They were just a couple of young guys but when they met Jesus, they didn’t hesitate to follow him. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist but when John declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God, he followed Jesus instead. Andrew rushed to find his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah”. They became two of Jesus’ first disciples.
The following day on the way to Galilee, Jesus found Philip. “Come, follow me”. Philip went to find his friend, Nathanael. “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about,… Jesus.”( John 1:45) Moses was credited with writing the first five books of the Bible known as the Torah. In Genesis, he wrote about the coming one who would crush Satan under his feet. It was as if the Prophets had a telescope through which they could see a glimpse of what God is doing and will do.
Nathanael was the first of the disciples to have his own special encounter with Jesus. Nathanael was the first to call him ‘Rabbi’ and said “you are the son of God, the King of Israel.’
Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” John 1:51
Jesus told him he would see more amazing things, like this Angelic stairway. This image connects Jesus to his forefather, Jacob, who dreamt he saw the angels ascending and descending on a stairway to Heaven. God took Jacob to the very top of those stairs and made him a promise. “I will give you children as countless as the dust.”
Moses made the connection between this promise and the coming Messiah. The people of Israel, like Philip and Nathanael, grew up hearing these stories at Sunday School.. Their year revolved around a series of feasts and sacrifices, Sabbath rules and Torah portions read aloud in the Temple. They knew that the Messiah would come one day. They were waiting for him.
Imagine how they felt, then, meeting this person who spoke of Angels ascending and descending on top of himself.
Could this be the Messiah? The one they were looking for?
The next day Jesus went to a wedding feast in Cana.
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