Sunday 18 January 2015

Psalm: Psalm 139

Background

Today marks the beginning of the Octave (or Week) of Prayer forChristian Unity, but this passage is the one set for this Sunday(the second in Ordinary Time) rather than the first day of theOctave.

Verse 43 is the third verse in John 1 to start with the phrase,"The next day" (see also John1:29, 35); each day involved people bearing witness to Jesus.In the previous scene (John 1:35-42) Andrew and another disciple ofJohn (the Baptist) heard John speak and followed Jesus; Andrew thenfound his brother Simon Peter and brought him to Jesus. In thisscene, Jesus found Philip (who, like Andrew and (Simon) Peter, isfrom Bethsaida, a fishing village to the north-east of the Sea ofGalilee) and then Philip found Nathanael, inviting him to "come andsee" (v. 46) Jesus. Nathanael only appears in this passage and inJohn 21:2.

Philip described Jesus as "him about whom Moses in the law andalso the prophets wrote" and as "son of Joseph from Nazareth". Thefirst of these parallels what Andrew said to his brother aboutJesus, "We have found the Messiah" (John1:41); the second speaks of Jesus' family background, which istaken up again in the next story, when Jesus is pictured with hismother at a wedding in Cana (John2:1-12). Nothing is said about why Nathanael looked down onNazareth; it may have been because the town is never referred to inthe Old Testament; nevertheless, Nathanel went with Philip to meetJesus.

Jesus had seen Nathanael "under the fig tree" (v. 50), anexpression that suggests someone is at peace with God and the world(see Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10), and Jesus recognised Nathanaelas "truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit" (v. 48; also seePsalm 24:4). Their encounter radically changedNathanael's estimation of Jesus and he confessed, "you are the Sonof God! You are the King of Israel!" (v. 49; also see Psalm2:7, a verse from a psalm that was probably composed for acoronation). Both these titles relate to Philip's description ofJesus as "him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophetswrote" and Andrew's 'We have found the Messiah' (John1:41).

The passage concludes with Jesus telling Nathanel and others('you' is in the plural) that they will see heaven opened and theangels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (verse51). Jesus is, himself, the Son of Man who descended from andascended to heaven (John 3:13), but here the angels ascend anddescend on him. This image recalls the story of Jacob at Bethelwhere he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth thatreached into heaven on which the angels of God were ascending anddescending (Genesis 28:12). When Jacob woke from sleep hesaid, "Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it!"and, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the houseof God, and this is the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:16-17).

To Ponder

• How do you bear witness to Jesus? What images, titles, andexpressions do you find resonate and make sense for you and thosewith whom you talk?

• What might it mean today to invite someone to "come and see"Jesus? To whom would you like to offer that invitation?

• Are there people and places that open heaven for you? Who andwhere are they?