John 1:45-51

“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’”

In Bible days, “under the fig tree,” meant reading or studying something important. So when Jesus told Nathanael, “I saw you under the fig tree,” he simply meant, “I saw you reading.” Why should such a simple observation lead Nathanael to exclaim that Jesus was the Son of God? Because Jesus understood Nathan’s heart and Jesus could see that Nathan was troubled by the deceitfulness of the character Jacob, also called Israel, in the book of Genesis: the book Nathan was reading under the fig tree. How could Israel, a liar and a cheat, be a forefather of God’s chosen people? Sometimes the Bible is hard to understand. Jesus knew that and comforted Nathan. Jesus reassured him, “here is a true son of Israel, in who’s heart there is no deceit,” and Jesus proclaimed that, because Nathan’s heart desired strongly to understand God’s plan, he would see Heaven opened and the angels of God ascend and descend on the Son of Man; just like in Jacob’s dream. (Gen. 28)

Jesus appreciated Nathan’s desire to understand complex ideas and issues in God’s Word. For us, to be under the fig tree, means to be working hard to understand complex ideas about the Bible, just like Nathan did. That hard work defines our lives at Friendship Christian Academy and the work we do in the A.C.E. curriculum. Join us each week as we endeavor to educate ourselves and to better understand the Bible, Jesus’ teachings, and our relationship with God Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection make possible.