St. Bartholomew

Summary

Catholic Saints Podcast: "St. Bartholomew"

Host: Dr. Ben Akers (Augustine Institute)
Guest: Dr. John Seehorn (Professor of Theology and Scripture)
Date: August 24, 2025
Episode Theme:
A deep-dive exploration of St. Bartholomew—the Apostle known also as Nathanael in the Gospels—focusing on his scriptural portrayal, the apostolic calling account in John, and the theological implications behind key biblical passages.

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Overview

This episode, released on St. Bartholomew’s feast day, delves into all the New Testament references to this lesser-known Apostle. Dr. Ben Akers and Dr. John Seehorn guide listeners through the biblical texts, explore why Bartholomew is traditionally identified with Nathanael, and unpack theological insights from John’s Gospel, tying Old Testament prophecies to the encounter between Jesus and Nathanael.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Bartholomew? The Scriptural Context

[00:34–01:54]

• Bartholomew’s name appears in lists of the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:2, Mark 3, Luke 6, Acts 1).
• No independent stories or dialogue involving Bartholomew; he’s simply “in the list.”
• The identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael is rooted in tradition and some biblical reasoning.

Quote:
"Bartholomew is not actually a personal name... Bartholomew is just sort of like a Greek version of what probably in Hebrew would have been Bartholomei, so that's actually not kind of like what we would think of as a first name."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([03:54])

2. Why Bartholomew and Nathanael May Be the Same Person

[02:01–05:28]

• “Bar” in Bartholomew means “son of,” hinting at a second name.
• Nathanael appears only in John’s Gospel (John 1, John 21), yet not in apostolic lists.
• Bartholomew is always paired with Philip in Synoptic lists, just as Philip invites Nathanael in John.

Quote:
"Nathaniel, who's mentioned only in John 1 and John 21, doesn't show up on the lists of the 12... and yet that's really odd that we have this long story about Jesus calling him... that at least suggests that maybe Nathanael really was one of the 12."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([04:25])

3. The Calling of Nathanael: “Come and See”

[05:28–12:27]

• Reading John 1:43–51 step by step.
• Philip, called by Jesus, eagerly finds Nathanael, echoing “found by Christ, go and find others.”
• Nathanael’s skepticism: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46), reflecting local rivalry and scriptural irony.

Quote:
"Philip has encountered Christ and now wants to go and help somebody else find Jesus."
— Dr. Ben Akers ([09:25])

• “Come and see” as a model for evangelization—proposal, not imposition.
• Philip uses the same words Jesus spoke to Andrew (“come and see”), demonstrating authentic discipleship.

Quote:
"We are called to evangelize as well, to be invitational, to invite someone to come and meet Jesus, to propose the gospel. Don't impose the gospel."
— Dr. Ben Akers ([12:17])

4. Jesus’ Revelation to Nathanael: Irony and Prophecy

[13:09–14:49]

• Jesus greets Nathanael: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” (John 1:47).
• This references the patriarch Jacob—renamed Israel—who was infamous for his deceit, yet Nathanael is one “with no deceit.”
• Jesus’ wordplay alludes to Nathanael’s true-heartedness and Old Testament narratives.

Quote:
"There's a real irony here... the great father of Israel is known as someone who's incredibly shrewd, actually. Incredibly full of guile. Incredibly full of deceit."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([13:51])

5. The Fig Tree and Messianic Promises

[14:49–19:25]

• Jesus tells Nathanael, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael is startled, instantly confessing, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
• The fig tree symbolizes Messianic hope (Zechariah 3:10) and moments of prayerful longing for redemption.
• “Son of God” and “King of Israel” are messianic titles rooted in the Davidic covenant (Psalms 2, 89).

Quote:
"You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation, and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. This is one of a number of passages in the Old Testament where the king is seen as, in a special way, the Son of God."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([18:03])

6. Branch, Nazareth, and Prophetic Fulfillment

[19:25–25:58]

• Discussion of messianic prophecies: “Branch” (Heb. netzer) in Isaiah 11:1, Zechariah 3.
• Matthew’s Gospel (“He shall be called a Nazarene”) possibly refers to “netzer,” making Nazareth “Branch Town”—a reason why something good comes from Nazareth.

Quote:
"You could almost translate Nazareth as like, Branchville. So to get back to Nathaniel, we can put the pieces together, right? He hears this reference to the fig tree... and all of a sudden he understands how something good can come from Nazareth."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([25:58])

7. No Deceit: The Honest Seeker of God

[26:18–27:13]

• Psalm 32:1–2: “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
• St. Augustine: To be without guile is not to be sinless, but to honestly seek God’s forgiveness.

Quote:
"What it means for him to have no deceit is that he doesn't lie about having no sin. He knows he needs a physician."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([26:51])

8. Jacob’s Ladder and Jesus as Heaven’s Gate

[27:13–29:19]

• Jesus’ final words to Nathanael reference Genesis 28—Jacob’s vision of angels ascending and descending.
• Jesus reveals himself as the true “house of God,” the meeting point between heaven and earth—a new Bethel, the new and greater temple.

Quote:
"Not only is he the Davidic Messiah, the true King of Israel... he is actually the very meeting place of heaven and earth. He himself is the true temple of God."
— Dr. John Seehorn ([29:09])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Evangelization:
  “To propose the gospel. Don’t impose the gospel.” — Dr. Ben Akers ([12:17])

• On Scriptural Irony:
  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Yeah, the greatest—God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us here in Nazareth.” — Dr. Ben Akers ([10:01])

• On Bartholomew’s Identity:
  “Nathaniel, who's mentioned only in John 1 and John 21, doesn't show up on the lists of the 12... that at least suggests that maybe Nathanael really was one of the 12 [Apostles].” — Dr. John Seehorn ([04:25])

• On Honesty Before God:
  “What it means for him to have no deceit is that he doesn't lie about having no sin. He knows he needs a physician.” — Dr. John Seehorn ([26:51])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:34 – Introduction to Bartholomew in the Gospels
• 03:54 – Exploring the name “Bartholomew” and its implications
• 05:28 – Reading John 1:43–51 (Calling of Nathanael)
• 09:25 – Lessons on evangelization from Philip's example
• 10:01 – Nathanael’s question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
• 14:49 – Jesus’ greeting: “An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”
• 18:03 – Messianic connections: Son of God, King of Israel, Davidic covenant
• 25:58 – Nazareth as “Branch Town”; fulfillment of prophecy
• 29:09 – Jesus as the new Temple, the union of heaven and earth

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Tone & Language

The conversation is friendly, scholarly, and full of scriptural references, with moments of humor and lightheartedness, especially regarding local rivalries and biblical irony. The dialogue is invitational, curious, and steeped in the Catholic tradition of reading the Old Testament in light of Christ.

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For Listeners

This episode guides you beyond Bartholomew’s “silent” presence in the apostolic lists, uncovering his role in biblical theology as Nathanael, an honest seeker deeply aware of God’s promises. Through Scripture, typology, and tradition, Dr. Akers and Dr. Seehorn reveal how encountering Christ transforms skepticism into faith and how, in every evangelization, disciples are first found by Christ before inviting others to ‘come and see.’

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

You're listening to a podcast on Catholic Saints. This podcast is produced by the Augustine Institute, an apostolate helping Catholics understand, live and share their faith.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Welcome to form now, my name is Dr. Ben Akers and I'm the executive director of formed. Joining me today is Dr. John Seehorn, is professor of Theology and Scripture here at the Augusta Institute. Thanks for joining me, John.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Very welcome.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

And we're going to go today for the feast day. We're going to go through all the passages in the New Testament that tell us who Bartholomew or Nathanael is. So we'll see both of those names go.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

This is a sort of ambitious approach to this, isn't it? We're going to look at all the things we know about St. Bartholomew, whose feast is today. So if you have your Bibles, you can follow along with me real quick here. So the first place is in Matthew, chapter 10, where we hear about Jesus sending out the 12 apostles. And starting in verse two, it says the names of the 12 apostles are these. First Simon, who's called Peter, he's a familiar one. And Andrew, his brother James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother Philip, and Bartholomew. And of course, it goes on from there. So that's one passage where we learn about Bartholomew. The next one, I'm actually not just going to go through them because it'll be boring. They're actually just parallels in Mark chapter three, and then in Luke chapter six, and then actually again in Acts chapter one after the Ascension, we get these lists of Jesus, 12 disciples, 11 in Acts one, of course, until Judas is replaced by St. Matthias. And that's actually all we know about Bartholomew from Scripture.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So what are we going to do with the celebration of the feast day? Does the church pick a particular gospel for us to focus in on?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, no, that's a good question. So I didn't quite tell you the whole story because as you, as you kind of mentioned earlier, Bartholomew is traditionally associated with another follower of Jesus, identified with another follower of Jesus whom we know as Nathanael. And I think it might be a good idea just to get a little bit of a sense of why it is that this connection has been made traditionally. It's not just something that the church kind of made up, pulled out of a hat. And there are maybe good reasons to think that this is quite plausible. So as I mentioned, the name Bartholomew only shows up in these lists. There's nowhere in the New Testament where Bartholomew is given a speaking part. And at least under that name.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So while Matthew, Mark and Luke Talk about Bartholomew. The Gospel of John mentions someone named Nathanael, and he's actually mentioned in two passages in John after the Resurrection. He's mentioned in John chapter 21, but really only he's just listed as one of the disciples who are out fishing when they're going to see Jesus on the seashore.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

And he also tells us that he's from Cana. Is that correct?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, John 21, that comes into the story as well.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So in John 21, we learn that Nathanael is from Cana, which is a town in the region of Galilee, which is also, of course, the region where Jesus was from. The town of Nazareth is in Galilee. So the main passage, though, that we'll look at is in John chapter one, right. Where we read about Jesus calling Nathaniel. And I think it might be kind of cool to just go slowly through that passage and maybe discuss it together. But before we do that, the reason why this Nathaniel, who's mentioned in John 1 and 21, is identified with Bartholomew, there are a couple reasons for it. The first one is that Bartholomew is not actually a personal name.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That bar element at the beginning, you might think actually of Barabbas, whom the crowds chose instead of Jesus. Or in Matthew 16, when Jesus gives Simon his new name, Peter, he refers to him as Simon bar Jonah.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So the bar element means son of. So Bartholomew is just sort of like a Greek version of what probably in Hebrew would have been Bartholomei.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So that's actually not kind of like what we would think of as a first name.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So Bartholomew is one candidate for someone who'd have a different name. And Nathaniel, who's mentioned only in John 1 and John 21, doesn't show up on the lists of the 12. And yet that's really odd that we have this long story about Jesus calling him and him apparently following Jesus and then him showing up with the other disciples after the resurrection. That at least suggests that maybe Nathanael really was one of the 12. And then the other reason is that you noticed it if you were listening really carefully. Were you listening carefully?

[Interjecting Participant]

I was.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

When I read From Matthew, chapter 10, Nathaniel is listed right next to Philip, right? Philip and Bartholomew. And that's the case in Matthew, in Mark and in Luke.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And it's even better than that, Right. You always get sort of Simon and Andrew, right? The brothers. And then the brothers James and John, and then this pair, Philip and Bartholomew. And if we read John chapter one, we see that pretty closely mirrored, right?

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Yeah. That Philip is first called and then he comes and calls Nathaniel.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

He comes and calls Nathanael.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Well, let's start reading in the text. So if you want to join along, read along with us. We're in John's Gospel, John, chapter one, verse 43. We'll start and we'll continue and we'll read through the end of chapter one, which is 151. Okay, so John 1:43. The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, follow me. Now, Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. So that makes sense. So we've already heard Andrew called, followed Jesus. Andrew goes and gets his brother Simon, who becomes Peter in the Gospel. And then they tell Jesus about other friends of theirs. And so they get. They tell Jesus about Philip. So this is why Jesus is in Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 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. That's a pretty impressive introduction.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That is a ringing endorsement. Yes, yes, we've found the one.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So the whole of Moses and the prophets, that's the entire Old Testament, the entire Hebrew Scriptures.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah. It is really interesting here that Philip already recognizes this, at least at some level.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And if you just maybe have been reading through the Gospels, the last chapter you read before this would have been Luke chapter 24.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Where after the resurrection, Jesus has to explain to the disciples on the road to Emmaus how his death and resurrection have been predicted in the Law and the Prophets. And then again, he tells the disciples when he goes to see them in Jerusalem, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. And so it's kind of a cool canonical connection to make as you're reading the Gospel. But, you know, one of the characteristics of John's Gospel is that is that Jesus is always taking you deeper, Right. He meets people wherever they're at in terms of their faith and their level of engagement with him, their level of understanding of him, and he always calls them deeper. And that's a really important dynamic we're actually going to see throughout this little passage we're studying. So it's really neat to see where Philip sort of begins.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

He recognizes this is the one that the Scriptures have foretold. Moses in the Law and also the prophets. And then he names him Jesus of Nazareth, so gives him his name and where he's from, which we'll come into the story, of course. And then he calls him the son of Joseph. And that question too, of whose son is Jesus? Is going to be important as we proceed.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

And that might another connection to Bartholomew. His name means son of.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

If we take it that Nathaniel is Bartholomew, which I do, although the text here doesn't.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

The text doesn't merit that. So what struck me when I just read that was Jesus finds Philip and then Philip finds Nathanael. That Philip is already imitating what Christ does. He goes and he finds someone to bring to Christ.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, and I think that's an important thing too, this dynamic of finding. Because I actually was reading a commentary earlier and there's one scholar who kind of points out that Philip actually oversteps here by saying we found him because in fact, Jesus is the one. Jesus decided to go to Galilee, he found Philip and said to him, follow me. But to be honest with you, I think that's sort of over reading the text because again and again in John's Gospel, right, Jesus invites people to come and see.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And they do come and see. And there's this kind of reciprocity in encountering Jesus. And I actually think that John celebrates that. I don't think that that's a kind of like subtle criticism of Philip here.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

And just this is a pattern for identifying, if you had a true encounter with Christ, that once you found Christ, you want to go and share that good news with someone else. Andrew just told his brother, we have found the Messiah. Jesus had called Andrew and John the Evangelist, and then we found the Messiah, he finds another. Philip has encountered Christ and now wants to go and help somebody else find Jesus.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Absolutely.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So as we go through, Nathanael said to him, so we're in John, chapter one, verse 46, can anything good come out of Nazareth? So this is one of the most ironic statements that one has ever could make in Scripture.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Right?

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Because it's the greatest irony is, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Yeah, the greatest God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us here in Nazareth, and that's who they're going to find. It's an incredible irony here.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

It's kind of a cool thing. Then you mentioned that all the way at the end of the Gospel, we learn that Nathaniel's actually from Cana.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And it's kind of cool that in the very next scene of the Gospel, it's going to be the wedding feast at Cana. So it suggests maybe there are some interesting connections there that John doesn't spell out for us. But I like to think that it also Gives us a little bit of insight into Nathanael's attitude about Nazareth. It's sort of like, you know, this other rival town or something like that. Like I'm a good Cana boy. Like, nothing good comes out of Nazareth. Give me a break.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Yes. Some early competition between Nazareth and Cana could be.

[Interjecting Participant]

Yeah.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Can anything good come out of it? And Philip says to him, come and see. The same words that Jesus had said to Andrew and to John just a couple verses before.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Exactly.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Come and see. So he's already. Not only is Philip doing what Jesus does, he's actually saying what Jesus does. He's actually using the same words that Jesus uses.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And again, we see that kind of challenge for a deeper engagement.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

I love just to back up again to, you know, you just mentioned Jesus encounter with Andrew and the other disciple who I think there's good reason to think that the other disciple, John the Baptist, that. That we meet there is actually John the beloved disciple. And they'd started following Jesus because their old rabbi, John the Baptist, had pointed out and said, behold the Lamb of God. And when Jesus turns and sees them, he says, what are you seeking? What are you looking for? And I just think that's such a. It's so powerful, right, that this is the first things that we. The first thing we hear Jesus say that in John's gospel, what are you looking for? And it's something that really, he asks each of us, because Jesus is what we're looking for, but even our understanding of who he is always needs to be deepened. And so he's challenging us, what are you looking for?

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And then they say, rabbi, where are you staying? And then he says, come and see. And so it's an invitation into this deeper and deeper encounter with Christ.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

And that's the way that we are called to evangelize as well, to be invitational, to invite someone to come and meet Jesus, to propose the gospel. Don't impose the gospel.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And then. And just as you said, Philip has already learned this pattern. And so that's what he says to Nathanael. Come and seek. Come and have this. This encounter. And maybe, maybe even find out that you don't fully understand what you're looking for. You don't fully understand what makes your heart restless.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

I love that Nathaniel doesn't just say, well, whatever, nothing good can come of Nazareth. He doesn't just say, slap down the invitation. Just say, nah, I'm not interested. I want to read this passage of scripture. I have other things to do. But he takes him up. He Says this statement, but then becomes very humble. He says, okay, I trust you as my friend and I'll go and see. And he comes to meet Jesus.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great point.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, so Jesus takes the initiative and says, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. Anything that you want to add on that, or should I keep reading?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Oh, there's a lot. There's a lot to say there, I think. Yeah. So guile. My translation here says deceit.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Same idea. But I think maybe it's worth just pausing because this is another point. We'll kind of come back to that. There's a real irony here. I mean, like, this is one of the places where Jesus. Jesus is being a little bit tongue in cheek, maybe, right? Because he says, behold, an Israelite indeed. Right, well, what's an Israelite? An Israelite literally is a son of Israel.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

They look back to the patriarch Israel, whose name had been Jacob, and he's named Jacob because Jacob means supplanter, Right. He comes out holding on to his brother Esau's heel when they're born of their mother Rebekah. And then Jacob's. Much of Jacob's life is sort of going from guile to guile, from deceit to deceit, right? He steals Esau's birthright. He steals his blessing from their father by deceiving their father. He goes up and lives in the household of his uncle Laban for 20 years, and at least from Laban's point of view, engages in some pretty shifty, underhanded practices in order to enrich himself.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And so this great father of the nation of Israel is sort of known as someone who's incredibly shrewd, actually. Incredibly full of guile. Incredibly full of deceit.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That's good. So Jesus plays on these words himself. That's this image himself. Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. So we. We don't know that where Nathanael actually was, was he. Did Jesus see him long distance or. But there seems to be something else going on here because Nathanael's response seems out of proportion from just this brief introduction.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Out of proportion.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So let's read what Nathaniel says and then unpack it. Nathanael answered him, rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. That's pretty bold. We're not going to hear a statement you Know, Son of God until the end of the Gospel, with Thomas saying, you are my Lord and my God and King of Israel.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's what Martha will say.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Oh, Martha will say.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That's right. Martha will say it.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

But to go straight to that. Yeah, yeah. Well. And so just one thing to tag before we really unpack it. Notice the progression where now Nathaniel has actually gone beyond how Philip introduced Jesus, because Philip introduced him as indeed the one of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, but the son of Joseph. And now after Jesus takes the initiative, like you said, and speaks to Nathaniel and says, I saw you under the fig tree, he says, you are the Son of God.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Okay, so how are we going to. What does this mean?

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Yeah. So as often is the case when we get to a confusing passage in the New Testament, we can look to the Old Testament for some answers.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Absolutely.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

There's a passage we can go to in Zechariah.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

You know, can we take one stopover before we get to Zechariah? And that's actually to look at Psalm Chapter two. Or we could. Well, there are a number of psalms we could look at. I just opened a Psalm 89, and that's actually another one we could look at for this. So Psalm 89 is this beautiful psalm about the covenant that God made with David.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

David, who is sort of in many ways, always remains the model, the ideal of the king of Israel.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And I think it's interesting, not just the king of the Jews, which is especially what the Romans will call Jews, but the king of Israel and this ideal of a reunited Israel. Right. The tribes had broken apart after the time of David's son, Solomon, and they were never united.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

The northern tribes in the 8th century BC went into exile and were scattered among the nations. Okay. And so David, this model of like, David and Solomon as the kings of all Israel is something that still looms large in the Jewish mindset. And let me see if I can find the verse that I have in.

[Interjecting Participant]

Mind.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Where he says, sorry, I should have looked ahead and found this. I'm not finding it the highest of.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

The kings of the earth.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

No, the point about God being the father to David's son.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Right. So in Psalm 89. 26.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

26. Thank you.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah. He, meaning the Davidic king, shall cry to me, you are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation, and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. This is one of a number. Thanks for finding those verses for me, Ben. This is one of a number of passages in the Old Testament where we find that the king was seen as this in a special way, the Son of God. Not in the sense that David was actually divine, but that David's whole job, the job of a good Israelite king, is almost to act as, like a sacrament of the Lord as king.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Not to replace him, but to make effective, to make present on earth God's justice, God's righteousness, God's kingship, God's sovereignty.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And so this helps us kind of make sense of the progression. In John 1, we hear Nathanael saying son of God, and we hear that as a divine title, and certainly it is that.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

But we can also read it in the first instance as a Davidic title. So when he says, you are the Son of God, the king of Israel, this is really two titles for the same thing. So maybe now we go to Zechariah and find out why Nathanael would connect this kind of confusing thing that Jesus says about the fig tree with the King of Israel.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Right. So Zechariah, just to give some historical context, this is after the time of exile. So Israel has been exiled. There's going to be. They're talking about a messianic age, Right. They're discussing a messianic age and what it's going to look like to rebuild the temple. The temple's been destroyed and some signs to look for this restorative messianic age. Is that correct?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah. And just remind us too, like what messiah actually means, because we use that word a lot. We're maybe not always very precise about what it actually means.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Sure. So Messiah means anointed one. So those who are anointed in the Old Testament, priests, prophets, kings, and then Christ is just the Greek form of one who is anointed.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

So we're in Zechariah 3. What verse do you want to start? 6.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, we can start with 6.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

The angel of the Lord enjoined Joshua. So Joshua is this priestly figure, the high priest. Yeah, high priest.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And of course, Joshua is the same name as Jesus is Greek.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That thus says the Lord of hosts. If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts. And I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. So what is the house? Is this the Davidic house, or is this the house of the Lord, the temple.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Oh, I think it's an open question.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Open question. Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men of good omen. Behold, I will bring my servant the branch. For behold, upon the stone which I set before Joshua, upon a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscriptions, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So this image of sitting under a fig tree, and there are a couple other passages in the prophets that suggest this is evocative, at least of. Of the hope of the Messianic age, Right? And so at least one very plausible interpretation that's been put forward for Nathaniel's reaction to Jesus is that Nathanael, as an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, no guile, who knows his scriptures, who trusts in God, and who's waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled, that Jesus reference here to the fig tree, kind of taking him aback. Not only do I know who you are, because how do you know me? Well, you know, Philip told me about you, and I recognized your description or something like that. No, he goes this fig tree thing. So you can just imagine this, right? He's sort of taken aback. And that little hint of the fig tree, it's like, sets off this chain reaction of biblical connections, Right? And so many scholars have pointed to this verse in particular Zechariah 3, 10, the mention of the fig tree there as potentially a kind of starting point for that chain. Well, in this passage, it refers to the Messianic age as a time when everyone will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree. The Messianic figure is referred to as the branch, Right? So back in verse eight, behold, I will bring my servant the branch. And there are actually a number of passages in Zechariah, but also in Jeremiah 33, and I think perhaps most importantly, well, Jeremiah 33 is pretty important. Isaiah 11 is another one that refers to a Messianic figure as the branch. Now, if Nathaniel starts making this connection, it's really interesting. There are a few different Hebrew words that are used for branch in these passages, but we do know that Jews by the first century were putting them together and identifying them with each other, thinking these are all the same figure. Well, In Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 1, maybe we could just turn back there briefly, because it's such an important passage. It's a familiar one. It says, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So we're talking about offspring from the house of David, Jesse there is King David's father, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And then it goes on about how the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Well, in John, chapter one, we just read about how John the Baptist recognizes Jesus because he's the one on whom he sees the Spirit rest at the baptism. Right? Abide on Jesus. Okay, so the reader of John, anyway, is starting to, like, maybe put these pieces together. Well, what's really fascinating is that in this very important verse, the Hebrew term that's used for branch. I'm going to put you on the spot, Ben. How's your Hebrew?

[Dr. Ben Akers]

What's the word here in Isaiah? In Isaiah, it's not netzer, right? It is Netzer. It is.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

This is the one where it's Netzer. And so why would that be important, right, that netzer is the term for branch here.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

Is it related to Nazareth?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Well, we don't know for sure. We don't know for sure, but it seems likely, right? Matthew has a really mysterious verse at the end of Matthew, chapter 2, verse 23. Matthew says that when the holy family returned from Egypt, they came back at first to Bethlehem, but they found that Herod the Great's son, Archelaus was still king there, and they wanted to get out of there, so they went back to Nazareth. And then Matthew, who's an incredibly careful reader of Scriptures of Israel, says this was to fulfill what was written in the Scriptures. He shall be called a Nazarene. And you think, wait a minute, Matthew, that's actually not a verse anywhere in the Old Testament. And this has puzzled many scholars for a long time, but a number of them have said, look, this is a very traditional way of a kind of. We might think of it as a flexible way of reading the Old Testament, but it was very common to among Jews. And it's likely that this is the verse he had in mind that the Messiah, the son of God, who will come to redeem the people, will be a Nazarene because he is called Netzer. And so you can almost think of Nazareth. You could almost translate it as like, Branchville. Okay, so to get back to Nathaniel, we can put the pieces together, right? He hears this reference to the fig tree. It reminds him of Zechariah 3 and the Messianic age and the Messiah, who is the branch, who is called Netzer. And all of a sudden he understands how something good can come from Nazareth.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That's incredible. And the things that struck me in Zechariah 3, this, the angel. Because Jesus is going to talk about angels ascending and descending. A high priestly figure named Joshua or Jesus, branch town, Branch mentioned Jesus being from Nazareth, the branch town. And then the guilt, guile, deceit, removed in one day.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yes, and you know, that's a great one too. I did want to mention when he says, here's an Israelite in whom there's no deceit, that is probably, at least in part, a reference to Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2, which say, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. So St. Augustine actually preaches on this passage and he says, what does that mean? That Jesus says there's no deceit or guile in him. Does that mean he has no sin? No, of course not.

[Interjecting Participant]

Right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

If we say we have no sin, then we're deceiving ourselves and the truth isn't in us. And Augustine says, no, what it means for him to have no deceit is that he doesn't lie about having no sin. He knows he needs a physician. And sure enough there in Psalm 32, to have a spirit in which there's no deceit is someone who's not. Who has never sinned, but whose transgression has been forgiven.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That's beautiful. Let's. In the time remaining, there's another Old Testament passage that Jesus refers to, and you've already mentioned about Jacob being the one who's known as being full of guile in the Old Testament. And Jesus has a reference to Genesis 28, it seems, when he says, we're in John, chapter one, verse 50, Jesus answered him, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe you shall see greater things than these? And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. This is a story that takes us Back to Genesis 28, where Jacob hears the voice of God for the first time in his life, and he sees, he has a vision at night of angels ascending and descending. The temple of the Lord, in a sense, is opened up, the heavens are open, he sees God where God dwells, and angels are going up and down. So why would Jesus refer to this passage in Genesis 28? And how does it relate to Nathanael?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah, that's a great question. I actually want to connect it to the very last thing he says. We notice that we started with Philip referring to Jesus as son of Joseph, and then Nathanael calling him Son of God. And now Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. And we again, we tend to maybe think of that as having to do with his humanity. But the biblical background for this is in Daniel 7, where there's this heavenly figure called the Son of Man, who's invested by God with this unequaled, unmatched authority, right? And he's actually seen as this heavenly and even divine figure, Right? So Jesus is the Son of Man, and as the Son of Man, he's the one on whom the angels of God ascend and descend and heaven is opened. So not only is he the Davidic Messiah, the true King of Israel, who's going to bring about the Messianic reign, he is actually the very meeting place of heaven and earth. He himself is the true temple of God. And these are the greater things that Nathanael will not only see, but spend his life proclaiming and eventually be put to put to death for proclaiming.

[Dr. Ben Akers]

That's incredible. In Genesis 28, Jacob renames the place house of God, Bethel. The house of God, the gate of heaven. And so, as Dr. Seehorn mentioned, it is Jesus himself in his person, both God and man, that we have the gate of heaven. In John's Gospel, he'll actually say, I am the gate. He is the house of God. He is where God and man meet. He's the new temple. The temple is where the house of God, where people worshiped. And so hope you enjoyed this Bible study that we went through in this story about St. Bartholomew who it seems as if we don't know a lot about him, but we actually do from exploring this passage in John chapter one. If you're interested in following along, we have the English Standard Version, Catholic edition of the Bible. You can find it on Catholic Market. And we thank you for your support. Please join us in mission by joining the Mission circle. And we thank you and God bless.

[Podcast Host]

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