John 1:32-49 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. I can, the Gospel of John is still in the first chapter. I'm gonna try real hard to finish this chapter off today.

[0:14] Don't know that we'll be able to do that, but I'm gonna try. Last week, honestly, I went a little bit further than I probably should have, but I hated to waste a few minutes of Sunday school at the same time.

[0:27] So I meant to stop at verse 28 last week, and we continued on for a few more verses after that. We began on the section that begins the next day in verse 29, and we talked about how John the Baptist saw Jesus coming.

[0:49] And this was his first exclamation, and behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And John goes on to say in verse 30, this is he of whom I said after me, comeeth a man, which is preferred before me, but he was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel.

[1:08] Therefore, am I come baptizing with water? We talked about these verses briefly last week, and we kind of reiterated how, when he says he's preferred before me, he's preferred before me, for he was before me.

[1:29] And we had talked about that a couple of Sundays ago, how John was really a few months older than Jesus Christ was, so what a really incredible statement that was for him to make, because he would have been an elder to Christ, and his first cousin or not, he would have been an elder.

[1:50] But John's saying that he's preferred before John, even though John is the elder. And he says, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel.

[2:01] Therefore, am I come baptizing with water? He's saying, I knew him not, except for that he should be made manifest to Israel. It's just another way to phrase it.

[2:12] He should be made known to Israel. And we all know that Jesus Christ came at first, and the first part of, or really through all of his ministry.

[2:24] He presented himself to the Jewish nations, and this is the way that it was set forth. Salvation was to come from the Jewish race, or from the Jewish nation.

[2:36] However you would like to phrase that, the Old Testament backs that up. The Redeemer of the world was to come from the Jews, and that's something that a lot of people, even nowadays, have a real issue with.

[2:50] But that's the way that God planned it, and that's the way that it was in John's days, and that's the way that it is now. Jesus Christ was a Jewish man, whether you accept it or not.

[3:02] And he was a Jew, he was from the Jewish line, from the Jewish lineage, and there's nothing that you or I can do about that. That's why I tell people, if you ever see a true blue Jew walking down the sidewalk, you should hug him and kiss him on the noggin, and tell him how much you appreciate them, because your Messiah came from their lineage.

[3:28] But not only that, but the Jews, we all know, rejected Jesus Christ at his coming, had the Jews accepted Christ as the Messiah that the Old Testament predicted would come, had they accepted him right then, there wouldn't be much hope for us Gentiles.

[3:48] Because if you read the Old Testament, you read how things fall, and how things are to be when the King comes, and when all nations are supposed to worship him and all these other things.

[4:01] Had the Jews accepted Christ for who he is, us Gentiles would still be out there in the woods somewhere. We would still be in the dark, but thank God Christ said, I have sheep of another fold when the Jews rejected him.

[4:15] When he came into his own and his own received him not. It's just like Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans, when he said, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and salvation.

[4:29] For the Jews first, then to the Greek. Christ and the Messiah came to the Jews first, and that's the way it was to be, but then to the Greek.

[4:41] So you and I, we came in a close second, but it was second nonetheless, as far as being Gentiles goes. But nevertheless, God made a way through Jesus Christ that both Jew and Gentile could be saved.

[4:54] He said that therefore, am I come baptizing with water? And we talked about that briefly last week, about how baptizing isn't just for the Christian religion, it was for Judaism as well.

[5:07] And it was actually for several other near Eastern religions and thought practices. As far as being accepted into a certain faith or a certain sect, you were baptized into that.

[5:21] And that was the way that you would associate yourself with a certain thought or with a certain religion. It's not just Christianity and it's not just Judaism.

[5:32] But here John was saying, therefore, am I come baptizing with water? He says that Jesus Christ should be made manifest to Israel, and therefore, because of this, in other words, I came baptizing with water.

[5:47] Baptizing people, we know from the other Gospels, unto repentance. This was symbolic. It wasn't the washing away of sin and it wasn't salvation by any means, but it was symbolic of that.

[6:02] But even more so, it was symbolic of these people associating with John's teaching about the Messiah, about the Christ, about the Lamb of God that he had proclaimed, which take away the sin of the world.

[6:17] So with all that being said, as a real quick recap, we'll pick up in verse 32, and John Bear records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him.

[6:28] And what's odd about this as opposed to Matthew's account or any of the other synoptic Gospels? We don't read about the Spirit descending until what happens, until Christ is baptized.

[6:43] When Christ is baptized by John the Baptist, that's when John the Baptist saw the Spirit descending like a dove, not a dove descending upon Jesus, and I've actually heard that talk, but the Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus Christ.

[7:01] And John Bear records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. So we don't really read about the dipping of Jesus by John into the Jordan River in this particular account.

[7:19] We read about that in the synoptic Gospels though. Remember when Jesus came to John and wanted John to baptize him, John said, I have need to be baptized of thee. He said, who am I to baptize you, the Lamb which take away the sin of the world?

[7:33] I have need to be baptized of you. But Jesus wanted this baptism to take place. I was that, remember what I just said, it was to associate. It was that these people were associating themselves with what John was preaching about the Messiah.

[7:51] And Jesus wanted to associate himself with mankind. We read throughout the Scriptures about the Son of Man. In fact, it's brought up right here in John chapter 1.

[8:02] Jesus is referred to by several different titles and Son of Man is one of them. That's a messianic statement from Daniel in chapter 7 verse 13, speaking specifically about the Messiah.

[8:17] Speaking that Daniel saw in a not vision, he saw one as the Son of Man. And to him was given power, to him was given dominion, to him was given the right to rule over all the nations.

[8:30] Sounds like the Messiah to me. And here in John chapter 1 we find that same title, given to Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is not only associating with what John is preaching about him, about Christ, but he's associating with mankind in doing so.

[8:49] So John sees the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and did a boat upon him. And something else just drove away before we go to the next verse.

[9:01] If you read in the Old Testament, you read about the Spirit of God. Spirit of God wasn't just dumped out in Acts chapter 7 or Acts chapter 2. It's all throughout the Old Testament.

[9:12] But in the Old Testament when we read about the Spirit of God empowering someone, it doesn't abide on them. It doesn't stay with them. It's a temporary thing in the Old Testament.

[9:25] Not every time that you read about it, it'll come and it'll go. But this is the first time in Scripture we read about it when he, I should say, descended upon Jesus Christ, the Spirit, in a boat upon him.

[9:40] He stuck with Jesus Christ. The Spirit stayed with Jesus Christ. And I think that's significant. The Spirit stayed with him from this point all throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ.

[9:57] Verse 33, And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.

[10:13] Well, who sent John to do this to begin with? It had to have been God. There was no other than Almighty God had sent John to do this baptizing, to preach that Messiah was indeed coming, that the Lamb of God which seconded the way of the sin of the world was indeed beginning his ministry.

[10:33] But this verse, like two other verses previous to it, begins with, And I knew him not. Well, we all know that John and John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were first cousins.

[10:46] I mean, that's something that's well known. So how can John say I knew him not? He's saying, All I knew about him. Now, they probably grew up together. They probably play games together.

[10:57] They may have even hung out some in their teenage years, maybe on up into their 20s, maybe even, you know, up to this very point. But John here is saying, All I know about Jesus is the things that I'm telling you now.

[11:12] He is Messiah. He is the Lamb of God. He is here to take away the sin of the world. That was John's biggest concern was getting that message out.

[11:23] And that's something that preachers and teachers need to concentrate on when they're making a gospel presentation is that Jesus Christ is the only way for anyone to have their sins removed.

[11:39] He is the only way unto salvation. And once again, there's people out there right now that need need to concentrate more on that than other alternative plans, which aren't part of the gospel.

[11:52] And they aren't part of the plan of God. John the Baptist here saying, This is all I know. And even more so, this is all that you all need to know.

[12:03] Speaking to the people that were around him. Remember when John came baptizing down there at the Jordan River, he drew in crowds. There are people coming to see who this man was and what he was preaching and what was so special about him.

[12:19] He was the forerunner of Christ. He came to announce the coming of this Messiah. He said, The same one that sent him, baptizes with water said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him.

[12:35] The same as he which baptized with the Holy Ghost. Now, John was baptizing with water, but John the Baptist here bearing record of Christ and bearing record of God's message to him says that Jesus Christ will come baptizing with the Holy Ghost.

[12:55] This is another difference that we find in the Gospel of John as opposed to the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Many of us are familiar with the phrase of Jesus when Jesus comes who come baptizing with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

[13:12] And this is that and with fire is omitted here in John's Gospel. John's Gospel is quite a bit different than those synoptic gospels are, but I don't want you all to concentrate too much on that and with fire thing.

[13:27] I personally am of the camp that believe that talking about two different baptisms there almost every time you read about fire from God in the Bible.

[13:40] Almost every time you read about it, he's a bad thing either going to happen or is happening or has happened when you read about the fire of God.

[13:50] The fire of God is destructive, the fire of God destroys, the fire of God is normally because of something to do with fury and anger toward mankind.

[14:05] And so I think that it's speaking of two different baptisms when it says that he'll come baptizing with the Holy Ghost and with fire. You've got to remember who was present here. There were people there that were genuinely curious and wanting to know what John was preaching about.

[14:25] And there were the other people that we read about the past couple of Sundays that were sent by the Pharisees that were there to inquire as to who John was. Yes, but they weren't a bit interested in hearing about the Messiah.

[14:38] They wanted to know if John was the Messiah and they wanted to know if he was Elijah or that prophet. But once they found out that he wasn't a Messiah, it's like they lost interest in him.

[14:50] So baptizing with the Holy Ghost, I believe would be for those that genuinely believed, genuinely wanted to know, baptizing with fire would be those that reject the coming of the Messiah.

[15:06] Verse 34, and I saw on bare record that this is the Son of God. So again, John here proclaiming the deity of Jesus Christ, he says he bears record that this is the Son of God.

[15:21] John saw this, John the Baptist saw this himself. He saw the Spirit as he descended upon Jesus Christ as a dove. And he knew the message from God that he had and he knew the mission from God that he had.

[15:37] So John here says that he's bearing record that this is the Son of God. Verse 35, again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he says, behold the Lamb of God.

[15:57] So this is the second time that John has said, behold the Lamb of God. And I've heard it said by another preacher one time when you read this word, behold, it's the same thing as what we would refer to as well.

[16:09] Looky here. And that's exactly what it means. It says pay attention to this. This is something extraordinary. This is something you need to take notice of.

[16:20] And the first time that John the Baptist said this, a few verses previous to this, he was saying the same thing, take notice of this. But here it says again the next day after John stood, the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said behold the Lamb of God.

[16:41] So here he is with two of his disciples. It doesn't talk about anybody else that was around, very well, possibly could. But what a lot of people have problems here with is that John the Baptist had disciples himself.

[16:55] They say, well, you know, the Bible teaches that we're not supposed to follow man, we're supposed to follow God, we're supposed to follow Christ. If we're to be a disciple, we're to be a disciple of Christ. Folks, this was not an uncommon thing in this day.

[17:08] And remember, we're reading about the very scripture that I was just talking about. We're reading the New Testament scriptures that teach that we're to be disciples of Christ, yes. And they teach that we're not only we're to be disciples of Christ, but we're to disciple one another as well.

[17:25] And that's exactly what John was doing. John was considered a rabbi to people. And it wasn't out of the ordinary at all for rabbis or teachers or masters, as we see them called sometimes in the scriptures, to have disciples that would follow them around.

[17:42] They would listen to them. Galileo, who was brought up in the scripture, he had disciples. Paul had disciples. All these people had disciples. They had people that followed them. The praise God, we got men like Paul that said, follow me even as I follow Christ.

[17:57] That's what matters. Can we say that if someone, if someone is, has made themselves a disciple of Spencer Bombardner, yes, they should follow Jesus Christ.

[18:08] But if someone looks at me and they say, I want to be like Spencer, what direction am I going to lead a man? I know I should follow God. I know I should follow Christ. And I do follow Christ.

[18:19] But there's a few men in this world that I can honestly say I would like to be more like them. And that's not putting them on a pedestal above God. That's just saying I won't as close of a walk with Christ as they seem to have.

[18:33] And I can have that. I'm not making God's out of those men though. And I'm not worshiping those men. But there are a handful of men that I can look to or look at and say that.

[18:46] These men here, these disciples of John the Baptist, they liked what they heard from John the Baptist. And therefore they followed him and they followed his teachings. But he tells them, behold the Lamb of God, the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.

[19:04] Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou?

[19:15] He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelled and abode with him that day for it was about the tenth hour. And we'll back up just a little bit. The two disciples, the two that were standing there were John the Baptist.

[19:28] It says they heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Heard who speak? They heard John the Baptist speak. What did they hear him speak? Behold the Lamb of God, the verse previous to this.

[19:42] This is what preachers need to do. They need to proclaim the Lamb of God. And when they proclaim the Lamb of God, other people will follow the Lamb of God and not follow them anymore.

[19:56] Not make an idol out of the preacher or the teacher or out of the church or the denomination or anything else. John proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God.

[20:10] And when he did that, that struck these men in the heart. It simply says the two disciples heard him speak. And we read in the previous verse what he spoke, behold the Lamb of God.

[20:21] And they believed what John said, not that John could save them, not that John could give them any salvation, but he told them about salvation. And this is exactly how preachers need to preach and teachers need to teach.

[20:36] It's not in me, it's nothing that I can do. But I can proclaim to you Jesus Christ and he has done and will do all of the work.

[20:47] He has done the work through shedding his blood and he will do the work by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in lives. But all I can do is tell people about it.

[20:58] John proclaimed Jesus Christ and these men followed Jesus because of the proclamation that John the Baptist made. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye?

[21:10] They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being an interpretive master, where dwellest thou? What seek ye? Here was John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God.

[21:21] These two men go following him. One of them I believe is John the writer of this very gospel. He's not mentioned here by name, but the other one is. We'll get to that in another couple of verses.

[21:34] But these two men are following Jesus and Jesus turned and says, What seek ye? And what do they ask? Where do you live in that? Where do you dwell?

[21:45] Is that really what they were seeking? After John had made such a statement as behold the Lamb of God? That's exactly what they were wanting.

[21:56] Let's keep on reading. I'm not going to get a little deeper into that. Where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day for it was about the tenth hour.

[22:10] The tenth hour being about four o'clock in the afternoon. But he asked them a question, remember in the previous verse, What seek ye? They said, Where dwellest thou? Jesus gives the invitation, Come and see.

[22:24] That's how Christ works. It's an invitation. It's an invitation to salvation. You want to know where I live? Come and see where I live. You want to know who I am?

[22:35] Come and see who I am. You want to know what I can do? Come and see. It's always an invitation. It's an invitation all throughout the Scriptures. Noah's Ark. When Noah went out there and spent 120 years building this Ark.

[22:51] He spent all this time in preaching. The gospel preaching a message of righteousness. And he built this big boat out there. He spent all this time doing all this.

[23:02] What does God say when the rain's coming? Come thou into the Ark. It was an invitation. Come thou into the Ark. He didn't say go into the Ark.

[23:14] He said, Come into the Ark. You know what that tells me? God was in the Ark. If he had said go into the Ark, God would have been outside there where Noah was. And what good would that Ark have done?

[23:27] He said, Come thou into the Ark. It was an invitation. And all throughout the Scriptures we read about these invitations that God gives. And that Christ gives and that the Holy Spirit gives unto men.

[23:38] It's always by an invitation. Jesus said, They want to know where do you live? Jesus said, Come and see. He didn't say I live at 123 Main Street.

[23:49] Or, you know, buy someone's house or hut or dwelling or whatever the case was. He didn't say anything along those lines. He said, Come and see. He gave them an invitation.

[24:01] And they came and saw where he went and abode with him that day. For it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

[24:12] So here we have the first name mentioned here of these two disciples that were with John. What else does this tell us though? This tells us that Andrew and whom I believe was John the Apostle, the second disciple of John the Baptist, they were following John the Baptist.

[24:31] They were following him and following his teaching. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found with his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have found them a size which is being interpreted to Christ.

[24:48] And he brought them to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah, Thou shalt be called Saphus, which is by interpretation a stone. So Andrew goes and finds his brother.

[25:02] But what had been previous to this? What prompted Andrew to do this? He spent the day with Jesus Christ, beginning about four o'clock in the afternoon. He spent the day with Jesus and God only knows what took place, what kind of conversation that took place between Andrew and this other disciple and Jesus Christ.

[25:22] But after he had spent some time with Jesus, what was Andrew's first reaction? I got to go tell my brother. I got to go tell somebody. I got to go get him and bring him here.

[25:33] And this is a stark contrast to what we read past couple of Sundays about these Pharisees that had sent this little band of priests to see who John the Baptist was.

[25:48] They should have recognized Christ. They should have known who he was. They were more learned as far as book knowledge goes, we would call it nowadays.

[26:01] They were more learned about the scriptures that these bunch of fishermen learned. But it was the fishermen that kept in mind these were all Jewish men, and Jewish life revolved around the synagogue, where the Old Testament scriptures were read.

[26:15] Every day they were read constantly. It revolved around that and it revolved around the temple and all the sacrifices that were made and why there was a lamb offered in the morning and why there was a lamb offered in the evening and all these other things.

[26:29] And John the Baptist understood it better. A wild man that came out of the wilderness dressed in camel hair and eating locusts and wild honey, he understood it better than a bunch of learned men did.

[26:41] What a contrast this is. But think about John the Baptist for just a second while we're on that subject. Think about John the Baptist. Who was his daddy? His daddy was Zacharias, who was a priest in the temple.

[26:53] You think John the Baptist ever had questions? Daddy, why do you always come home with blood all over your clothes? Why do you come home with those stains on your hand? Because I'm making sacrifices, son.

[27:04] Why are you making sacrifices? I'm making sin offerings. I'm making oblations. And essentially I'm worshiping God the way that God prescribed that he is to be worshiped.

[27:17] I'm making these sacrifices on behalf of his people and on behalf of myself. All these men that seem so unlearned and seem stupid in the eyes of the Pharisees and the scribes and the priests, they recognize Christ.

[27:34] They recognize whom John the Baptist was preaching and teaching about. But when Jesus beheld him, beheld Peter after Andrew had gotten Peter, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah.

[27:51] Get all excited over that. That simply means Simon the son of Jonah. Don't get too excited about that word, Jonah there. Thou shalt be called Saphis, which is by interpretation a stone.

[28:04] Notice this is future tense. Thou shalt be called Saphis, which is to be interpreted as stone. What do y'all know about Peter? What do I know about Peter? I know Peter is what we would call nowadays a spastic.

[28:17] He would stick his foot in his mouth. He'd make just decisions like that, not giving any consideration to what he was taking and what he was doing or anything along those lines, just like when Christ said, all of you will be offended this night of me.

[28:34] And what did Peter do? He said, by the Lord, I'll never be offended of you. That's when Jesus said, before the caught crow drives, thou shalt deny me twice. Before the caught crow drives, thou shalt deny me twice.

[28:49] Peter was very spastic. But my goodness, when you read about Peter going through the book of Acts, you see the change that Christ is making in his life. And by the time we turn to 1st and 2nd Peter, we don't have a 1st and 2nd Simon.

[29:04] We turn to 1st and 2nd Peter because that's who Jesus said that Peter would be. And we turn there and we see the change in Peter. This man who was so spastic and almost brutal in his approach to everything, calling Jesus Christ precious in the books of 1st and 2nd Peter.

[29:23] What a change Christ makes in our lives. What a change he made in Peter. So this was future tense. That's time.

[29:38] Let's keep going. The day following will go, Jesus will go forth into Galilee, find Philip and sayeth unto him, follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

[29:51] Philip foundeth Nathaniel and saith unto him, we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did ride. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, can there be anything good that can come out of Nazareth?

[30:04] Philip said unto him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel come unto him and saith of him, behold, I am an Israelite, behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no God.

[30:15] And Nathaniel said unto him, once knowest thou me, Jesus answered and said unto him, before the Philip called thee, thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathaniel answered and said unto him, rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel.

[30:30] Back back up to verse 43 real quick. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee and find Philip, findeth Philip and saith unto him, follow me. What's different here as opposed to when Andrew and whom I believe is John the Apostle, who the two apostles who were the disciples of John the Baptist.

[30:48] What's different? Philip was calling and Philip's calling here. John the Baptist preached, did he not? He said, behold, the Lamb of God and those two, follow Jesus Christ because of that.

[31:03] Here we have Jesus going into Galilee and finding Philip and saith unto him, follow me. The preacher, yes, was present Jesus Christ.

[31:15] And the preacher went and sought Philip, yes. And the preacher said, follow me. Jesus tells me that if every teacher and every preacher forsakes his calling to do what God has commissioned him to do, God can still save people.

[31:34] Which confirms to me it's nothing in me that can do it. If John the Baptist wasn't present and obviously he wasn't, Jesus would go himself, Jesus would send the Holy Spirit of God to these people, to reveal himself to these people.

[31:52] Jesus went himself and found Philip. He saith unto him, follow me. Now Philip was of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and saith unto him, first of all, who is Nathaniel?

[32:07] And the synoptic gospels, we don't read about Nathaniel. Matthew, Mark, or Luke. But here we read about Nathaniel.

[32:18] In the Gospel of John we don't read about a man named Bartholomew. So I believe that Nathaniel is Bartholomew and Bartholomew is Nathaniel.

[32:31] Once again, we don't read about them. Now something else that's different about this account as opposed to what you read about in the synoptic gospels. And this is an account that all of us love to hear about how Jesus is just walking along the Sea of Galilee there and he just looks out and they're mending their fishing nets.

[32:48] He says, follow me, they drop their nets and they go on their way. Anyhow, it's happening here in John's Gospel, so is John a liar? Absolutely not. Is there inconsistencies in the Scripture?

[33:00] Absolutely not. It would simply be that the synoptic gospels are recording an event that happened later than what we're reading about here in John's Gospel.

[33:11] This was their original calling. This was their original meeting with Jesus Christ. But then they went on their ways. They went back to their homes. They went back to their families.

[33:23] They done what they always did. They went back to fishing. But when the time came, Jesus came and he said, follow me. Follow me. So no, there is no inconsistencies here in the Scripture.

[33:34] Now this part where Nathaniel brought to Jesus, once again, brought to Jesus. He says, come unto him, save of him.

[33:45] Jesus said, behold, in Israel, indeed, in whom is no God, Nathaniel said to him, whenst thou and whenst thou a style me? Jesus entered and said unto him before the Philcaldee, when that was under the fig tree, I saw thee.

[33:57] And Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. What made Nathaniel say this? That Jesus Christ knew all about him.

[34:10] That Jesus said something about him. That absolutely no one else would know. Now there is some debate as to if Jesus Christ was saying whenthou was under the fig tree, as to whether he was talking about a physical fig tree, and maybe Nathaniel was taking a nap underneath there.

[34:31] But there is also some evidence that Hebrew tradition, Jewish tradition, to be under the fig tree meant that you were meditating on the Scriptures.

[34:42] That is what I think it was, personally. And there are plenty of non-biblical Hebrew writings that will substantiate that.

[34:54] So I think that is exactly what Jesus Christ was getting at. I don't think that Nathaniel was capped out in the hammock underneath the fig tree and filled him with a breeze blow. I think he was saying, I saw you as you were meditating on the Scriptures.

[35:10] But either way, Nathaniel came to recognize Jesus Christ as who he was. And I'm not going to do any further. We've got five minutes. Thanks, y'all. I appreciate your attention.