)

v. 29: On a new (“next) day” (cf. vv. 29a, 35a, 43a and 6:22; 12:12), when Jesus came to “John the Baptist”⁸⁴ – a son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth (cf. Luke 1:5–25, 57–80) and His cousin (cf. Luke 1:36) –, at the beginning he proclaimed Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (in Latin “Agnus Dei” – cf. Isaiah 53:7) – note verse 36 in the context of the call of His disciples from John’s fellowship – “who takes away the sin of the world”, and at the end, he underlined that Jesus is “the Son of God” (v. 34b).

Every morning and evening, a one-year-old lamb was sacrificed in the Temple of Jerusalem for the sins of the people (cf. Exodus 29:38–42). The prophets Jeremiah (cf. 11:19) and Isaiah (cf. 53:7) prophesied that the Messiah, God’s servant, would be led to the slaughter like a lamb – in this way, Jesus as the “Servant of God” (cf. Isaiah 42:1; 49:3; 50:10; 52:13) is also the “Lamb of God”. To pay the penalty for sin, a life had to be given – and God chose to provide the sacrifice Himself/Jesus like a “scapegoat” which took all the sins of the Jewish people and took them away/send them into the desert on the “Day of Atonement” (cf. Leviticus 16:10). The “sin(s) of the world” (cf. 1 John 3:5) were removed when Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice (cf. John 19:14, 36 and 1 Peter 1:19) as the Passover Lamb and the sins of all⁸⁵ people – Jews and Gentiles in the whole world – were forgiven in the “soteriological”⁸⁶ sense (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7) forever. This is an interesting aspect because of the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 A.D. and the end of the daily sacrificing of lambs in Jerusalem. According to the Fourth Evangelist, the Passover⁸⁷ Feast was soon (cf. John 2:13) and the Jewish people should smear the doorposts with the blood of the slain lamb on the night in memory of the exodus when they left Egypt (cf. Exodus 12:12–14). Besides in this context of the Evangelist, Jesus passed Bethany like a (flock of) lamb(s) which will serve as sacrifices for the Passover Feast⁸⁸.

v. 30: As in verses 20 and 26–27, an understatement of John the Baptist emphasizes Jesus’ special role as the “Lamb of God” (vv. 29c, 36b) and the “Son of God” (v. 34b) in the sense of the pre-existence of Jesus by God (cf., for example, John 16:5): “After me” (= John the Baptist – note in Greek “opíso mou” in vv. 15c, 27a) “comes” – note the present tense! – “a man” (= Jesus) who “was before me” (v. 30c, d). Therefore Jesus should be infinitely greater than John the Baptist because He finished and fulfilled all that John had begun and prepared.

v. 31: John the Baptist underlines his role as Jesus’ forerunner with the help of a correction⁸⁹ (“not … but”): “( ) I /did/ (not) know Him” – note the parallel with verse 33a – cf. v. 26d –, “but … I baptized” (vv. 25b, 26b, 28b, 31c, 33c) only “with water” (cf. vv. 26b, 33c) as the sign of the cleansing and repentance of “Israel”⁹⁰ (v. 31b). His baptism with water was preparatory, because it was for repentance and symbolized the washing of sins.

v. 32: John the Baptist “testifies”⁹¹/“convinced” (cf. vv. 7b, 8b, 15a, 34a) that he “saw”⁹² (vv. 32b, 33e, 34a) Jesus as the “Son of God” (v. 34b) like a “witness”⁹³ (cf. John 19:35; 21:24), because the Holy “Spirit comes down” (vv. 32b, 33e, 51e ) “from Heaven” (cf. Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; 61:1 – note also John 6:58) “as a dove”⁹⁴ (cf. Luke 3:22a/Matthew 3:16 and less Mark 1:10) during Jesus’ baptism “and remains on Him” (v. 33d) in public. The Holy Spirit was with Jesus permanently from then on (cf. John 14:17 and 6:56; 8:31; 15:4–10) in the sense of Ezekiel 36:26–27 and not as a momentary inspiration at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in word and deed. That is the message of John the Baptist as the “precursor” of Jesus, the “redeemer” and “Saviour” (cf. John 3:16).

v. 33: As in verse 31a, John the Baptist emphasizes again with the help of a second correction⁹⁵ (“not … but”) that he “( ) /did/ (not) know Him” – note the same words in verse 31a –, “but” he “who has been sent” by God “to baptize with water” – note again verse 26b and especially verse 31c as an earthly-immanent event. However, He explains that the “Spirit coming down” – note the same words in verse 32b –as a dove (from Heaven) which “remained on Him” – note the parallel with verse 32c – as the heavenly-divine/transcendental act of God’s Holy “Spirit” is a sign of the “Lamb” and the “Son of God” (v. 34b) in Jesus. Note the climax: John’s Baptism with “water” here (vv. 26b, 31c, 33c) – Jesus’ Baptism with the “Spirit” there!

v. 34: In addition (“kagó” = “and I” in vv. 33a, 34a), the (eye)witness (cf. vv. 32a, 34a and 19:35; 21:24) and messenger John the Baptist – in contrast to Mark 1:11/Matthew 3:17; 17:5/Luke 3:22b where God’s voice proclaims Jesus as “the beloved Son in//with Him I am well pleased” – “have seen” and “testified” – note the divine Perfect! – as well as pointed to Jesus (in Greek “houtós” = “this” in vv. 30a, 33g, 34b and in Matthew 3:17b⁹⁶) as the “Son of God”⁹⁷ (cf. v. 49 [Nathanael]) like the famous illustration “Isenheimer Altar” (1505 or 1515 B.C.) with John’s long right forefinger by the painter Matthias Grünewald. Jesus as the “Son of God” is in the personal relationship to God the Father (cf., for example, John 10:30, 38).

2.1.3 “Third”⁹⁸ and “Fourth/Fifth Day”⁹⁹: The Call of the First Disciples of Jesus (vv. 35–51)

- The Call of Andrew and His Brother Simon Peter (vv. 35–42)

+ The Setting (vv. 35–37)

Who: John the Baptist (vv. 35–36), his two disciples (vv. 35, 37–39), Andrew and his brother Simon Peter (vv. 40–42), Philip (vv. 43–46), Nathanael (vv. 45–51)

Where: “Bethany” (v. 28)

When: after Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan (vv. 29–34)

vv. 35–37: The Evangelist connects the “following”¹⁰⁰ (cf. vv. 37b, 38b, 40c [, 43e]) of His first disciples by repeating John the Baptist’s testimony as a proclamation (cf. 1:29–34) that Jesus is “the Lamb of God”¹⁰¹ (vv. 29b, 36b) and with the help of “two”¹⁰² (in Greek “dúo” in vv. 35, 37a, 40a and in Mark 6:7; 11:1; 14:13[; 15:27; 16:12]; Matthew 4:18, 21; 18:16, 19–20; 21:1[; 27:38]; Luke 7:18; 10:1; 19:29[; 23:32]; 24:4, 13) of his own “disciples” (vv. 35, 37a) who “heard” (cf. vv. 37a, 40b) his witness about Jesus. John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus with his eyes¹⁰³ (non-verbal – cf. v. 36a) and his words (verbal – cf. vv. 36b–37a, 40a) is the reason and the guide that “Andrew” and another unnamed of his disciples (cf. v. 40a) followed Jesus (cf. vv. 37b, 38b, 40b) in contrast to the call of Andrew according to Mark 1:16–18 respectively Matthew 4:18–20 in which Jesus took the initiative.

+ The Following of Andrew including a Comment by the Evangelist (vv. 38–40)

v. 38: Jesus realized His “followers” (v. 38b) and introduced a dialogue with them with a question: “What do you seek/look for”? – cf. John 18:4, 7–8; 20:15. They respectfully answered with a query:

“Rabbi, where¹⁰⁴ are you staying¹⁰⁵”?) – note the Jewish title “rabbi”¹⁰⁶ in verse 49b by Nathanael or in 3:2c by Nicodemus.

v. 39: Jesus replied briefly and invited them:

“Come” – note the imperative in present tense! –

“and you will see” (in future! – cf. v. 46d).

Immediately they did it because “Jesus is the answer”. Their question found an answer in their following:

“They came and saw” (cf. v. 39b, c)

“where he was staying” – note the parallel with verse 38f.

The Fourth Evangelist comments that “they stayed with” Jesus (everywhere else) – it was about 4¹⁰⁷ o’clock in the afternoon as in John 4:6; 19:14.

v. 40: The name of “one of the two” anonymous John the Baptist’s disciples: “Andrew” (in Greek “Andréas”¹⁰⁸ in vv. 40a, 44b and in John 6:8; 12:22; Mark 1:16, 29; 3:18; 13:3; Matthew 4:18; 10:2; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13), “the brother of Simon Peter” (v. 41a), who accepted John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus (verbal – cf. v. 37a) by “following” Him (non-verbal – cf. v. 37b). Who is the second anonymous (cf. John 21:2) “follower”?¹⁰⁹ Is it Philip (cf. vv. 43–46, 48 and 6:5, 7; 12:21–22; 14:8–9), the so-called “beloved disciple” (cf. 13:23; 19:26–27; 21:7, 20–24) respectively the “other disciple” (cf. 18:15–16; 20:2–10) or somebody else (of His disciples)? Both found that what they sought (cf. v. 38c) – the “Lamb of God” (vv. 29b, 36b), the “Son of God” (v. 34b), the “Rabbi” (vv. 38e, 49b).

+ The Call of Simon Peter (vv. 41–42)

v. 41: “First” Andrew “found”¹¹⁰ (vv. 41a, c, 43c, 45a, d) his “brother” (v. 40a and John 6:8; Mark 1:16; Matthew 4:18; 10:2; Luke 6:14) and he informed him (cf., for example, John 4:28; 20:24–29; Acts 4:20; Romans 10:17) about the “finding” of “the Messiah” (Hebrew – in Greek “ho Chrɩstós” – cf. vv. 17b, 20c, 25c, 41c) that means “the anointed” (v. 41d and John 4:25).

v. 42: Andrew led his brother “Simon”¹¹¹ (in Greek “Símon” in vv. 40a, 41a₂, 42c) to “Jesus” who “looked at” (v. 36a) the “newcomer” and welcomed him, saying: “Simon, the son of” (cf. v. 45e) “John” (cf. 21:15b, 16b, 17b). Then He directly gave him the new (nick-)name “Kephãs” (in Hebrew for “rock” – cf. 1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Galatians 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14) respectively “Pétros”¹¹² (in Greek in vv. 40a, 42e and cf. Mark 3:16/Luke 6:14; Matthew 16:18). So we have a double way to identify two very important persons (VIP) of the Fourth Gospel in verses 41–42: First, Andrew titled Jesus with the messianic title “Messiah”/“Christ”, however Jesus named Simon “Cephas”/“Peter”.

The call of the first three disciples (Andrew, the other unnamed disciple, Simon Peter) is like a “domino effect”¹¹³ or a “wild fire”:

John the Baptist → Andrew and a second one (cf. vv. 35–37) –

Jesus → Andrew and the unnamed one (cf. vv. 38–39/40) –

Andrew → Simon (cf. vv. 41–42a) –

Jesus → Simon (cf. v. 42b–d).

- The Call of Philip and Nathanael (vv. 43–51)

In the same way, Jesus first “found” (vv. 41a, c, 43c, 45a, d) Philip (cf. v. 43) who “found” and informed “Nathanael” about Jesus (cf. v. 45) so that both became His disciples:

Jesus → Philip (v. 43 [– if the unnamed second man is Philip¹¹⁴ then also vv. 35–37; John the Baptist → Andrew and Philip]) –

Jesus → Andrew and the unnamed one (vv. 38–39) –

Philip → Nathanael (vv. 45–46) –

Jesus → Nathanael (vv. 47–51).

As in verses 39 (as an order), 42, Jesus called His disciples after His seeing¹¹⁵ (cf. vv. 38b, 42b, 48e, 50c and Mark 1:16, 19/Matthew 4:18, 21; Mark 2:14; Matthew 9:9) by His word (cf. vv. 43 [as an order], 47–51).

+ The Call of Philip (vv. 43–44)

v. 43: As in verses 29a, 35a, the phrase “the next day” (in Greek “tẽ epaúrɩon”) introduces the call of “Philip”¹¹⁶ (cf. vv. 43e, 44a, 45a, 46c, 48d and John 6:5, 7; 12:21–22; 14:8–9) on His way to “Galilee”¹¹⁷ (cf. 2:1; 4:3, 43, 54; 7:1, 9). “Jesus” “found” (vv. 41a, c, 43c, 45a, d) Philip there and called upon him (cf., for example, 1 Kings 19:19): “Follow me” – note also the imperative in John 21:19, 22; Mark 2:14; 8:34; 10:21; Matthew 8:22; 9:9; 16:24; 19:21, 28; Luke 5:27; 9:23, 59; 18:22[; Acts 12:8]. To follow Jesus means going behind Jesus as the leader and acting according to His will – then and now.

v. 44: The Fourth Evangelist has linked Jesus’ call of “Philip” and His first call of the two brothers “Andrew” (cf. vv. 40–41) and Simon “Peter” (cf. vv. 40–42) with the remark that these three disciples were citizens of the same Galilean “town”¹¹⁸ “Bethsaida”¹¹⁹ (= “House of Fish”). According to Mark 1:16–18/Matthew 4:18–20; Luke 5:1–11, Simon Peter and Andrew were fishermen there.

+ The Call of Nathanael (vv. 45–51)

v. 45: After the call of “Philip”, he “found” (vv. 41a, c, 43c, 45a, d) “Nathanael” (in Greek “Nathanael”¹²⁰ [= God has given] in vv. 45a, 46a, 47a, 48a, 49a and John 21:2) (“from the Galilean Cana” [21:2] – cf. 2:1a) and informed him (cf. v. 41b): “[We have found] the one ( ) Moses¹²¹ in the Law¹²²” (cf. v. 17a and 7:19, 23; 8:5; Luke 2:22; 24:44; Acts 13:38; 15:5; 28:23; Romans 10:5; 1 Corinthians 9:9; Hebrews 9:19; 10:28) – as the Torah, the first of three parts of the Hebrew Bible with the five “books of Moses” –

“and the prophets” (cf. vv. 21f, 23d, 25d and Luke 24:27) – as the second part of the Hebrew Bible, the so-called “TaNaK”¹²³ –

(wrote) [ ]” (cf. John 6:45; 8:17; 10:34; 15:25 – 20:30–31; 21:24–25) –

“Jesus of Nazareth” (in Greek “Nazaréth” in vv. 45d, 46b – cf. 18:5, 7; 19:19),

“the son of” (v. 42c) “Joseph”¹²⁴ (cf. John 6:42 and Luke 3:23; 4:22 – “the son of Mary” in Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55) – so the earthly origin/identification of Jesus in contrast to verse 49.

v. 46: “Nathanael” ironically asked Philip with a negative prejudice: “From Nazareth?” (v. 45d) – “Can anything good come /there/?”

As in verse 39b, Philip said to him: “Come and see” – note the imperatives in present tense!

v. 47: In the same way as in verse 42, “Jesus” “saw” (in Greek “eῖden”/“eῖdon”, Aorist of “horáo” in vv. 47a, 48f, 50c) “Nathanael coming to Him” and He started a dialogue with him: “Behold” (cf. vv. 29b, 36b), here “truly /is an/ I s r a e lite¹²⁵” without “guile/trick/deceit”¹²⁶ (cf. Psalm 31:2 [LXX]; Zephaniah 3:13 versus Genesis 27:35).

v. 48: “Nathanael” was surprised, asking: “From where¹²⁷/how do you know me?” – as in verse 42c, Jesus knew “Simon, the son of John”.

“( ) Jesus (answered) … him”: “Before ( ) Philip called¹²⁸ (you),

when you were under the fig tree¹²⁹” – note the parallel with verse 50c,

“I saw you” – note the parallel with verse 50c.

v. 49: “Nathanael” declared Him in the form of a creed: “Rabbi” (v. 38e),

“You are the ‘Son of God’” (v. 34b and John 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31) –

“You ( ) are /the/ (King¹³⁰) of I s r a e l” (cf. 12:13 and Mark 15:32; Matthew 27:42) – note the divine/transcendental/heavenly identification of Jesus as a qualitative climax to the earthly origin according to Nathanael in verse 46. Nathanael changed his mind in a positive way.

vv. 50–51: “( ) Jesus (answered) … him”: “Because I told you

I saw you” – note the parallel with verse 48f –

under the fig tree” – note the cross-reference with verse 48e –

do “you believe¹³¹”?

Jesus added His saying with a comparative:

“( ) You will see” – note the Future Singular of “horáo” – “(greater) /things than/ these.”

He substantiated His saying after an introductory statement “amen, amen, I say to you” (cf. John [3:3, 5, 11]; 5:24–25; 6:26; 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20–21, 38; 14:12; 16:20, 23[; 21:18]) in the form of a prophecy as follows:

“You will see” – note the future plural of “horáo” – “Heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending¹³² on the ‘Son of Man’¹³³” without the seven signs on earth in 2:1–11:44.

We can resume that John the Baptist, Simon Peter and Nathanael confessed with the help of the messianic titles that “Jesus of Nazareth” (v. 46), “the son of Joseph” (v. 46) and “Rabbi” (vv. 38e, 49b), is “the Lamb of God” (vv. 29b, 36b), the “Son of God” (vv. 34b, 49b), the “Messiah” (v. 41c), the “King of Israel” (v. 49c), the “Son of Man” (v. 51e). His first disciples sought (cf. v. 38c) Him and He saw (cf. vv. 42b, 47a) and found (cf. vv. 43c, 45d) them – Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, Nathanael (and an unnamed person in verse 40a): “Come and (you will) see” (in Greek “horáo” in vv. 39b, 46d) is the invitation for them and also for us nowadays. After His Resurrection, the Crucified “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (19.19) and the Risen Jesus “Christ”, the “Son of God” (20:31), sent¹³⁴ His disciples (cf. 20:19–23) on Easter Sunday in contrast to the Synoptic Gospels – note the sending of the disciples in Mark 6:7–13; Matthew 10:1, 5–14; Luke 9:1–6; 10:1–16 during Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee.