“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”
In the last passage we see that Jesus chooses Phillip and now we have Phillip reaching out to his friend Nathanael. This parallels what Andrew did when he found Jesus—he reached out to his brother. Phillip must have also heard it from someone, so it would make sense that it was from Andrew and Simon Peter. John is still showing how the explosive nature of the gospel is growing out of Jesus and already collecting a following of men in the area. John continues on in this verse to reveal more intricate pieces of the gospel with what Phillip says to Nathanael revealing why they are so quick to follow Him.
Where Andrew came to his brother plainly and said, “We have found the Messiah,” Phillip spoke to Nathanael with a more complicated response showing that Jesus is revealed in two different ways: through the Law of Moses and the prophets. We see here that Jesus has already revealed himself to be the one spoken about in both places. There are obviously conversations that John is not revealing here but it shows us that Jesus did enough to convince these men that He is the one spoken of in the Old Testament. This also brings up a good fact here that Jesus is also going to be fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
Phillip also revealed more of where Jesus is from and who His family is. This will become a stumbling block for Nathanael and also for others; the difference was Nathanael was ultimately convinced by Jesus and what He said where others were not. This will be covered more in depth in the coming weeks’ studies, but it is interesting that Phillip used His place of origin and who His father was to further define who he was describing. It makes sense when in context for Jesus fulfilling the Law of Moses and prophecy.
For Christians, this is an encouragement and reminder to read the Bible because it all points to Jesus and His redemptive plan for us. Next time you are reading the Law of Moses, or the first five books of the Bible, you can search for the same things that Phillip was talking about—the mysteries of Jesus in the Law of Moses. This is why we must daily be in the word so that we can understand God more fully.
For Non-Christians, Jesus is not someone who was God’s second plan. He was always His first plan to bring salvation to everyone including you. He has been always the one who can save you if you just reach out to Him.
The Traveling Mountains 
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