John 1:51Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The meaning of His words is this: Nathanael, this seemed great to you, namely, that Christ saw you under the fig tree before Philip came to you. For this you acknowledge Me as King of Israel. What, then, will you say when you see angels ascending and descending for Me?

By such words Christ taught him to acknowledge Him as Lord even of the angels. As to the true Son of the King, these royal ministers ascended and descended to Christ. This happened at the time of His Passion, at the Resurrection, and at the Ascension.

Even before this they came and ministered to Him. They did so 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 to Joseph.

But here also Christ does as He does in many other cases. He utters two prophecies, and immediately reveals the truth of one. The other, which concerns the future, He confirms through the present.

Of these, the one already proved is this: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." The other was to be fulfilled in the future, and in part was already being fulfilled even then. This was the ascent and descent of the angels, at His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Even before the events, He already gave assurance of this by what He said about the present. Whoever had learned His power from the past could more readily accept, when hearing of the future, the prophecy concerning the future.

What then did Nathanael do? He answered nothing to this. Therefore Christ also ended His conversation with him at this point. He left him to ponder what had been said, and did not wish to reveal everything at once.

Having cast the seeds into fruitful soil, He allows it to bring forth fruit in its own time. He expressed this elsewhere in the following words: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away" (Mt 13:24-25).

Do you see how Christ little by little raises him from the earth, and teaches him not to think of Him as a mere man? Can He truly be only a man, to whom angels minister, and for whom angels ascend and descend?

Therefore He said, "You will see greater things than these," and in explanation of this He added the matter of the angelic ministry. The meaning of His words is this: Nathanael, this seemed great to you, and for this you acknowledge Me as King of Israel. What, then, will you say when you see angels ascending and descending for Me?

By such words Christ taught him to acknowledge Him as Lord even of the angels. As to the true Son of the King, these royal ministers ascended and descended to Christ at His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Even before this they came and ministered to Him (cf. Mt 4:11), 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 to Joseph.

Even before the events, He already gave assurance of this by what He said about the present. Whoever had learned His power from the past could more readily accept, when hearing of the future, the prophecy concerning the future.

So also the Church, brethren, 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, let us believe also concerning the trustworthy heralds of the truth.

Look where he ascended: "to the third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2-4). Look where he descended: to give milk to infants (1 Cor 3:1-2).

So too, an eloquent father, even if he is such an orator that the marketplaces tremble and the tribunals are shaken by his speeches, lays aside the eloquence of the marketplace when he returns home and has a little son. He descends to the infant, speaking to him in childish speech.

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

Brethren, this is something greater than, "I saw you under the fig tree." For it is greater that the Lord, having called us, justified us, than that He saw us lying under the shadow of death.

For what profit would there have been for us if we had 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 upon the Son of Man?

I have already spoken once about those angels ascending and descending. Yet lest you forget, I shall briefly repeat it, as though confirming what has already been said. I would speak at greater length if I were now expounding this theme, rather than recalling it.

Jacob saw a ladder in a dream, and on this ladder he saw angels ascending and descending. He anointed the stone that had been under 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 so that he might come to it and worship it. Otherwise that would have been idolatry, not a sign pointing to Christ. A sign, then, was given. In it Christ was foretold until the time when the sign was 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 a stone, a tested stone, precious; whoever believes in Him shall not be put to shame" (cf. Isa 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. So too is the Church, brethren. 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. From what we find in him, let us think likewise concerning 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 ineffable words which man may not utter" (2 Cor 12:2-4).

You have heard him ascending. Now listen to him descending: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food" (1 Cor 3:1-2). See, he who ascended has descended.

Do you ask where he ascended? Even 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 cherishes her children" (cf. 1 Thess 2:7).

For we see how nurses and mothers lower themselves to infants. As though they did not know Latin words, they shorten them. In a certain way they break their own speech, so as to make orderly language childish and affectionate. If they spoke correctly, the infant would not understand, and their words would be of no profit to him.

Likewise an eloquent father, even if he is such an orator that his speeches resound through forums and shake the courts, leaves behind the eloquence of the court when he returns home and has a little son. He had risen to that eloquence, yet with childish speech he descends to the child.

Hear in one passage from 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 it mean, "we are beside ourselves, for God"? It means that we see what man may not utter.

What does it mean, "we are sober, for you"? 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 by imitating Him, and descend by preaching Him.

If we have detained you a little longer than usual, it was so that the dangerous hours might pass. We suppose that those who neglected the preaching have already finished their vain celebration.

But we, brethren, having nourished ourselves with saving food, let us do what remains. Let us complete the Lord's Day as is fitting, in spiritual joys. Let us 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, then we shall gain even those who have turned aside from the truth.

What Jesus Christ does in other cases, He does here also. Having uttered two prophecies, one definite, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you," and the other indefinite, "You will see heaven opened," and so forth, He confirms the indefinite by the definite.

Therefore Nathanael fell silent, and Jesus Christ stopped at these words, leaving him to ponder everything that had been said in his own way. Having cast the seed onto good soil, He left it to grow in its own time.

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 even greater things. All of them would 'from henceforth see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man' (Jn 1:51).

The title 'Son of Man,' as 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 noteworthy that none of the New Testament writers themselves apply this title to Him, apart from passages concerning His heavenly glorification.

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

He who in that vision stood above the ladder had now come down to earth. He was present with them as the Son of Man. They would soon be convinced of this by the works He began to perform.

"Heaven opened," and so forth: the form of speech is figurative. The image is borrowed from the narrative in Genesis about the dream of the patriarch Jacob. He saw a ladder from earth to heaven, God standing above it in heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it (Gen 28:12-13).

The general meaning of this saying is that from now on, from the time when the Messiah entered upon the work of His ministry, a special closeness of the heavenly inhabitants with those on earth began through Christ Jesus. Through Him, special mercies of God are poured out upon men.

In this sense of special divine mercies or benefactions, the expression "opened heaven" is used also in the Old Testament (Ps 77:23-24).

Correspondingly, the words "you will see" must not be understood as an external sight of heaven sensibly opened, with angels ascending and descending. Nor do they refer only to particular events in the Lord's life when heaven was opened and angels ascended and descended.

The Gospel speaks of only one opening of the heavens, namely at Christ's baptism, when the Apostles had not yet been called (Mt 3 and parallels).

Rather, these words mean the inner contemplation of facts showing the special closeness of heaven, or of God and the heavenly inhabitants, to earth through Jesus Christ.

"Ascending and descending": this expression indicates the ministering role of the angels (Heb 1:14).

"Son of Man": the Lord's humble title, by which He especially loved to call Himself.

Therefore, in particular, by the expression "the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man," the Lord indicates to Nathanael and His other disciples that they will witness a special and extraordinary ministry of the heavenly inhabitants to Him.

In this they must see the clearest testimony concerning Him as a special messenger of God, as the Messiah. This must strengthen their faith in Him more than the single fact of His knowledge of hearts, by which Nathanael believed in Him.

Thus His whole life, the dangers to which He was exposed and from which He was wondrously delivered, the events of His Passion, when an angel appeared in the garden of Gethsemane to strengthen Him. His Resurrection with angelic appearances, and His Ascension, when angels also appeared, all this and the like showed the disciples that angels served Jesus in a special and extraordinary manner.

All this the Lord now presents in a general contemplation under the image of angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

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.