＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Revelation 21:9b-14

 Then one of the seven angels came to me,

One of those with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. And he said, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  He took me up in a spiritual vision to a very high moun­tain and he showed me the holy city Jeru­salem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shines with the glory of God,  like a precious jewel with the color of crystal-clear jasper.

 Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.  Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west.  The city wall stands on twelvefoundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 

Ps 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

John 1:45-51

 Philip found Natha­nael and said to him, “We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 

 Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”   When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.”  Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree and I saw you.”

 Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”   But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said: ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.

 Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

 Philip is an interesting disciple of the Lord. He was personally sought by Jesus himself. Normally it is others who bring people to Jesus. It was Andrew that brought Peter to Jesus. In Our Gospel today, Phillip brings Nathaniel to the Lord. He convinces the doubtful Nathaniel to come and see Jesus himself.

In that encounter, Nathanial is struck by the Lord's deep knowledge of his person. For the shade of the fig tree is not only the place where knowledge is nurtured by those who seek the truth, it is also the place where young rabbinical students spend time to pray. So Nathanial must have been studying to be a rabbi at that time.

That is why he knows the joke about Nazareth as a backwater place where persons of great stature cannot be produced. But what triggered the response of Nataniel equating Jesus with the Messiah? It is because during this time, all Israelites of good will would pray for the coming of the Messiah.

And naturally, Nathaniel being a pious rabbinical student prays for that as well. That is why Jesus refers to him as a true Israelite. And having inferred in his heart that Jesus is indeed the promised one, he made a confession of faith.