Philip found Nathanael and told him,
"We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
This passage highlights Jesus' high christological character. Here he appears to see into the future and see Philip before actually seeing him. This is quite different than the other gospels because Jesus in the synoptic gospels appears to be more human like and have human limitations. In the Gospel of John we see Jesus often is able to read peoples thoughts, know the future, and foresee what is to come. The allusion to seeing greater things is foreshadowing the signs Jesus will use in the Gospel of John to bring people to faith, another stark difference with the synoptic gospels which require faith for the miracles to work. This is why the symbol for John the evangelist is an eagle due to his high christology.
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