The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:43-45 NIV).
Authors of Scripture had to be frugal with the amount of papyrus they used. We are given few details in this passage, so we must focus on the details we do have.
I suggest Philip was anticipating the Messiah.
First, Philip was swift to follow Jesus. I do not think he was making a rash decision, rather he had probably listened to Jesus teach at some juncture the previous day or so.
Second, Philip’s statement shows he realized Scripture foretold of a Messiah.
Examining Philip’s statement, I ask the question: Where did Moses write about the Messiah in the Law? Here I will focus on one prophecy Moses gave in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Moses told of the Prophet to come.
As a student of Scripture for many years, I do not think there was consensus among the Israelites as to whether the Prophet and the Messiah was the same person. (Messiah is a Hebrew word which means Anointed One, and Christ is a Greek word which means Anointed One.)
For example, John the Baptist told priests and Levites that he was not the Messiah. Yet look at their response:
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No” (John 1:21).
They seemed to think the Christ and the Prophet were two separate people.
A second example:
After Jesus gave an offer of living water, look at the response of some people: On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
Others said, “He is the Christ…” (John 7:40-41a).
Again, there was a conviction that the Prophet and the Christ were two separate individuals.
On the flipside, (yes I remember when vinyl ruled), after Jesus did a mass feeding with only five barley loaves and two fish, look at what the apostle John stated: After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself (John 6:14-15).
Apparently, those people understood that the Prophet would also be the Messianic king they were expecting.
Back on September 18, 2022, I preached a sermon on the passage I just quoted above as a guest preacher in Morrison, Colorado. I explained the Messiah was the Great High Priest, the forever Sacrifice, the Prophet, and the King of heaven. The position of Messiah encompassed all four.
I think Philip realized the Messiah involved a multifaceted position, since he did not solely say, “We have found the Prophet,” rather he said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote…” (John 1:45).
Remember the definition of a prophet is someone who listened to God and then spoke for God. Now Jesus stated He would speak what His Father told Him, such as is recorded in John 14:10. And the prophetic action of Jesus centered on His foretelling of His death and resurrection! I add that Matthew records such foretelling by Jesus at least four times. Thus Jesus fulfilled His position as the Prophet.
Plus Hebrew prophets throughout previous centuries there in Israel gave revelations of an expanded role of the Messiah beyond the office of prophet. Israelite prophets foretold the Messiah would be so much more.
Take a prophecy of Isaiah for example:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace
(Isaiah 9:6).
Philip was anticipating the Messiah!
Hunter Irvine
Scripture Love Blog
