John 1:45Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

If Philip calls Christ the son of Joseph, do not be troubled. At that time He was still considered the son of Joseph.

But how is it clear to you, Philip, that He is the very One of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote? What proof will you give us? Verbal testimony alone is not enough. What sign did you see? What miracle? In such matters it is not safe simply to believe without proofs.

What proof, then, do you have? Philip answers us: the same as Andrew had. Andrew lacked the power to describe the wealth he had found. Finding no words to describe this treasure, he led his brother to Him whom he had found.

So also Philip does not explain to Nathanael why Jesus is the Christ, or how the prophets foretold Him. Instead, he draws him to Jesus, knowing that he will not depart from Jesus once he tastes His words and His teaching.

Philip also does not keep the good for himself, but passes it on to Nathanael. Since Nathanael was skilled in the Law, Philip directs him to the Law and the Prophets, because he diligently exercised himself in the Law.

He calls the Lord the "Son of Joseph," because at that time He was still considered the Son of Joseph.

He calls Him a "Nazarene," although properly He was a Bethlehemite, because He was born in Bethlehem but raised in Nazareth. Since His birth was unknown to many, while His upbringing was known, they called Him a Nazarene, as one raised in Nazareth.

Among the Jews an erroneous opinion prevailed concerning our Savior Jesus Christ, that He came from the city or village of Nazareth. Yet Divine Scripture plainly calls Him a Bethlehemite: "And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are you little among the thousands of Judah? From you shall come forth for Me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Mic 5:2).

He was only brought up in Nazareth. The Evangelist testified to this in one place, saying, "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up" (Lk 4:16). But He was not from there. We have already said whence He was, or rather, the voice of the prophet has testified it.

Therefore, following the opinion of the Jews, Philip says, "Jesus of Nazareth."

How should this be understood, brethren? Not as some pronounce it. It is commonly pronounced, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" This is especially because Philip's words follow: "Come and see" (Jn 1:46).

These words of Philip may follow either reading. Either you pronounce the phrase as an assertion: "From Nazareth there can be something good," and the other answers, "Come and see." Or you pronounce it as a doubtful question: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" and the other answers, "Come and see."

Whether it is pronounced one way or the other, the following words do not contradict it. But we must consider how these words are more rightly understood.

What sort of man this Nathanael was, we learn from the words that follow. Listen to what sort of man he was. The Lord Himself bears witness concerning him.

As the great Lord was revealed through the testimony of John the Baptist, so blessed Nathanael was revealed through the testimony of the Truth. Yet even if the Lord had not been testified to by John, He Himself would have borne witness to Himself, because the Truth is sufficient for Its own testimony.

But because men could not find the truth, they sought it with the help of a lamp. Therefore John was sent, so that through him the Lord might be revealed.

He also calls Jesus Christ the son of Joseph either because many thought and called Him so, or because he did not yet know precisely that Christ was not the son of Joseph but the Son of God.

He considers Nazareth His homeland either because he did not know that He was born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:1), or because He was raised in Nazareth. For this reason He was also called a Nazorean or Nazarene (Lk 4:16).

But Nathanael, hearing the name of Nazareth and being doubtful, questioned Philip in this way (Mk 10:47).

Like all Jews, he expected the Messiah in the splendor of earthly majesty. Yet he followed Jesus without contradiction, though Jesus was a poor Man and outwardly quite unlike the conqueror who would subject all the nations of the earth to Israel, as the Jews of that time imagined in their blindness.

Philip's friend Nathanael strengthens us in this supposition. He had not heard John's testimony about Jesus, and therefore did not at once believe that Jesus of Nazareth could be the Messiah.

In any case, Philip followed Jesus, and after conversing with Him he came to full faith in Him. Meeting Nathanael, he joyfully told him that Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth, was the One of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote.

By calling Jesus the son of Joseph from Nazareth, Philip of course did not know that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem and was not the son of Joseph. In speaking this way, he repeated the generally accepted opinion about Jesus' origin.

Nathanael belonged to that class of men who first try to be convinced of the truth of what they are asked to believe. Knowing that the inhabitants of Nazareth did not have a good reputation, he doubted Philip's words and said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

Philip did not begin to argue with him. He left him to be convinced for himself that Jesus of Nazareth truly was the promised Messiah. "Come and see," Philip said to him.

Rabbi Isaac said, "Four things have power to change a man's destiny: almsgiving, prayer, change of heart, and change of name." We have examples of such a change of name in Simon, who received the new name Cephas or Peter, and in Joses, who later became better known as Barnabas (Jn 1:42; Acts 4:36).

Living in Cana of Galilee, Bartholomew could easily have become acquainted with the young fisherman from Bethsaida. Simple-hearted Philip, it seems, took special delight in setting the majesty of Christ's ministry beside His origin from an insignificant town.

"We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote," he said to his friend, namely, "Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

Andrew says directly, "We have found the Messiah." Philip expresses the same idea differently: "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote." That is, the great Prophet and Savior, the Messiah, foretold by Moses and the Prophets and promised to our forefathers and fathers.

"Nathanael was a precise man and sought out the truth in everything, as Christ testified and as the event itself showed. Therefore Philip did well to refer him to Moses and the Prophets. In this way he disposed Nathanael to receive Him whom he preached to him" (Chrysostom).

Moses "in the Law": among the Hebrews, the Law meant the five books written by Moses, later called the Pentateuch. In it there are many promises and prophecies concerning the future Redeemer. Such are the promises to Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15), to Abraham and Isaac (Gen 12:7; cf. Gal 3:16), the prophecy of Jacob (Gen 49:10), of Balaam (Num 24:17 and following), and especially Moses' clear prophecy concerning a prophet like himself. All Hebrew antiquity referred this prophecy to the coming Messiah (Deut 18:15-18).

"And the Prophets": the extraordinary messengers of God in the Old Testament, true guides of the people's right religious and moral life, often prophesied about the coming and person of the Messiah who was to come.

There are especially many prophecies concerning Him in Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets, whom the Fathers of the Church rightly call the Evangelist of the Old Testament. Not only the Gospels, but also other books of the New Testament, are filled with quotations from him.

"Jesus, the son of Joseph": he spoke in accordance with the popular opinion, not yet knowing the Lord's supernatural conception and birth. The Lord was only the supposed son of Joseph, while He was the true Son of the Virgin Mary (Lk 2:4 and following; Mt 1:18 and following).

"From Nazareth": there the Lord Jesus was raised and spent His childhood and youth, although He was born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:1; Lk 2:4 and following). Philip, as is evident, did not yet know this last circumstance, or he spoke according to the popular opinion that the Lord came from Nazareth. Compare Chrysostom and Theophylact.

The Knower of hearts saw that Philip's soul, prepared by conversation with his fellow citizens, was ready to follow Him. Therefore He offers Philip neither instructions nor exhortations, but only says, "Follow Me." And Philip followed. What Philip then heard from Jesus justified his expectations.

The calling of Nathanael described here in John, the words spoken of him by the Lord (verses 47 and 50), and even the indirect circumstance that he was not proposed for the lot in place of Judas the betrayer (Acts 1:23), seem to indicate that Nathanael was among the twelve Apostles.

The word "Bartholomew," as scholars note, is not a name but a patronymic. Bar-Talmai means "son of Talmai." Nathanael, however, is a name, and its meaning is "gift of God."

Therefore it seems reasonable to think that John the Theologian called by name the Apostle whom the other Evangelists called by patronymic.

There is also a tradition, mentioned by Saint Epiphanius (Adv. Haeres. 1), that Nathanael was one of the two disciples going to Emmaus. The Lord spoke with them on the day of the Resurrection and revealed Himself to them in the breaking of bread (Lk 24:13).