John 1:51

Jesus then made a very important statement that He identified as such with the phrase "Truly, truly, I say to you" or "I tell you the truth" (Gr. amen amen lego humin). This phrase occurs 25 times in John’s Gospel, and it always introduces an especially important affirmation.

Jesus used the imagery of Jacob’s dream at Bethel to describe the greater revelation that Nathanael and his fellow disciples-the "you" in the Greek text is plural-would receive. The opening of the heavens pictures the insight that people on earth receive into what God is doing in heaven (cf. Acts 10:11; Revelation 4:1; Revelation 19:11). Jesus would reveal heavenly things, a theme that John developed throughout this Gospel. The angels of God are His agents that assist humans by taking their communications up to God above and by bringing knowledge of divine things down to them (cf. Hebrews 1). The role of the Son of Man, Jesus’ favorite title of Himself that He used over 80 times (Daniel 7:13), was to make this contact possible.

"In this Gospel the term [Son of Man] is always associated either with Christ’s heavenly glory or with the salvation he came to bring." [Note: Ibid., p. 151. For a good summary of the meaning of the "Son of Man" title, see Carson, p. 164, or Morris, pp. 150-52.]

Similarly a staircase makes travel and communication between two physical levels possible. Jesus was promising Nathanael that He would prove to be the key to access to God and communication with God (cf. John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). God had revealed Himself to Israel, the man and the nation, in a dream at Bethel previously (Genesis 28:10-22). Now God would reveal Himself to a true Israelite, Nathanael, to all Israel, and to the world, directly through Jesus.

This first sub-section in the body of the fourth Gospel (John 1:19-51) contains the prelude to Jesus’ public ministry. [Note: See Stephen S. Kim, "The Relationship of John 1:19-51 to the Book of Signs in John 2-12," Bibliotheca Sacra 165:659 (July-September 2008):323-37.] John stressed John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus’ identity, first in a veiled manner and then openly. Then he recorded the response of some of John’s disciples, which was to follow Jesus. Philip’s witness resulted in Nathanael’s declaration of faith in Jesus, limited as it may have been, and Jesus’ claim to be the revealer of God and the way to God. The "greater things than these" that Jesus promised (John 1:50) follow providing an even more solid foundation for faith in Him (cf. John 20:31).

At least 16 different names and titles of Jesus appear in chapter one: the Word (John 1:1; John 1:14), the light (John 1:7-9), the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14), Jesus Christ (John 1:17), the only begotten God (John 1:18), the Lord (John 1:23), the Lamb of God (John 1:29; John 1:36), a man (John 1:30), the Son of God (John 1:34), Rabbi (Teacher, John 1:38; John 1:49), Messiah (John 1:41), Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:45), the son of Joseph (John 1:45), the Son of God (John 1:49), the King of Israel (John 1:49), and the Son of Man (John 1:51). Clearly one of John’s purposes in this Gospel was to draw attention to who Jesus is.