Have you ever waited? Perhaps you’ve waited at a bus stop, an airport gate, or a doctor’s office. We probably all have. But what if what we are waiting for is not immediate? What if it takes time to arrive? What then? Well, we simply keep waiting. 

In John 1:43-51 a man named Nathanael is pictured sitting under a fig tree. We do not specifically know why he was under a fig tree, shade? study? but there are some lessons to learn from his sitting, and his apparent wait. 

As this scene opens, Yeshua/Jesus is calling disciples. One of those called, Philip, turns and finds Nathanael. Philip excitedly tells him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (Jn. 1:45). 

This is where, perhaps, Nathanael’s wait becomes more clear: messianic hope. 

Philip brings news that the Messiah has come, and come from Nazareth! “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asks. “Come and see.” (Jn. 1:46). Such wisdom in those three little words: come and see.

Yeshua saw Nathanael, not just as he approached, but, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (Jn. 1:48). John’s account echoes the revelation of the Lord as אֵל רֳאִי, El Roi, “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13). 

“How do you know me?” (Jn. 1:48). Yeshua says, “Before Philip called you, while you were beneath the fig tree, I saw you.” We are not told what Nathanael was doing there. Perhaps he was praying, studying Torah, or quietly waiting in hope. Whatever occupied his heart, Yeshua knew.

Jesus refers to Nathanael in a rather unusual fashion, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” (Jn. 1:47). Rather than simply calling Nathanael a Jew, Yeshua deliberately calls him “an Israelite indeed,’ recalling Jacob’s transformation into Israel. His description, ‘in whom there is no deceit,’ points directly back to Jacob, whose life had once been marked by deception. 

There is no lying, no trickery, no sneaking or conniving. He is honestly waiting beneath the fig tree, in messianic hope.

In Micah we read of this hope, “But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken” (Mic. 4:4; cf. 4:3).

Perhaps Nathanael was anticipating this hope; after all, the first century was filled with messianic expectation, as the Jewish people lived under Roman oppression. The hope described by Micah concerns peace, specifically a peace when the coming one, described by Moses, had arrived. 

Vines require years before they bear abundant fruit. Fig trees likewise mature slowly. Micah’s vision is one of settled peace, a day when the Lord’s people no longer hurry from danger to danger but rest beneath fruitful branches in the security of Messiah’s reign.

Yeshua concludes this dialog by again referencing Jacob, and the ladder vision. By pairing ‘an Israelite indeed’ with the vision of Jacob’s ladder, Yeshua invites Nathanael to see himself within Israel’s story. Just as the Lord met Jacob before his exile and transformed him, Nathanael is now encountering the God of Israel in the Messiah. But there is a time of exile before him, but fear not, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (Jn. 1:51). 

Just before Jacob enter his first exile, the Lord appears to him, and assured him of His presence in that exile, in his wait. For Nathanael, the One he was waiting for arrived, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” How was he able to make such a declaration? אֵל רֳאִי, El Roi, “God saw me.” And when God sees you, greater things are yet to be seen (Jn. 1:50). 

Nathanael, by sitting under the fig tree was seated beneath the promise of Micah. In effect, he took hold of the promise of God, and was waiting. As I’ve said in messages before: hope takes hold, and faith holds on. 

What is your fig tree? What are you waiting for? Or more precisely, Who are you waiting for? Be assured that He sees you, and He will be your peace. The One who saw Nathanael beneath the fig tree still sees people today. He sees your waiting. He knows your questions. He has not forgotten His promises. And while you wait, He Himself will be your peace.  

Maranatha. Shalom.