MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #93

Philip findeth Nathanael and saith to him: "We have found him of whom Moses, in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth." And Nathanael said to him: "Can any thing of good come from Nazareth?" Philip saith to him: "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and he saith of him: "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." Nathanael saith to him: "Whence knowest thou me?" Jesus answered and said to him: "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." Nathanael answered him and said: "Rabbi: Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel." (John 1:45-49)

JESUS HIMSELF MADE MANIFEST HIS DIVINE NATURE: 1. By knowing and revealing hidden and distant things. He knew and penetrated the hearts of Simon and Nathanael, and knew that Nathanael had been called by Philip, and that, before then, he had been under a fig-tree; 2. By allowing Nathanael's confession of faith: 'Thou art the Son of God,' to pass without protest, and by confirming it with the promise that still greater wonders should justify this faith.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)