John 1:50Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What in these words requires inquiry? Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), after so many miracles and after such teaching. He is blessed as one who had received revelation from the Father.

Nathanael said the same thing before the miracles and before the teaching. Yet he heard nothing similar from Christ. Rather, as though he had not yet said as much as he ought, he is stirred to expect greater revelations.

What is the reason for this? Though Peter and Nathanael uttered the same words, they did not have one and the same thought. Peter confessed Jesus as Son of God, as true God. Nathanael confessed Him as a mere man.

From what is this clear? From Nathanael's following words. Having said, "You are the Son of God," he added, "You are the King of Israel." But the Son of God is King not only of Israel, but of the whole universe.

This is clear not only from this, but also from what follows. To Peter's words Christ added nothing. As though Peter's faith were already perfect, He said that on this confession He would build His Church (cf. Mt 16:18).

But He did not act this way with Nathanael. On the contrary, in Nathanael's confession much seemed still lacking, and something better.

Do you see how Christ little by little leads him up from the earth and teaches him not to imagine Him as a mere man? Can He be a man, to whom angels minister and for whom angels ascend and descend?

Therefore He said, "You will see greater things than these," and, explaining this, He added the ministry of angels. The meaning of His words is this: Nathanael, this seemed great to you, and for this you recognize Me as King of Israel.

What will you say when you see angels ascending and descending for Me? By such words Christ taught him to recognize Him as Master even of the angels.

As to the true Son of the King, these royal ministers ascended and descended to Christ: during the Passion, during the Resurrection, and during the Ascension. Even before this they came and ministered to Him (cf. Mt 4:11).

They ministered when they announced His birth, when they cried, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace" (Lk 2:14), and when they came to Mary and Joseph.

Even before the events, He assured him of this by what He said about the present. Whoever from the past has come to know His power can, when hearing of the future, more readily accept the prophecy concerning the future.

The Lord "saw" Nathanael. Concerning this they say that He mercifully looked upon him and knew his understanding, although he was still under the Law.

I ask you, if you delight in such things, pay attention also to this: the Lord saw Nathanael under the fig tree, or under the Law, that is, within the Law, searching its depths. If he had not searched the depth of the Law, the Lord would not have seen him.

Know also that "Galilee" means "cast down." Therefore the Lord came into the cast-down land of the whole world, or into human nature. As the Lover of mankind, He looked upon us who were under the fig tree, that is, under sin.

Sin is sweet for a time, but no small sharpness is joined to it because of repentance and the punishments to come there. Those who acknowledge Him as Son of God and King of Israel, that is, King of the one who sees God, He chose for Himself.

So also the Church, brothers, that is, the angels of God, the good heralds who proclaim Christ, ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. How do they ascend and how do they descend? We have one example. Listen to the Apostle Paul. What we find in him, that we shall believe concerning the trustworthy heralds of the truth.

See where he ascended: to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2-4). See where he descended: to give milk to infants (1 Cor 3:1-2). Some eloquent father, even if he is such an orator that public squares tremble and tribunals shake at his speeches, if he has a small son, leaves behind the eloquence of the squares to which he had risen when he returns home. He descends to the infant, speaking to him in a child's language.

The Lord says further: You believe because I said to you, "I saw you under the fig tree." You shall see greater things than these (Jn 1:50). What does "you shall see greater things than these" mean? Listen to what follows: "And He says to him: Truly, truly, I say to you, from now on you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51).

Brothers, this is something greater than, "I saw you under the fig tree." For the fact that the Lord called us and justified us is greater than the fact that He saw us lying under the shadow of death. What profit would there have been for us if we remained where He saw us? Would we not still have been lying there?

What does "greater than these" mean? When did we see angels ascending and descending to the Son of Man?

I once spoke already about those ascending and descending angels. Blessed Augustine most likely alludes to his Expositions on the Psalms, 394-418. Yet, lest you forget, I shall briefly repeat myself, as though confirming what has already been said. I would speak more fully if I were now not reminding you, but entering more deeply into this subject.

Jacob saw a ladder in a dream, and on this ladder he saw angels ascending and descending. He anointed the stone which had been at his head, cf. Gen 28:12-18. You have already heard that Messiah is Christ. You have already heard that the Anointed One is Christ.

Indeed, Jacob did not anoint the stone in order to come to it and worship it. Otherwise it would have been idolatry, not an indication of Christ. Thus an indication was made, and in it Christ was foretold until the time came for the indication to be fulfilled.

The stone was anointed, but not as an idol. The stone was anointed. But why a stone? Because it is said: "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, tested and precious. He who believes in Him shall not be put to shame" (cf. Is 28:16; 1 Pet 2:6). Why was it anointed? Because Christ comes from anointing, chrisma.

What, then, did he see on the ladder? Angels ascending and descending. Such is the Church also, brothers. The angels of God are good preachers, preachers of Christ. That is, they ascend and descend upon the Son of Man.

How do they ascend? How do they descend? We know this from one example. Listen to the Apostle Paul. On the basis of what we find in him, let us think also about the other preachers of the Truth.

Look at Paul ascending: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows, was caught up to the third heaven and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor 12:2-4).

You have heard him ascending. Listen to him descending: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to carnal, as to infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food" (1 Cor 3:1-2). Behold, he descended who had first ascended.

Do you ask where he ascended? Up to the third heaven. Do you ask where he descended? So far as to feed infants with milk. Listen to how he descended: "I became gentle among you, as a nurse cares for her children" (cf. 1 Thess 2:7).

For we see how nurses and mothers lower themselves to infants. As if they did not know Latin words, they shorten them, and in a certain way break their tongue, so as to turn ordered speech into childish and affectionate speech. If they spoke correctly, the infant would not understand them, and the infant would gain no benefit from their words.

So also an eloquent father, even if he is such an orator that his speeches resound through forums and shake courts, if he has a small son, leaves behind the eloquence of the courtroom when he returns home. Using childish language, he descends to the child.

Hear one passage in the Apostle, how he ascends and descends: "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are sober, it is for you" (2 Cor 5:13). What does "we are beside ourselves, for God" mean? It means that we see what it is not lawful for a man to utter.

What does "we are sober, for you" mean? Listen: "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). If the Lord Himself ascended and descended, then clearly His preachers also ascend in imitation of Him and descend in preaching Him.

If we have kept you a little longer than usual, it was so that the dangerous hours might pass. We suppose that those who neglected the sermon have already completed their vain festival. But we, brothers, having nourished ourselves with saving food, should do what remains. Let us complete the Lord's day as is fitting, in spiritual joys, and compare the joys of salvation with the joys of vanity.

If we are horrified, let us grieve. If we grieve, let us pray. If we pray, may we be heard. If we are heard, we shall also gain those who have turned away from the truth.

The Jews called the Messiah whom they awaited the Son of David. In certain cases, those who acknowledged Jesus Christ as the Messiah called Him this. But Jesus Himself never called Himself so. He even explained to the scribes and Pharisees that Christ, the Messiah, cannot be called this, because David himself, by inspiration, calls Him Lord (Mt 22:41-45; Mk 12:35-37; Lk 20:40-44).

Why, then, did Jesus call Himself the Son of Man? And what does this title mean?

Christ came to save not only the Jews, but all people, the whole human race. His purpose was to be Mediator between God and mankind. That is, He came to reveal God's will to all people and teach them to fulfill it, to be an example for their imitation, to reconcile God with the fallen human race, and to free men from bondage to sin, from this terrible captivity. In other words, He came to ransom them from this captivity, and by His life and sufferings to redeem them.

But in order to fulfill such a calling, the Mediator had to belong equally to God and to mankind. He had to be not only God, but also Man, that is, the God-man. And since our Lord Jesus Christ was precisely such a Mediator, He called Himself both the Son of God and the Son of Man.

He called Himself the Son of God rather rarely, only when it was necessary to reveal to the Jews His divine origin. But He constantly called Himself the Son of Man, in all His teachings and in His conversations with the disciples. By calling Himself this, He wished to say that He is the Representative before God of all mankind, and not only of the people of Israel. He is the Son of Humanity.

When Jesus Christ told His disciples that they would see angels ascending and descending to Him, the Son of Man, He thereby made them understand that He is more than the King of Israel. He is the King of the angels, the King of the universe.

Christ spoke to the disciples about angels descending to Him from heaven and then ascending back from Him. He said this shortly after His temptation by the devil. We know that when Christ rejected all the devil's temptations, "angels came and ministered to Him" (Mt 4:11). They came to Him, meaning that they descended from heaven, and after their ministry they ascended again to heaven.

At the Lord's Transfiguration, the Apostles Peter, James, and John saw the prophets Moses and Elijah, who had descended from heaven (Mt 17:3; Mk 9:4; Lk 9:30). In the garden of Gethsemane, after Jesus' third prayer concerning the cup, "an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him" (Lk 22:43).

On the third day after Jesus' burial, "an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came and rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb, and sat upon it" (Mt 28:2). Mary Magdalene and the other myrrh-bearing women saw this angel, and also another (Mt 28:5; Mk 16:5; Lk 24:4; Jn 20:12).

At the Lord's Ascension, when a cloud received Him out of their sight, that is, out of the Apostles' sight, "two men," two angels, "stood by them in white apparel" (Acts 1:9-10). Here is the confirmation of the Lord's words about angels descending and ascending.

This confession of Nathanael was rewarded with the promise that afterward he would see still greater things. They all would "from now on see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51).

The title "Son of Man," applied to the Messiah, was used by the prophet Daniel (Dan 7:13). It was the beloved title by which Christ named Himself, applying it to Himself about eighty times.

It is remarkable that none of the New Testament writers yet applies this title to Him, except in passages relating to His heavenly glorification.

As true Israelites well read in Holy Scripture, these words had to remind them of the wondrous vision of the ladder seen by their forefather Jacob.

He who in that vision stood at the top of the ladder has now come down to earth and is present with them as the Son of Man. They were soon to be convinced of this by the works He began to perform.

Here one should recall the entirely similar image presented by the Savior on another occasion. "From now on," says the Savior at the trial before Caiaphas, "you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mt 26:64).

Let us add that, at the trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus spoke those words in answer to Caiaphas' question: "Are You the Christ, the Son of God?" Likewise, in the conversation with Nathanael, the words now considered followed Nathanael's confession: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God."

After this it is clear that the indication of the royal majesty of the Son of Man, surrounded by angels, serves to strengthen and elevate Nathanael's faith in the divine dignity of Jesus the Messiah.

If we asked ourselves to what time this majesty of the Son of Man belongs, then, because of the expression "from now on," we would have no right to deprive the Savior's earthly life of this glory.

Yet we must also remain convinced that the full revelation of the glory of the Son of Man will follow at the universal judgment of the crucified Son of God.

The Son of Man is portrayed this way in other places of Scripture also: Mt 25:31; Mt 13:49; Mt 16:27; 2 Thess 1:7; 1 Thess 4:16.